Marty Lisiua lives by the theory that "while you can still keep going, you keep going".
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It explains why at age 52, the grandfather of four, laced up the boots as a favour for Hunter Wildfires coach Scott Coleman.
Some 21 years after anchoring the scrum for the Wildfires in the Shute Shield, Lisiua played 30 minutes off the second grade bench in a spirited 7-0 win over Southern Districts last Saturday.
"I enjoy it," Lisiua said of his cameo at No.8. "I like to get out there and have a run. I'm not there to impress anyone or anything. While you can still keep going, you keep going.
"The missus gets a bit angry but I'm used to it.
"I can tell you one thing, the body is a lot sorer than it used to be. Sunday wasn't too bad, but Monday I was buggered."
Lisiua retired after helping steer Hamilton to a first-grade premiership in 2015 - his first in 25 years of rugby - but got the bug back in 2018. He played the end of that campaign with Lake Macquarie and suited up for the Roos again last year.
With COVID-19 cancelling the local competition, Lisiua turned up at Wildfires training last month.
"He has been training for the past four weeks, mainly just to have a run around," Coleman said. "He loves that team mentality and wants to be a part of it. He is one of those guys who knows if he stops he will break down. He hasn't had a [functioning] ACL since 2008. He snapped it and never got an operation.
"Last week we had a few out injured and a couple of others unavailable and I asked if he was interested in sitting on the bench for seconds.
"He drove himself down to Southern Districts, played 35 minutes and went well. The boys had to defend most of the second half and Marty was really good with his positive chat and leadership.
He bossed two or three rucks. He went in late with a second shove and won a couple of turnovers on our own line. He was awesome.
"He is slowing up from what he used to be but knows shortcuts to the breakdown and knows when to add weight and when to hang out."
From Auckland, Lisiua arrived in Newcastle "on holidays with a couple of mates" in 1991. He joined Tech Port, the first of eight Newcastle and Hunter Rugby Union clubs he has called home, and moved across to the Wildfires in 1996, where he stayed until they were axed from the Shute Shield at the end of 1999.
"I enjoyed the Wildfires," he said. "It was always tough. I think it was tougher then than it is now. The game is a lot different now. It's a lot quicker."
One of Lisiua's former Wildfires' teammates Tim Rapp was at Forshaw Park on Saturday. Rapp was still a teenager and played two years at the Wildfires before moving to Sydney and going on to play Super Rugby with the NSW Waratahs. He is now the Waratahs' general manager of rugby.
"I was lucky to be a young halfback playing behind Marty, Danny Maiava and Stu Jones," Rapp said. "I was well protected. He is in better nick now than when we played. He still looked scary."
Lisiua was reluctant to compare the current Wildfires crop with the 1990 version.
"I don't judge things," he said. |The game has changed. It was a lot tougher. You could get away with things, there was a lot more rucking. It was different. Now it is flowing all the time."
As for his chances of playing first grade this time around.
"I am just happy to fill in where needed and try to help out," Lisiua said. "A game of footy is a game of footy to me."
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