Lauaki learning from his mistakes
December 8, 2004

The Chiefs' star Sione Lauaki has vowed to be back to his best for the new Super 12 season.

Lauaki, 23, played a key role in the Chiefs' run through to the Super 12 semifinals earlier this year before missing that playoff match with an infected leg.

During the season he scored scored five tries and made a huge impact that propelled him into the Pacific Islanders team and an All Blacks trial.

But things tailed off badly for him back in his home city of Auckland during the Air New Zealand NPC as the team faltered and he let his own standards slip, being dropped to the bench and to the province's development side.

His weight ballooned and he looked sadly out of shape compared with the Super 12 version, learning a valuable lesson in the process.

"I can only really point the finger at me. I think the body just got too tired after the Pacific Islanders tour and coming back and going straight into the NPC was a big step without getting time to train aerobically and stuff," Lauaki told the Waikato Times.

"I've learnt from it and I'll know what to do next time. It's hard on the body to do the training when you're also playing but in saying that if you want to be somewhere you've got to work hard to get there."

"I've set some goals for myself to achieve before the season kicks off and I'm pretty pleased with the way it's going."

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