Dragons recruit 'The Butcher' has paid his dues
By MITCH JENNINGS
Jan. 9, 2015, 8:30 p.m.
Rulon Nutira
At nearly two metres tall with wild dreadlocks and a nickname like "the Butcher", towering Dragons recruit Rulon Nutira is a cult figure in the making.
But the 115-kilogram giant knows that's no golden ticket to the NRL.
Surprisingly soft-spoken, given his fearsome appearance, Nutira, 24, admits to pinching himself on arriving in Wollongong.
But he knew he was awake when the harsh realities of an NRL preseason hit home.
"For the first three or four weeks I was really struggling," Nutira said.
"I was just surviving and doing my best, but I'm right into it now and I think I'm coping pretty well.
"It's been really tough and I've been working really hard every day ... the body's feeling it and getting a bit tired, but I'm starting to really push hard and get through it well."
Nutira's rise from Gundagai Tigers enforcer to within reach of an NRL start with the Dragons has the makings of a fairytale, but the former New Zealand Maori rep is no overnight sensation. He's paid the same rugby league dues as any NRL star, with a four-year hard slog away from his young family in Christchurch with the Eels and the Storm as a junior.
He spent four years working as a scaffolder in Christchurch, watching former NYC teammates Tohu Harris, Kenny and Jesse Bromwich and now Dragons five-eighth Gareth Widdop make their NRL debuts.
Even when mentor and former Kiwi coach Frank Endacott urged him not to waste his talent, Nutira went 380 kilometres west of Sydney to Gundagai to play on fields about the same size as WIN Stadium's training paddock.
It's why he happily walks into WIN Stadium every day no matter what punishment strength and conditioning coach Ciriaco Mescia has in store - it beats rising before dawn every day for 12-hour shifts at the Gundagai abattoir.
"I wake up happy every morning," he said.
"Knowing this is work for me now ... wake up loving it.
"I want it a lot more than I did when I was in the system as a junior. It was just a bit of immaturity really.
"Like everyone you go through that immature stage where you don't appreciate things as much.
"It's only when you lose it you actually realise how much it means to you."
Nutira is aware that the Dragons' trial schedule will make or break his tilt at the NRL and he's put his hand up for both the club's Charity Shield clash and trip to England to play Warrington in February.
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/...recruit-the-butcher-has-paid-his-dues/?cs=302
By MITCH JENNINGS
Jan. 9, 2015, 8:30 p.m.
Rulon Nutira
At nearly two metres tall with wild dreadlocks and a nickname like "the Butcher", towering Dragons recruit Rulon Nutira is a cult figure in the making.
But the 115-kilogram giant knows that's no golden ticket to the NRL.
Surprisingly soft-spoken, given his fearsome appearance, Nutira, 24, admits to pinching himself on arriving in Wollongong.
But he knew he was awake when the harsh realities of an NRL preseason hit home.
"For the first three or four weeks I was really struggling," Nutira said.
"I was just surviving and doing my best, but I'm right into it now and I think I'm coping pretty well.
"It's been really tough and I've been working really hard every day ... the body's feeling it and getting a bit tired, but I'm starting to really push hard and get through it well."
Nutira's rise from Gundagai Tigers enforcer to within reach of an NRL start with the Dragons has the makings of a fairytale, but the former New Zealand Maori rep is no overnight sensation. He's paid the same rugby league dues as any NRL star, with a four-year hard slog away from his young family in Christchurch with the Eels and the Storm as a junior.
He spent four years working as a scaffolder in Christchurch, watching former NYC teammates Tohu Harris, Kenny and Jesse Bromwich and now Dragons five-eighth Gareth Widdop make their NRL debuts.
Even when mentor and former Kiwi coach Frank Endacott urged him not to waste his talent, Nutira went 380 kilometres west of Sydney to Gundagai to play on fields about the same size as WIN Stadium's training paddock.
It's why he happily walks into WIN Stadium every day no matter what punishment strength and conditioning coach Ciriaco Mescia has in store - it beats rising before dawn every day for 12-hour shifts at the Gundagai abattoir.
"I wake up happy every morning," he said.
"Knowing this is work for me now ... wake up loving it.
"I want it a lot more than I did when I was in the system as a junior. It was just a bit of immaturity really.
"Like everyone you go through that immature stage where you don't appreciate things as much.
"It's only when you lose it you actually realise how much it means to you."
Nutira is aware that the Dragons' trial schedule will make or break his tilt at the NRL and he's put his hand up for both the club's Charity Shield clash and trip to England to play Warrington in February.
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/...recruit-the-butcher-has-paid-his-dues/?cs=302
