Stepping up a gear

Family has been crucial to the change in Hosea Gear this season. The formerly shy and underperforming brother of Rico has become a leader on the field and the season's form winger

Hosea Gear's most visible tattoo is a link to his brother Rico. The Gisborne siblings had their forearms inked together by Gisborne artist Derek Lardelli a few years back to keep them close despite being great distances apart.

And with Rico plying his trade in England these days, his younger sibling takes comfort and confidence in the intricate Maori design.

"Me and my brother got the ones on our forearms done together, just representing the two of us," Hosea explained this week. "They aren't exactly the same, they are different designs, but they have the same meaning. They just tie the both of us together pretty much."

The Gear boys have kept in touch over the phone since they parted ways after a couple of sizzling seasons at North Harbour and Rico is on the phone to his little bro at least once a week from Worcester.

But Hosea admits it hasn't been easy being away from his family since he moved south, first as a Hurricanes draft player in 2004, then permanently when he signed with Wellington a year later.

It hasn't always been comfortable on the field either, with injuries coming all too frequently and tries hard to come by for a player who has always looked the part, but not always followed the script.

All that's changed during the past three months with the Wellington Lions as Gear has come out of his shell on and off the field to score 14 tries during an unforgettable season that has pundits predicting an All Blacks callup tomorrow morning.

Being injury-free has clearly helped, but the 24-year-old revealed this week that the arrival of his parents, Riki and Anne, had also been a major boost.

"They've just moved down after eight or nine years in Auckland. They moved down here at the start of the year," Gear said. "They want to see me play my footy, but it's more the support thing. They come to every game and that's been a key thing for me.

"My brother left [New Zealand] and they have always wanted to get around and watch us both play rugby."

Like his tattoos (the one on his shoulder links the tribes of his family together), the presence of his mum, a teacher at Kelburn Normal School, and dad, an electrical wholesaler for Ideal Electrical, has provided confidence and comfort for Gear.

Perhaps even a reconnection. He is relearning the Maori language, taking classes with his mother, who helps him catch up on the work he misses due to rugby.

It would be unfair to put Gear's form down to one thing but, whatever the spark, the transformation has been startling.

Teammates used to remark on his shyness, but now say he is one of the team's leaders, contributing on and off the field.

There was a time not long ago when the Wellington winger would quietly slip away from training unnoticed.

Now the media clamour for interviews as the drums for an international callup become deafening.

"He could climb Mt Everest in his slippers right now," former All Black Stu Wilson said. "When a player is in the sort of mood he's in right now, they cannot be denied."

Wilson believes Gear is the most compelling outside back to emerge since Joe Rokocoko burst on the scene and says he would be aghast if he wasn't in Graham Henry's tour squad.

"It would be a travesty if he wasn't selected. What more can the guy do? He has balance, speed, which is his main threat, and a huge work rate off the ball.

"I watch the guy and he doesn't stand around. He's been cleaning out rucks . . . has he missed a tackle this season? I haven't seen it. If he doesn't make that touring team, the selectors need to seriously look at each other."

It's lofty praise, but Gear doesn't read the paper, watch TV, or listen to sports radio, so he hasn't heard what the so-called experts say.

He has noticed how busy the media sessions have become, though.

"Reporters want to ask a few questions, so I just try to answer them. I'm pretty relaxed about it now. I think growing up I didn't really say a lot unless I had to. Rico did a bit more of the talking, he sort of ran his mouth a bit more than me.

"I guess being around for a few years I'm probably one of the more experienced players, so it's easier to sort of have a say in things now within the team."

Physically, Gear is delivering on what has always been evident.

There's a graph that plots the explosive power of the Wellington Lions players by measuring their vertical leap.

It meanders along, occasionally rising for some of the more athletic players in the squad before suddenly jumping off the chart when it gets to Gear.

"That's just a power-explosive test thing. I played a bit of basketball and volleyball growing up, so the vertical leap is not too bad. I used to [dunk], but I've put on 10 or 20 kilos since then."

In fact, basketball was his chosen sport till sixth form and he represented New Zealand at under-16 and under-18 level before his brother talked him into the oval-ball code.

Rico remains a big influence and his advice is still delivered on a weekly basis.

"They've been getting our games on TV over there, so he's been up early in the morning watching them and giving me a bit of feedback," Hosea said.

"Both of us being wingers, we still talk about strengths and weaknesses, what to work on, what the wing's job is, that sort of stuff.

"He tells it how it is, pretty much, which is good. He gets the message through loud and clear, but we are close, so we pretty much talk about anything."

HOSEA GEAR

Nickname: H

Born: Gisborne

Age: 24

Height: 1.89m

Weight: 103kg

Provincial teams: Poverty Bay 2002, North Harbour 2003-04, Wellington 2005-present (36 games)

Super 14: Hurricanes 2004-present

National: NZ under-19s, NZ Maori, NZ Sevens

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