In the 1998 Adam Sandler movie The Waterboy, Bobby Boucher - who has repressed anger issues - is the waterboy for a local football team.
He takes his job of delivering fresh, crisp water to the players seriously. After being fired by one team, he volunteers to be the waterboy for another team that is in a bit of a slump, and on one occasion his anger boils to the surface and he ends up tackling one of the players, which results in his speedy recruitment into the team.
It is every volunteer's dream to go from cutting oranges, filling up water bottles and finding sock tape to donning a playing jersey and being a genuine, central part of the team.
Think back to the Bledisloe Cup on Saturday night, and Liam Messam was taking his job of delivering fresh, crisp water - and messages from the coach to the All Blacks, no doubt - very seriously.
That is, until ''someone in a beanie'' was seen in the middle of a ruckus between the rival players, and that enthusiastic, beanied peacekeeper was none other than waterboy Liam Messam.
What was he thinking? Maybe he forgot for a split second that he wasn't actually playing and that he was not meant to be on the field at all while the match was in progress. That is possible and understandable.
Messam doesn't tend to shy away from the posturing and pushing that goes on between players.
Being a reserve is hard, and many players are chomping at the bit to get involved in the action when and if the coaches decide to give them a chance.
Being a non-playing reserve - a ''dirt tracker'' - is an even harder road to travel.
The playing squad goes through game preparation rituals the night before, and even though reserves who don't get to don a playing strip know they are still valuable team members, it still sucks to be sidelined.
Messam's attempts to separate the men in gold and black was a bit of comical relief during a tense moment in the game, and with a $A2000 fine the All Blacks have copped nothing more than a slap on the wrist for breaching sideline protocol.
The impact Messam's antics may have on sideline behaviour up and down New Zealand, however, should not be overlooked.
We all know that rugby-mad supporters worship their All Black idols and try to imitate their mannerisms, moves and mentality.
The phenomenon of memes, where an element of culture (an image, video or piece of text) or a system of behaviour is passed from one individual to another by imitation, spreads rapidly via the internet, and who knows if this ''waterboy'' behaviour will catch on?
In Messam's defence, his intentions were honourable.
He didn't fly in and start throwing punches. He was trying to defuse and disperse.
What will over-zealous parents and supporters on the sideline take from Messam's actions and intentions?
Will the message be that non-playing team members can intervene whenever they perceive an injustice to be taking place on the field?
Will they interpret Messam's act as licence to get in on the action if a brawl starts up on the field?
Hopefully, they'll reflect on the fact that Messam was only trying to break up a fight rather than contribute to it, and that even All Blacks make heat-of-the moment decisions that are ultimately unwise.
It is tough being a reserve and a spectator, but we are there to vicariously experience the ups and downs of the game, not to contribute to it ourselves.
Sideliners can still have a very big impact. All of us, whether revving up our team, reserving or running on water should think twice (and even thrice) about what we say and do.
I'll be taking my own advice this weekend when watching my son play rippa rugby.
My lips will be sealed, my feet will be firmly planted on the sideline, and his water bottle will be firmly tucked away, ready to be offered during breaks in play.
