Thursday 11th November 2010
Dear Diary
I realised I was going to be a prop when I was younger because I was a bit more chubby than the other kids, not as fast and I had a lot of aggression. I didn’t mind doing the dirty work as such. I just enjoyed scrums, contact and tackling, but I wasn’t as good at the flashy stuff.
My brother, Ben, and I were never that big when we were young. We were obviously late developers. Dad got us both into strength training as 13 year olds. It wasn’t heavy stuff then, just good solid basics and technique stuff. At the end of every rugby season Dad would always have a new training programme for us to try. He always told us it was going to be the best one yet. It was awesome, I loved it.
From an early age I always knew I was going to have to work harder than anyone else. I knew it would serve me well in the end. I didn’t get selected for the good teams early on. But I never had any doubt that I would be an All Black because Dad told me I would make it. We did get teased a bit because if anyone asked me I didn’t hesitate to tell them I was going to be an All Black. It didn’t matter that I was a little chubby kid; I just had to train heaps.
During my second year of 1st XV rugby, I was in seventh form, and I got picked for the South Island team in a tournament. I made the NZ schoolboys rugby team from there. I didn’t get much game time because I was battling above my weight. But I realised then that I was going to get bigger with all the training I had planned and I would be able to pass the other guys and make it. I guess that’s what has happened.
I really do enjoy being part of getting good scrum ball to the backs to use. It’s something not a lot of people understand, even though people respect a good scrum. It’s probably my favourite thing to do in the All Blacks jersey.
Cheers,
Owen Franks
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