Ross Filipo was watching the Chiefs play the Hurricanes from his couch, having pizza and beer, a week earlier and this week he could well be back to that role when the team head to Invercargill to play the Highlanders.
But for one night on Friday the man his team-mates call "Floss" turned back the clock and produced one of his most influential games in Chiefs' colours.
Coming off a diet of a handful of club games as player-coach of Hamilton Marist in the Waikato premier A club competition, Filipo, 36, answered the Chiefs' SOS call due to an injury crisis among their locks and played the first 70 minutes of their 34-20 victory over the Bulls in Rotorua in impressive fashion.
"It's such a great story isn't it," said Chiefs head coach Dave Rennie. "Coming out of semi-retirement to fill a void for us and he did a great job.
With Mike FitzGerald due back from injury (thigh haematoma) this week, Brodie Retallick a chance to return from his shoulder problem and Matt Symons an outside chance to come back from his concussion, Filipo may not be needed this week but if he is the Chiefs coaches know the former All Black who won four Super Rugby titles with the Crusaders will be a useful performer.
"I thought in my head I could probably get 45-50 minutes out there, but I turned around and looked at the clock and it was 70 minutes so I'm very happy," Filipo said.
"I probably could have finished the game, to be honest, but it was nice for Brian [Alainu'uese] to get out there and have his debut; I'm really happy for him.
"He's probably the future of the team so it was good for him to get out and have a run."
Ironically Filipo's two seasons with the Chiefs in 2013 and 2014 saw him get just four starts and one appearance off the bench, injuries restricting his availability.
"I think that time off I had over Christmas served me well and I actually surprised myself tonight with how well I felt getting around, it was a lot of fun and a real honour to wear the Chiefs' jersey again," he said.
Filipo said the high-tempo game the Chiefs played to combat the Bulls' expected driving, set-piece-to-set-piece game, suited him as he was more of a linking type lock than a "bash it up the middle" type.
"The way that the team played was right up my alley, so it was easy for me to do my job and find a few extra things to do."
Could he do it again? Of course.
"Well last week I was sitting on the couch having beers and pizza, watching the Chiefs play the Hurricanes and thinking how crazy the game had become in terms of the speed and how long the ball's in play and then next minute I'm getting a call on Sunday saying I've got to come and train.
"I thought I'd come and help the team out and was not expecting to start, but guys didn't come right from their niggles and the next minute I'm doing the job.
"I think retrospect served me well - knowing what I was going into. If I didn't know what I was going into it would have been a hell of a shock but I knew what I was going to be doing so I just prepared as well as I could and made sure the things I did would be effective and help the team.
"I knew I wasn't going to be into everything, but just go out there, try my hardest, stay in the system and not give away any stupid penalties," Filipo said.
- Stuff
