Seamus Marten

My brother, my big brother came down and got it for me.

Mate.

Can you time?

Because it's 90 something.

So I was also part of the Manly Sea Eagle Supporters Club.

Oh, yeah.

And I don't know whether you played in the game, but I went and watched Manly come over and they played at Bay of Plenty 13.

I grew up in Taupo.

Bay of Plenty 13 at Rotorua International Stadium.

Oh, yeah.

And I saw the beast, Kevin Edo, for the first time in real life.

I could stay in 90s rugby league chat for the whole time, but I can see my man next to me standing there.

It's crazy our frame of reference as New Zealand sports fans to not appreciate what an achievement that actually is in terms of making it to the very top level of global tennis.

Which I think speaks to maybe a little bit of that mental toughness and that resilience because that's a traumatic event to go through as a young man.

I don't think that goes into a 16-year-old's brain.

I did want to ask, and you've answered it now.

I wasn't sure how long that process was.

So from 16 to 19.

16 to 19, yes.

Was there three years of stigma kind of hanging over you when you made the All Blacks and was there still some of that baggage?