Maheno midfield general Craig Smith’s favourite move to call is "M 2".
It is the not-too-cryptic instruction the second five-eighth gives to his pivot to throw a skip pass straight to centre.
It is also a very modest assessment of his own ability.
The truth is the 31-year-old is too good to skip too often and, quite frankly, has more sporting talent than one bloke should be allowed.
That might come as a bit of a surprise to the Otago cricket community, who know Smith as a medium-paced left-armer.
He has played 24 first-class games, 16 one-day matches and five twenty20 fixtures since making his debut for the province as a teenager in 2004-05.
He was offered a Volts contract this season but, due to family and work commitments, had to turn it down.
That freed him up to play some club rugby and he rather stumbled back into the sport.
"I was going to be watching my brother play club footie so I thought, if I’m going to spending my Saturdays down at the club anyway, I may as well get the boots on and have a run."
Smith’s brother Robbie has been named to start at halfback for North Otago and their father, Lindsay, played for North Otago during the 1980s, so the game runs in the blood.
Smith was an age-group representative for North Otago but eventually chose to focus on cricket.
He moved to Invercargill, to teach at Southland Boys’ High School, in 2010 and played club rugby for a couple of seasons.
But his cricket career took off again in 2014-15 and rugby was put back on the shelf.
He returned home to Oamaru this year and helped Maheno claim the Citizens Shield.
The club snatched a 30-25 win over Old Boys in the final and that helped put Smith on the selectors’ radar.
"It just sort of happened, really. I didn’t have any intentions. I just sort of went for a run around.
"It was a good team to be part of and we had a bit of success, which always helps. It was good fun."
Smith and wife Melissa have two boys: Louie, who turns 2 in November, and Mason, who is just a couple of weeks old.
He is the head of physical education and sport at St Kevin’s College, and will be making his debut alongside his pupil Simon Lilicama, who is starting on the wing.
Smith is no stranger to playing with his pupils.
He played alongside Jacob Duffy, who was still a pupil at Southland Boys’ when he made his debut for the Volts as a 17-year-old in 2012.
Smith is certainly not lost to cricket and hopes to play for Otago again.
He plans to play club cricket in North Otago and just hopes the Volts’ new coaching staff know he is still floating about.
"I’ll be doing my training and if I happen to be the next cab off the rank, and it all works out, then I’d be keen.
"Obviously, with my rugby commitments, it will be a bit later in the piece that I get into my training. But I’m keeping things ticking over and I’ll just see where it goes."
