Mils set to thrill

Editor

Chiefs and All Blacks fullback Mils Muliaina is eager to get some enjoyment back into his game, after enduring the most frustrating and disappointing year of his career in 2007.

Chiefs and All Blacks fullback Mils Muliaina is eager to get some enjoyment back into his game after enduring the most frustrating and disappointing year of his career in 2007.

And he's been given a licence to do just that.

The controversial All Black conditioning programme and a broken foot put an end to his Super 14 aspirations, and then his World Cup dreams were shattered in the quarterfinal loss to France.

The 27-year-old 55-test veteran wore his heart on his sleeve, and in the aftermath of that shock exit Muliaina was visibly distraught, reduced to tears as the realisation of his second World Cup disappointment hit home.

He's managed to put that aside now and is desperate to get back into action and, more importantly, have some fun along the way.

Muliana opened up to rugbyheaven.co.nz when asked about the disappointments of 2007 and his goals for this season.

“I'm feeling pretty good. It's been a pretty hard pre-season but I'm looking forward to the start of the season,” he said.

“Last year was a pretty disappointing year for myself with injuries and stuff. It all sort of hit me at once so I'm really looking forward to playing this year,” he says.

“I went back just before Christmas and I'm raring to get back into it. I just hope I can keep off the injury list.”

And that World Cup disaster?

“It was a pretty hard time but I think just getting around your family and getting back out there amongst the public and getting into training really helped rather than sitting at home and dwelling on it.

“It was a pretty hard thing to get over. But life goes on and another season beckons. Hopefully this year will erase some of the memories of last year.”

Muliaina was continuously shuffled between fullback and No.13 as Graham Henry looked for a solution to fill the problematic berth at outside centre.

In the end, when it mattered most, he was thrust into the midfield role for the quarterfinal loss to France as the selectors opted to accommodate the talents and experience of both himself and Crusaders fullback Leon MacDonald.

History suggests it was another failed Cup experiment following similar makeshift moves at centre by the All Blacks for the 1999 and 2003 tournaments where they were beaten in the semifinals.

Undoubtedly capable of filling the centre position, it's clear that Muliaina is also torn between his love for fullback, where he has established himself as a test regular, and one of the best in the business over the past five years.

But with the Chiefs having a bit of a teasing problem with the makeup of their own midfield and an abundance of outside back talent, it's an obvious question once again as to whether Muliaina is best at No.13 or No.15?

“Every year it is thrown out there. Even Fossie [Chiefs coach Ian Foster] has asked me where I want to play and I said to him that he was the coach and he should come up with the hard decisions,” he chuckles.

“I just want to really enjoy this year. Like I said, last year was pretty hard and this year I just want to get out there and express myself a little bit more. Fossie has been really good – he has given me the license [to do that].

“Perhaps in the past I've gone out there and tried not to make too many mistakes and in doing that I've maybe played a little bit safe,” he said.

“He has asked me to try to experiment with a few things. It's exciting for me … I just want to enjoy myself. I don't want to make mistakes but I want to live on the not so safe side as well.”

It seems likely that Muliaina will be shuffled around a bit again this season.

The Chiefs have fullback alternatives in Soseni Anesi and Dwyane Sweeny and plenty of options on the wings, where Anesi is in the mix with Sitiveni Sivivatu, Vili Waqaseduadua and Lelia Masaga.

They have just one specialist centre in Richard Kahui.

“Yeah it's pretty freaky and it's keeping everyone on their toes,” Muliaina says of the talent at Foster's disposal.

“There's some young talent there and there's some guys who have played some pretty good footy over the last couple of games. It's healthy and we want to use that talent out wide. There will be some hard picking for the [Blues] game.

“It's brought a lot out of the younger guys to step up and last year when they played without some of us they gained a lot of experience. But we are a tight unit and whoever gets out there will hopefully do the job for us.”

You can be sure that Muliaina will be out to do the job against his old Blues team and Eden Park on Saturday, and also, it seems, be out to have some fun along the way.