'Line up tours against the Wallabies, Boks or NZ... I am taking the All Blacks'

Brisbane assistant coach Ben Te’o credits his stint as a player with the British and Irish Lions under legendary mentor Warren Gatland as life-changing in his new role.

Te’o, who also played for Queensland in the State of Origin arena, had a stellar career in two codes as a player before embarking on his coaching dream.

It was under Gatland, regarded as one of the greatest rugby coaches of all time, that Te’o toured New Zealand in 2017 in a three-Test series drawn 1-1. He played inside centre in the 30-15 win in the first Test against the All Blacks, and came off the bench in a 15-15 draw in the final Test.

Tony Brown on the 1995 World Cup: From an All Blacks POV

Tony Brown on the 1995 World Cup: From an All Blacks POV

Te’o, who also played 18 rugby Tests for England, said Gatland and rugby league mastercoach Wayne Bennett, who he was assistant coach under at the Dolphins, shared a lot in common.

“I’d always heard Warren Gatland was a great man manager and great at bringing teams together, and I had the opportunity to experience that and play the All Blacks, such an incredible tour to go on,” Te’o told AAP.

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“At the time everyone feared them, but by the time we had been through our camps in New Zealand there was a real strong belief that we could get the job done.

“Once I got into coaching myself, I used a lot of things I learned from Warren, and then once I started working with Wayne I saw the similarities between the two and why they were successful.”

Gatland taught Te’o plenty about the building blocks of success.

“One of the things that is really important in coaching is building team chemistry from the get-go, and Warren did a great job of giving the team free time to have a beer and socialise and build team camaraderie first. Wayne does that too,” Te’o said.

“The second thing is being able to convince a team that they are going to win and how they will win.

“I remember Warren talking about how we would beat the All Blacks and where we could catch them by surprise, what our strengths were and how the games would play out. When a coach talks like that you leave the room thinking ‘we can do this’

“We ended up sharing the trophy, but the Lions shocked the All Blacks after no one gave us a chance.”

Te’o never got to play the Wallabies on a Lions tour, but there are no regrets.

“To be honest, when you line up the tours against the Wallabies, Springboks or All Blacks I am taking the All Blacks,” he said.

“They were the best and had the biggest aura around them. They were two years off winning the World Cup for the second time in a row. There was nothing better.”

This year’s State of Origin series has just been won 2-1 by the Maroons, and now the Wallabies take on the Lions in Brisbane on Saturday night, with the build-up at fever pitch. Te’o understands the enormity of the occasion intimately.

“My career is split in half between rugby league and rugby union. For me to reach those heights in rugby union is special,” he said.

“When I played State of Origin I thought that was the biggest thing I would ever experience. Once I went on a Lions tour I realised there is something else out there that is similar in terms of how big the build-up is and how much people get behind it. I was lucky to experience those two events.”