Wellington U19s Player Profile: Bradd Forster

Above: Bradd Forster (yellow head gear) in the thick of the action playing for Tawa earlier this season

The Wellington U19s are the defending National U19 tournament champions. Last year they won the Graham Mourie Cup at the inaugural National Jock Hobbs Memorial event. Leading up to the 2015 tournament, Club Rugby will profile some of the young Lions who are likely to feature in the tournament and indeed the future of the game in the capital.

Bradd Forster is a modest, relaxed and self-deprecating young man. He has a quick sense of humour that makes him imminently likeable. Surprisingly his early days at Wellington College were lonely.

"None of my friends came with me from my intermediate to Wellington College so I had to make new ones which took a while. Rugby and in particular making the under 15A's and then the First XV really helped,” Forster says.

Forster's passion for rugby was exhibited graphically during a trailer for the Land Rover First XV program this year. Forster is briefly seen embracing teammates and exclaiming joy while celebrating a victory.

"The TV clip is from the 2014 quad final. We beat Nelson College 5-0 in a Wanganui mud bath. We had no right to win, but we were all guts", Forster reflects.

"The territory count at halftime was 99% to Nelson and 1% to Wellington College, I have proof on MySky."

Appearances on national television are a long way from 65B - the first team Forster was selected for at Wellington College.

Lincoln Rawles has coached the First XV between 2006 and 2010 and again from 2012 to the present. Last Saturday against Southland a third of his old boys played in the Wellington Lions starting XV.

Rawles runs a summer academy which is an open group for boys who want to do fitness training. The benefits of a summer slog were huge for Forster.

"Rawles is a great guy. He really took me under his wing. He helped my fitness and technical understanding of the game so much," Forster says.

In 2012 he was selected for the Wellington U16a's that won the Hurricanes U16 tournament.

Coached by Earl Va'a the team featured Leni Apisai who was awarded the Player of the Tournament, subsequently shifting from Aotea College to Wellington College.

In 2013 he cracked the First XV. He played the early part of the season as an injury replacement for James Blackwell, before himself getting injured. He suffered a dislocated finger.

Wellington advanced to the National Top Four winning the Premier One championship and 18 out of 22 games. In 2014 they missed the Premier One final. What was the difference between the two teams?

"The big difference was attitude. In 2013 we had a lot of leaders like Blackwell, Wes Goosen and Nelson Asofa-Solomona. Nelson would commute from Upper Hutt to school and be in the gym at 7am every morning. Nelson was pretty inspirational and I loved going in to train with him.”

Forster wasn't a member of the Hurricanes or Wellington U18 squads last year, but he was lured to Tawa by former All Black lock Dion Waller. He played two games in the Swindale Shield and Jubilee Cup, but it was in the pre-season where he learned a valuable lesson.

"In my first pre-season game against the Axemen I pinched a couple of lineouts from a senior lock and I got lippy as you do when you are a schoolboy. This lock cracked me one in the face and I still have the scar to prove it. When the referee turned to deal with the lock their props started beating me up. My game ended in the hospital."

Forster concedes he is surprised to have advanced as far as he has with the Wellington U19s.
"They named a wider training squad and I missed the first yoyo test. I then played a poor trial at Evans Bay Park. I was real grumpy. I had less of a physical impact than I normally do," he says.

Both trial teams were instructed to use the same lineout calls. Forster described that scenario as a shambles, but his accomplished jumping impressed.

Forster also understands the importance of a positive and sensible attitude. He shares a tale of a younger player who could have been a star, but was intent on destruction.

“There was a loose forward in my junior rugby team from Wests who was as hard as nails and seemed to love running at and through people. He was the best player in the team.Unfortunately he probably made some bad life decisions and has fallen out of rugby and school. His aggression in the game was something I wanted to have in my game. I hope he comes back to rugby."

Did You Know?

• Bradd has no idea why his name features two D's.
• His father David is an electrical engineer. Forster describes him as an "awesome influence", but teases he was known for picking daises during his playing days. Mum Carole is an occupational therapist. He has younger sister Kate and brother Taine who is at Wellington College and a "smaller, but a much better rugby player than me."