When I think of Jamie Mackintosh, three images come to mind.
The first is my first glimpse of him outside the stadium in Invercargill while waiting to go into a netball game, back in the day when I was covering that sport.
There had been plenty of buzz about this young giant from Southland and, as the ODT netball writer - not the smallest of men - peered around the massive expanse of Tokanui beef, he realised this was the lad.
The second vision is of Mackintosh, surrounded by his team-mates, celebrating with unfettered joy as the Stags claimed the Ranfurly Shield off Canterbury in 2009. That breathed new life into the Log.
Another Shield memory followed barely a year later when a crafty Southland prop who shall remain nameless crawled a metre or so along the ground to score a try against the old enemy.
If the referee had seen that illegal movement, and if Eben Joubert had not been injured, Otago would have broken its Ranfurly Shield drought. But there was no way Whopper and his boys were going to give up their treasure.
. . . of a mistake
Here's the thing about Mackintosh: he's not a superstar, or a regular All Black. His leaving the Highlanders can not be equated to the utter disaster it would have been had they lost Ben Smith.
The writing was on the wall as soon as the Highlanders signed veteran All Black Tony Woodcock, who was always going to take Mackintosh's No 1 jersey.
And, for Jamie, leaving now is the smart move. He gets a fresh start, with a Chiefs franchise that is the best in the country.
But I suspect the Highlanders may come to regret the sequence of events that led to the parting of ways with the man who was the soul of the franchise.
(Yes, I realise the player made his own decision to leave. But did the Highlanders make him feel wanted and offer him a contract commensurate with his status?)
Mackintosh stands for more than just propping, though surely he is still good enough to play at this level. He's a man of the people, a rallying point for Southland AND Otago fans, a good bloke.
The Highlanders are a professional franchise, and the links to the Otago and Southland unions have been cut.
But, in a week when they trumpeted the re-signing of Ben Smith as hugely significant for the South (I agree), it is a shame the same goodwill has not been extended to another local favourite.
Setting the standard
Ma'a Nonu - yellow card v Blues, red and yellow cards v Crusaders.
Jarrad Hoeata - yellow cards v Crusaders (twice) and Chiefs.
Andrew Hore - yellow card v Reds.
Brad Thorn - yellow card v Sharks.
Tamati Ellison - yellow card v Kings.
In all teams, but especially in struggling teams, you look to your senior players and internationals to set the standard.
What a shame the Highlanders - who have the worst disciplinary record in the Super 15 - have been let down by some of their recent and present All Blacks in that area.
Hi Carl, bye Carl
Have you seen a very large, very hairy bloke who looks slightly familiar around Dunedin recently?The Last Word hears former All Black and Highlanders prop Carl Hayman has been back in town.
To discuss a homecoming? Just to catch up with friends? We would love to tell you but ''Zharga'' is not a man who likes to be tracked down by the media.
Lions should roar
It makes absolutely no sense to me that the Wallabies and Lions are meeting in a deciding test tonight.
The Lions should be 2-0 up. They are loaded with talent, size and speed, and in Jonny Sexton finally have a first five-eighth of real class and enterprise.
The Wallabies had no warm-up games to prepare for the series, are missing their two best forwards (David Pocock and Scott Higginbotham), have a flaky utility in the No 10 jersey, and are clinging on to a coach who is not exactly flavour of the month.
For the sake of the whole concept, I hope the Lions spark tonight and grab a rare series win.
Arresting statistics
Quote these numbers the next time you hear someone fretting about rugby or league players getting into trouble off the field.
The NFL has had no fewer than 29 players arrested since the Super Bowl - barely FIVE months ago.
There have been four gun charges, four busted for drug possession, seven done for drink driving, and nine for assault, battery, abuse or resisting arrest.
One of these fine young men, Titus Young, has been arrested three times on his own.
Now, of course, the league has been tarnished by the arrest of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez on murder charges.
Name this team
Believe it or not, the European club football season actually started this week.
While it will be 5-6 weeks before Liverpool and company resume battle in England, and we resume our complaints about Sky losing the rights, there have already been qualification games in the Europa League.
The best thing about this stage is reading names that sound more like science fiction characters than football clubs.
Hands up if you follow Trans Narva, Metalurg Skopje, Garabagh Agdam, Khazar Lenkoran, Botev Plovdiv, Chikhura Sachkere, Gandzasar Kapan, Dudelange, Teteks Tetovo, Kruoja Pakruojis, Differdange, Irtysh Pavlodar, Dacia Chisinau, Rudar or Ashtarak.
Thunder struck
All Black physio Pete Gallagher, of Dunedin, has already seen what Steven Adams can do on a basketball court.
Gallagher and All Blacks Sam Whitelock, Keven Mealamu and John Afoa were at a sponsors' event a couple of years ago when they were asked to shoot some hoops with Kenny McFadden and his ''kids''.
One of the youngsters was a lanky boy called Steven.
Gallagher, a handy hoopster himself when he was younger, reports the new NBA recruit was an impressive figure on court.
Birthday of the week
Arthur Lydiard would have been 96 tomorrow.
The athletics giant arguably had more influence on sport globally than any other New Zealander.
