Paddy Reuben first glimpsed the New Zealand Warriors in action in 1995, after he and a friend scaled a rail-side fence at Auckland’s long-since-demolished Carlaw Park, clinging on to watch the team play the Canberra Raiders in a warm-up before its inaugural season.
“We had a mean-as view,” the 47-year-old remembers. “But every now and then I had to tell my mate, ‘Hang on bro!’ And the train would come smashing past us.” It was a formative experience – and he’s been clinging on ever since. “It’s been a rollercoaster, I’ll tell you man,” he says.
