My Love For The Game…Intro

Yes I am a crazy rugby fan. I used to be a player, but now my rugby activities revolve around managing and coaching the Royal Malaysian Navy team…..and lounging at home watching rugby games on Astro.

I started playing when I was 15 years old and I officially called it quit when I reached 30. Better to quit when you are still at the top of your game, right? My teams included the Royal Military College (RMC), the Federal Territory Under-18, the United States Naval Academy (USNA), the US Combined Services, the Virginia Beach Rugby Club, the Royal Naval Engineering College (RNEC) Manadon (UK), the RMN Navy ORCA, the Old Putra Association (OPA) Rugby Club, the Malaysian Armed Forces, the National Under-23, and the National Team.

I obviously can’t remember how many games I had played all together…and sadly, I don’t think I’ll be adding any more game to the tally. The PCL knee surgery in 2008 was the definite termination point for me as a player. No regret obviously. When I officially quit earlier at the age of 30, I knew my performance graph wasn’t going any higher, and the only way to go was downhill. And by then I had already accomplished my dream of playing for the country, albeit it being such a short stint. I was also blessed to be part of the Malaysian Armed Forces team that won the Agong Cup 1994, and runner-up of the National 7’s Tournament in the same year, and going further down the time line, my USNA team was 4th in the US Collegiate ranking in 1993 and we beat Army as well, my RMC team won the Jonah Jones Sevens (School) in 1989, the Federal Territory U-18 team I played for finished 3rd in Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia (MSSM) 1988 tournament, and many other invaluable experience over the span of 15 years of non-stop rugby actions.

I was always an overzealous player. I was never a substitute player except when I played for the National Under-23 team. I always played to win regardless of the opponent, even when losing was inevitable……..like when I was due to play against the mighty New Zealand All Blacks, I still went in with the attitude to win (yes, if you must know, we lost the game against the Kiwis but we scored first and were trailing 14-7 at half time….and second half, yup..the flood gate opened at we eventually lost 35-7).

One thing for sure though….skills did not come easy to me, I had to work extra hard to acquire them. Unlike some people who seemed to be blessed with rugby flair, my skills were developed through countless drills and practices, blood sweat and tears, and…dreams. I dreamt of doing things on the field, I rehearsed them my mind…and that had helped me tremendously to improve my game.

Believe it or not, I almost gave up rugby for athletics….not many people know about this. But I’m glad I didn’t. I loved the 100m, 200m and 400m sprints, and the relays. I was fast, but probably was only fast enough for school competitions. But the speed gave me the extra edge in rugby. My coach at USNA was the one who helped me to discover my true potential, and thanks to him…I always believed that I could reach the sky.

Today, I get my adrenaline rush watching my Navy ORCA boys slug it out while I cheer them on at the side line. I believe that the team has a lot of potential, but we are still a long way to go. We are the underdogs with underdog’s mindset. We will remain as underdogs for a long time, but my dream is to turn them around to become underdogs with the mindset of champions. It’s a long shot….but that won’t stop me from trying. I have seen the glimpse of our true potential….I just hope that we can produce it more consistently.

I would like my era as the helm of Navy ORCA to be different. I designed a new team logo to give the team a new sense of purpose (photo). I introduced a new “Game Plan” that continues to evolve as the players become more comfortable with it, I changed some players positions in order to discover their true potential (some involve pretty drastic change of positions...like from centre to front row forward), and many other schemes aimed at improving our game. And as always, the camaraderie within the team is given the utmost focus. Rugby is supposed to be fun not just when the game is on.

I am a happy man when it comes to rugby. I love it, I live it…..and I would like to share the love for the game with as many as possible. So, let’s bring it on, try it if you haven’t…..I promise you’ll enjoy the ride.

~ ~ Special thanks my even crazier USNA coach Mike Flanagan who transformed my game and made me believe, and Mr Ooi Loh Kah who coached me into the game (using leather "Mitre" rugby balls) and laid the permanent rugby foundation in me ~ ~