Jimmy Cowan should be in the prime of his life.
He's 26, fit, good-looking, a Highlander and, after a two-year absence, an All Black again.
Last year he was named New Zealand's Super 14 player of the year.
This year he won the Southland sportsperson of the year award and was praised for being a role model to the region's youth.
Everything looked bright for the bubbly, rather cheeky, halfback from Mataura, who had matured into a senior member of the Highlanders.
His performances on the field won him praise and his behaviour was exemplary.
But somewhere, things went haywire.
Cowan has been arrested by police twice in two months for off-field incidents.
He was arrested on May 10 in Dunedin and charged with disorderly behaviour, and he was arrested at the weekend in Invercargill and charged with disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence.
Cowan's public image is in tatters and his rugby future rests on the goodwill of his All Black and Southland bosses.
The latest incident, which is reported as happening at about 4am outside the One Blue Dog bar in Esk St, Invercargill, has led to a misconduct hearing with the New Zealand Rugby Union today and dismayed Cowan's many friends and supporters in the South.
One who is disappointed is Highlanders and Southland prop Jamie Mackintosh, a close friend and long-time flat-mate of Cowan's.
"I just feel gutted for him.
I'm gutted for him that these things have happened and now people are thinking bad things about him," Mackintosh told the Otago Daily Times.
"He's had a couple of run-ins with the police. I think they're two pretty minor things but they can get built up."
Mackintosh does not believe Cowan has a drinking problem.
But he admitted he regularly took it upon himself to watch out for Cowan when they were out socialising.
"I always try to look after him. I'm a bit bigger so I can drink a bit more and I can tell him to slow down every now and then.
"When he goes out with his good mates, he's fine.
I don't know much about this latest thing but he's probably gone out with the wrong people and they just don't know how to look after him when he drinks.
"I know he's got to be responsible for his own actions but you've also got to be conscious of who you're going out with. He might have been let down by them."
Mackintosh is firm in his belief Cowan is a good man who loves rugby, has the respect of his team-mates and quietly goes about his training and playing duties.
But he knows his friend's image has suffered.
"People now have this perception of Jimmy that when he drinks he's a bit of a prick. I disagree with that. But he goes out now and he gets people having a crack at him.
"We're young guys and we like going out to have a beer. The public have to accept that.
"You train your guts out all week and you build yourself up to a big game. Afterwards you might feel like letting your hair down. Some boys don't drink but some do.
"Rugby players aren't going to stop drinking. Maybe we just need to stick to certain places where we won't get in trouble.
"When a rugby player does something wrong, it's good gossip. We understand that. You just have to be careful how you act."
Cowan's indiscretions, allied with winger Lucky Mulipola's recent assault conviction, have brought unwanted attention to the Highlanders, a franchise trying to win back its support base.
Highlanders chief executive Richard Reid said he was aware this season that Cowan was not 100% happy off the field.
"I'm not sure he had issues that, in isolation, were significant. But there were a few things that added up, I think. Some other factors were impacting on him," Reid said.
Reid would not elaborate but the Otago Daily Times understands Cowan broke up with his long-time partner at the start of the year.
For Reid, the puzzling thing is why an experienced player puts himself in potentially dangerous situations in the early hours of the morning.
"From the age of 18, these good players are in various academies. They sort of get wrapped up in a cocoon and the real world doesn't really impact on them.
"Professional sportsmen can get to 25 or 26 and they haven't really lived. They're not always wonderfully socially adjusted."
Reid believes Highlanders coach Glenn Moore and manager Greg O'Brien introduced sound discipline and clear protocols to the team environment this year.
There was no booze culture in the squad, he said.
Others who deal closely with Cowan are reluctant to be critical.
Pro Sport Management principal Tom Downey, of Invercargill, has represented Cowan for seven years.
When contacted yesterday Downey said the relationship would continue.
Downey, whose company represents sportsmen and sportswomen around the world, declined to comment further.
Southland co-coach Simon Culhane said Cowan had been faultless in his behaviour in the past couple of seasons with the provincial side.
Culhane said he had not had a lot of contact with Cowan in the past couple of months, apart from sending him a few text messages "telling him to keep his head up".
But Culhane said he was surprised to hear Cowan was out in Invercargill about 4am on Sunday, saying that was on the boundaries for a player.
He was not sure what was a good time to be at home but said there should be team protocols and systems in place.
He said it would be a difficult time for Cowan but the halfback was just doing what most 26-year-old men were doing.
Highlanders coach Glenn Moore knew nothing about the latest Cowan incident when contacted yesterday.
He said it was a concern when players got into trouble off the field.
"These guys are in the public eye and they know they have responsibilities," Moore said.
"It's a privilege being a professional sportsperson and along with that comes a lot of responsibility."
New Zealand Rugby Players Association chief executive Rob Nichol said Cowan was a quality character and should not be judged on this one incident.
When asked if an All Black should be out on the town about 4am the day the All Blacks meet, Nichol said he would have to have a good reason to be out at that time.
But he said society had changed and people went out later at night.
The association had 1000 members between the ages of 18 and 34, so there were going to be some incidents, he said.
Acting like any normal 26-year-old was not a defence for his actions, Nichol said, as the association had initiatives and education courses for players in how to handle situations.
"They must know if something is happening or about to happen then they walk away."
