How a Jamie Joseph chat forged Aaron Smith's Highlanders legacy
Sitting down with Aaron Smith, there's so many accolades one could discuss with him ahead of his final home game for the Highlanders this weekend.
There's the 2015 Super Rugby title and World Cup, the centurion status for both the Highlanders and All Blacks, the aura of being one of the best No.9s to play the game.
But Smith, relaxed as he always is, stripped all of that away talking about himself.
"I'm a cheeky Māori boy from Feilding."
It just so happens that cheeky Māori boy had a spark that only former Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph could see.
Aaron Smith watches on while playing for Manawatū in the 2011 ITM Cup. (Source: Photosport)
Smith was a training partner for the Blues in 2010 but after playing some matches for the Māori All Blacks, Joseph saw enough to be impressed by the kid from Manawatū and signed him to the Highlanders for the 2011 season.
"I came down here to follow my dream and my dream was to play Super Rugby," Smith said.
"When I got here, Jamie really challenged me - 'you could be more, you could do better, you could be an All Black'."
Did Smith believe that? Not at the time. In fairness, on arrival at the Highlanders he was sitting behind All Blacks star Jimmy Cowan who was the starting halfback for his new club.
But when Smith got his chance to come on to the field, he started to show the rest of the rugby world what Joseph had already seen and glimpses of brilliance began to shine through.
The makings of Nuggy
Tawera Kerr-Barlow trys to tackle Aaron Smith during a 2012 Super Rugby match. (Source: Photosport)
Smith's rise continued until a fateful match against the Blues in 2011.
Smith was cited for a tip tackle on Blues halfback Toby Morland late in the match, leading to a yellow card and citing from the Super Rugby judiciary.
Smith and Joseph had to travel to Wellington for his hearing but instead of an awkward and tense trip, there was a conversation that would change Smith's future forever.
"He asked me, 'do you think you could start at the Highlanders?'," Smith recalled.
"I'm sitting thinking, 'what? I'm in trouble here' but he said to me, 'don't worry about that - it happens. Do you think you can be better than Jimmy Cowan?'
"He said, 'if you keep tracking how you are going, keep working hard, I reckon you can beat him one day If you commit, if you back yourself'."
Jamie Joseph. (Source: Photosport)
When Smith reflects on those conversations, he's left with a new set of questions in hindsight - if it didn't happen, would he have trained as hard the next season? Would he have changed his mindset? Would he be great?
But here's the thing you learn about Smith - he was destined for rugby greatness.
Smith, in his own words, is like almost every other athlete a natural competitor and won't back down from a challenge and once he reaches those goals, like almost every athlete, he creates new ones - some big, some small and some a little bit petty.
Take for example the Highlanders' infamous cheesecutter hats. Franchise tradition states players earn a star for every 50 Super Rugby caps they earn representing the deep south and Smith was certainly around some stars.
Aaron Smith. (Source: Photosport)
"I saw Bender [Ben Smith] get three stars so I thought okay, I want that," he laughed.
He earned that star in 2020 with the final game of the season - a big win for his 150th game over the Hurricanes although unfortunately it was at an empty Forsyth Barr Stadium due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ahead of this weekend's game, where the roofed stadium certainly won't be empty, Smith leaves the Highlanders franchise at peace with his 13 seasons having now become their most capped player, the competition's most capped halfback and also a Super Rugby champion.
A championship brotherhood
The Highlanders celebrate after winning the 2015 Super Rugby title. (Source: Getty)
It's that 2015 championship that remains the highlight through all his rugby, Smith said.
"I've had a lot of things but nothing will beat that feeling. The Highlanders won Super Rugby," he grinned.
"We had some superstars and we had some battlers as well but it just shows what a team can do when you get it right."
Jamie Joseph's 2015 team was described as the Super Rugby castoffs or misfits stuck with a no-name forward pack up front but boy did they prove everyone wrong, finishing the season with the ultimate title of Super Rugby Champions.
"We all remember that year, we remember the bond we had. We had a band of brothers that loved each other - a brotherhood."
Smith has had a lot of rugby success over his career, having also won the 2015 Rugby World Cup, but the feeling of winning with his Highlanders is a feeling that nothing can ever beat.
Aaron Smith and the Highlanders celebrate after the final whistle of the 2015 Super Rugby final. (Source: Getty)
"It's different. You look at those games and you think, 'wow' and 'thank you'," he said.
"I've been chasing that ever since in trying to win another one."
It'll take something just as if not more special for that final Highlanders goal to come true before he departs for Japanese rugby next year, with the southerners battling to finish in the top eight this season with just two rounds to go.
But if it isn't meant to be, Smith said he will still look back fondly.
"I made sure when I got chances, I really made sure I took them," he said.
"I leave Dunedin with no regrets because I've given this jersey everything I could and this city and this team have given me everything I could have dreamed of."
Not bad for a cheeky Māori boy from Feilding.
Watch Michelle Prendiville's full interview with Aaron Smith below.
