'Come down here, mate, and then we'll play you': Joe Rokocoko reveals Crusaders approached the wing about a move south

Rokocoko, coming back from an injury, was named on the bench for the match – and Deans couldn’t understand why.

“With the Blues in ’04, I didn’t play as much because of the number of quality players we had,” Rokocoko told The XV. “We had Rico, we had Rups, we had Dougie, we had Mils in the back three, had Shannon Paku there covering as well. We had a lot of players so I wasn’t playing as much, we were just swapping around.

“We went down and played the Crusaders and … I was on the bench for most of the match – I don’t know what jersey I was wearing, 20-something. After that game, I spoke to Deanso and he goes, ‘Mate, what are you doing? Why are they not playing you?’ I go, ‘Oh, we’ve got some good players,’ and he goes, ‘Come down here, mate, and then we’ll play you.'”

It might sound like a comment in jest – but it wasn’t the first time that Deans had tried to bring Rokocoko into his set-up.

"He’d raise his eyebrows, he’d do the old look and you’d know something was coming. He’d just tell you to be ready."

Playing alongside Carlos Spencer in his prime was as scary as it was exciting, former @AllBlacks wing Joe Rokocoko told @TomVinicombe.https://t.co/vHK8ks9VCI

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 3, 2020

Years earlier, before Rokocoko had even played a game for the Blues, the Crusaders flew the age-grade star down to Christchurch to give him a taste of the facilities. He even had the chance to meet one of his childhood heroes, fellow Fijian Marika Vunibaka.

“He talked about the club and so forth, and how good the organisation was,” Rokocoko said. “I went upstairs to see Deansy – that was the first time I met Deansy before making Super, and he had a bit of interest in me being involved and coming down.

“But, you know, I was a big Blues fan. I’d followed them since the early days and I just wanted to see if that feeling inside of me changed at all when I was down there – and it didn’t. I still bled blue.”

Thankfully for Blues fans, Rokocoko rejected both of Deans’ advances – and forged an impressive career with the side he grew up supporting.