Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
In between chasing waves around the north coast this week we also got the chance to shoot some studio images for a client with All Black and Highlanders full back Ben Smith. He'd just flown in from Argentina and was staring down the barrel of a big game against the Chiefs at the weekend (the Highlanders won 25-15).
A born and bred Dunedin boy, Ben is one of New Zealand rugby's greats – as much for his performances on the field as for the way he handles himself off it. He's married to Katie and they have a daughter Anabelle who is just 16 months old. He's pretty handy on a mountain bike, but doesn't rate himself as much of a surfer ... yet.
“I gave it a bit of a crack at Bondi Beach this year, but I can’t say that I was too good," he laughs. "It was fun to get out there. I do enjoy my time at the beach and I enjoy watching surfing. Who knows, after rugby I might give it a bit of a crack. It looks like a lot of fun. We have a surfing crew in the Highlanders – Liam Coltman seems to be quite good and I think shows everyone up."
He said wearing the black jersey had always been a dream of his.
“As a kid running around that was my dream to be out there and playing professional rugby," he explains. "To make it to the All Blacks is a great achievement. You’re representing with the team, but also your family and friends – especially family – they make a big sacrifice so you can play footie, so for me it’s about doing them proud and trying to add to what the team’s doing.”
The current game of rugby has the perfromance dials turned up to maximum and so I ask Ben how he stays on the front foot at the pinnacle of the game.
“It’s about becoming a better player. If you think what you're doing is good enough then you’ll just get overtaken by someone else," he shares. "You have to find ways to get better at the things you're good at and work a lot on what you’re not so good at. You don’t want too many kinks in your armour. You have to stay ahead of the game. People are getting bigger and stronger and finding new ways of doing things.”
For a player who seems to be able to raise so many peak performances from the pressure cooker moments of the biggest games he brushes off any accolades.
“I would never say I had a blinder," he smiles. "There are games where I’ve felt I have done some things quite well, but you always look at the game and see one or two or more things that you feel you could have done better ... sometimes more than that. At times you have to park the game up and get into the changing room and enjoy the effort and the moment that the team has created. Enjoy those moments with mates and put what you could have done better on the backburner.”
He said that when the team got a good win it validated all the hard work that went into preparing for that win.
"That’s a good moment and probably one of the big reasons I enjoy playing rugby so much.”
Renowned for rallying his teammates when the run of play is against them, I ask Ben how he raises the fire to turn the tables.
“For me it’s knowing that you’re not going to win every moment in a game of rugby – the opposition will have its moments where they are going to do things that are better than you," he concedes. "But if you can win more moments than they have then you’re going to come off the pitch in a better place. You’re going to make mistakes and a big part of rugby is getting over that and realising you didn’t do something quite right, but asking what’s my next job on the field, how do I do that better and how do I keep adding to what the team’s doing. If you’re thinking about mistakes then you're not adding to what the team’s doing.”
He said it was important to make sure that the team knew what had to be done and to learn from each passage of play.
"You have to learn pretty quick out on a rugby field – teams are always throwing different things at you and if you can adapt quickly and make a plan then that really helps you as a team.”
My studio shoot with Ben is sandwiched between physio sessions and training – I wonder how he finds time to relax with family and friends. Perhaps at this level of professional sport that is a luxury that comes in small bites.
“I’ve never added up the hours," he admits. "I think people think we do a couple of training runs for a couple of hours on a Tuesday and Thursday and get into it on a Saturday, but it’s a job now where you are training most days – we get a Wednesday off if it’s a Saturday game. That is good, because you can get around and do all those jobs that you need to do. Then Monday through to Thursday we’d put in 30-plus hours. It’s high intensity training, lots of meetings … I mean I know I have a dream job. We’re in a privileged position to be able to do what we do. There are sacrifices, particularly with family, but to go out and chuck a rugby ball around and call it a job – it’s pretty special.”
Ben will this week jet to Canberra with the Highlanders to take on the Brumbies in the Super Rugby quarterfinal and the biggest game of the year for the team so far in 2016.
See you at the beach and go the Highlanders ... Derek
PS More swell this week ... here's the latest surf forecast with a whopper due on Thursday.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: