Jimmy Cowan has been out of trouble and in the All Black coaches' good books for 18 months.
Now he wants to see the Highlanders heading in the right direction.
There is a new maturity about Cowan now, evidence of the battle with his own demons he has fought and won - a battle that turned his life and his rugby career around when both seemed to be foundering.
It seems like raking over old ground, but then Cowan (27) is smart enough to realise that his story cannot fully be told without exploring the recent path he has taken.
In the middle of last year, he had become a cautionary tale.
He was the talented rugby player with a taste for booze and an unfortunate inability to know when to say when.
The result? Three arrests and two convictions for disorderly behaviour in the space of barely three months.
That's when rugby saved Jimmy Cowan's life.
Or, perhaps more accurately, when he realised he had the strength to win the battle with the bottle.
He copped a fine and an alcohol ban from the New Zealand Rugby Union without complaint, threw himself into training and was starring on the Grand Slam tour within months.
He hasn't looked back.
That's why Cowan is comfortable talking about his successful transition from headstrong halfback with a drinking problem to respected Highlanders captain and regular starting All Black.
"Obviously, I've made some changes in my life," he told the Otago Daily Times at his first appearance in the Highlanders' camp yesterday.
"I look back and realise that rugby was my saviour. It was the only way I could repay all the great people who had stuck by me. I went and played rugby to show my family, my friends and my coaches that I had learned my lesson."
Cowan has reached the stage where he doesn't need to be placed on an alcohol ban.
He's in control.
"I'm very mature now when it comes to that sort of thing. I can have a beer here and there and there's no drama there.
"It used to be a week-in, week-out thing for me, whereas now it's just for really special occasions or where I feel it's deserved.
"I'm in control of everything. But at the same time, it's only been a year and a bit. I'm still a work in progress."
It has been a grand year for Cowan on the field.
While his Highlanders again finished 11th in the Super 14, they showed enterprise and competitive fire, and Cowan's leadership surprised those who wondered whether coach Glenn Moore had made the right choice.
In the black jersey, Cowan was barely challenged behind the scrum, starting all the major tests.
He has now worn the No 9 jersey for the All Blacks in 18 of the past 20 tests - a significant step for someone who made just one start in three years after making his debut in 2004.
He didn't feel part of the squad in those early years.
Now he's got the confidence to have his say and to be satisfied that he has earned his place in the team.
"It hasn't always been easy. I've had to work hard for it, but I think I'm getting the rewards now.
"The thing is, I feel like I'm only just starting. I need to keep boxing on and pushing forward through next year and into the World Cup."
Cowan is officially off the clock until early February because of his heavy workload in 2009, though he has a summer training programme and expects to pop into the Highlanders' Logan Park base regularly.
He likes what he sees from the Highlanders already, pointing to the level of experience and the leadership qualities of men like Alando Soakai, Tom Donnelly, Adam Thomson and Jamie Mackintosh.
"We don't want to make any excuses. It's time to front. It's easy to sit here in December and talk about it, but we want to do our talking on the field next year."
Cowan doesn't intend to travel far over the summer.
He's been on enough planes this year, and there is a new house in Invercargill into which he would like to get settled.
Besides, Southland is now Ranfurly Shield country.
Cowan won't be recorded as one of the Stags who helped take the Log o' Wood off Canterbury on October 22, but he still managed to play his part.
"It was really funny. I'd been in camp with the All Blacks that week. I was due to fly home on the Thursday but thought I could stop off in Christchurch to watch the Shield game.
"I got roped in to be water boy. Then once we won, my emotions probably got carried away because it just meant so much to me.
"It was a night I'll treasure forever. It's been a work in progress over the last eight or nine years and an awful lot of work has been put in.
"It's been great for Southland because it showed people that small unions can win the thing. I'm sure that good feeling will rub off on the Highlanders."
