Profiles 2003/4 Squad: Ace Tiatia
By kwin
October 10 2003
In the two years that Ace Tiatia has been at the club he's grown to become one of the key members of the team, and a favourite with the fans.
| Name: Ace Tiatia Position: Hooker / Flanker Previous Teams: Highlanders, Crusaders Hurricanes Date of Birth: 18/07/76, Wellington Height: 1.88m (6'2") Weight: 102kg (16 st) Signed for: 3 years (2002/3 – 2004/5 seasons) Representative Honours: New Zealand U19, Manu Samoa |
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| Ace arrived at Quins in Oct 2001 and up to 9
Oct 2003 has made 45 appearances.
In his first season he was mainly at hooker, he then had a spell at
flanker, and in 2003/4 with a fit and powerful back row, he's once again
favoured at Two |
A
Little Ace Music |
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. He's scored 4 tries for the club, his first in that extraordinary semi final against London Irish where we fought back from 0-26 all the way to 27-26 before losing 27-32. However of all his appearances for the club the emails that I've received in the last week confirm that Ace is best remembered for 'that tackle' - and absolute barnstormer that he put in at about 27 minutes against Leeds on 3 May 2002, the relegation special. In a season where Quins didn't impress many commentators Ace made enough of a name for himself to be subject of a headhunting bid from Worcester, that was (it's rumoured) enough to secure him an improved deal at Quins. Evans had signed a good 'un.
In Sept 2002 he won the inaugural CAW Player of the Month, in big part from another storming performance against LI where I reported "Indeed, so strong were we in the bottle department that's it's hard to pick out any individual players, but I'll do so anyway: Ace played another of his storming games that he's started delivering so reliably we're in danger of taking them for granted" After that Ace hardly looked back playing most weeks with a characteristic mixture of enthusiasm, passion and aggression that, by the middle of last season had won over PerryGo "Special mention here must go to Ace Tiatia too. I have been somewhat critical of his industry-leading yellow card collection and unsure of playing him as a flanker, but his consistently high standard of performance has won me over to him as a number six, and he does bring a certain ‘dog’ to the position that is welcome", and then just a few weeks later "Ace Tiatia has been a revelation as a blindside flanker, with a consistently high standard throughout the past month"
In the same season WoW reflected after the disappointing defeat at Bath "it seemed as if it was Ace who was the only one who had his head up at the end of the match." . I think that last quote is important, for it's the mental attitude in the way that Ace plays the game that's vital to understand why he's such a valuable player on the pitch. In the wrong state of mind he can go AWOL, as at Sarries last week - but in the right state of mind Ace takes your breath away with a combination of muscle, persistence, energy in-your face physicality, loyalty to his team mates and indomitable spirit. In short he's one of those players you want on your own team.
His weakness? Well it has to be said his disciplinary record isn't tremendous - 7 cards (6 in the ZP), and he's missed one ZP game from suspension. Obviously good do better,
But I have to say my views here have changed: I used to be of the opinion that Ace went too far and needed to curb his game a little. But now I don't I think so: the hardness he brings to the team, physical and in spirit is his best asset. Like any player who plays to the limit of the law, sometimes he'll cross that line, that's the price if you like. I think it's worth it - if I was coaching him this weekend I'd be telling him to play exactly as he always does (but remember to raise the arms in the tackle!).
Off the field Ace is universally popular with the fans, and the friendliest guy you could hope to meet. Of many of the emails I received when I asked for his champagne moments loads remember him singing, dancing with the fans and signing endless autographs. HESM particularly remembered how he crawled into the bouncy castle last season.... to find Ace in there already...signing kids shirts.
The geezers, almost as one, talk about his singing.
And I'd be remiss not to mention the many female admirers of Ace
....only after him for his fashion sense...
For me, I'll never forget his song for Nicky D at the Supporters' Party last season...or for that matter him bringing over plates of food - meant for the players - at the Old Monk last year and sharing it amongst the faithful.
This season Ace's family have joined him in England, and seeing him with his young son - who's keen on the post-match kick-about - has added a further dimension to the Ace we all know. Above all, Ace offers loyalty. Loyalty to his team-mates on the pitch, to his family, and loyalty to his fans off it. I felt he deserved more from the fans last week when he was cited and there was a quite intemperate rush to judgement before anyone had seen the video, and for an incident which the referee saw perfectly plainly, didn't penalise at the time - a decision exonerated by the citing committee. That's one reason why I formed the unofficial Ace Tiatia Fan Club - it's about time! Would you like to join? There's no membership fees, but on the other hand neither are there any coach trips, newsletters or special events (there might be a T-Shirt though if Midge pulls his finger out!). In fact there are no benefits at all, not even a list. Just a ritual - make a lot of noise every time you hear his name over the tannoy on Saturdays. Yes, every time. I'll be listening......
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