Stuff Digital Edition

All Whites return to action was ‘weird’ for long-serving physio

Roland Jeffery has been ‘part of the furniture’ for the national men’s football team since 2003, writes Andrew Voerman.

PHOTOSPORT

Roland Jeffery had a weird experience last October. The All Whites were back in action for the first time in almost two years, but for the first time since joining the setup in 2003, their head physiotherapist wasn’t there.

From their 3-0 loss to Iran in Tehran that year to their 1-0 loss to Lithuania in Vilnius in November 2019, he had been on the staff of the national men’s football team for 101 consecutive matches.

With the managed isolation and quarantine system in place at New Zealand’s border as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Jeffery needed to win the lottery for a place in order to go away and come back, but he had no luck.

So like many other New Zealand football fans, he was up early to watch from afar as they had wins over Curac¸ao and Bahrain. He was still in contact with the physios who were there, but says it was ‘‘weird’’ and ‘‘a little bit sad’’ to be absent for the first time in 19 years, even if it was down to the ‘‘realities of Covid’’.

The All Whites have been together three times since, and Jeffery has been back on board, winning the MIQ lottery in November before border restrictions eased this year.

He will be with them again over the next three weeks – first in Spain, where they are setting up in Marbella, then playing Peru in Barcelona; then in Doha, where they are set to have another friendly before facing Costa Rica on June 14 [June 15 NZ time] in a one-off playoff for a place at this year’s World Cup.

Jeffery is one of three people involved in this year’s intercontinental playoff who were also there in 2009, when the All Whites beat Bahrain to make it to the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, and in 2013 and 2017, when they fell short against Mexico and Peru respectively.

English Premier League striker Chris Wood is another. So is Rory Fallon, who was a player, but is now one of Danny Hay’s assistant coaches, and says of Jeffery: ‘‘All the lads absolutely love Roly, he’s like part of the furniture, isn’t he?’’

During his 19 years with the All Whites, Jeffery has worked for five different coaches and has managed to stay involved even as new bosses have made wholesale changes elsewhere.

Jeffery hasn’t been back to Tehran since his first tour, but he has been to 75 different cities in 45 different countries for matches against 57 different nations.

He has been there for some painful lows – losses to Vanuatu at the 2004 Oceania Nations Cup and the Solomon Islands at the 2012 Nations Cup still sting – but also some of the team’s greatest highs – the win over Bahrain that sent them to the 2010 World Cup and the three draws that followed at the tournament itself, against Slovakia, Italy, and Paraguay.

More than 125 men have played for the All Whites during his time with the team. He is yet to work with a player who was born after he started, but that day is fast approaching.

Much of the lives of players and staff take place away from the All Whites environment, giving every tour the feel of a reunion, with those involved flying in from a range of locations.

The medical room can become a social hub. ‘‘We try and make it a nice friendly place,’’ says Jeffery. ‘‘So people can drop in whenever they need to, they can get the treatment they need, and it’s conductive to good rehab.’’

The coaching staff tend to stay away from it, making it a place where players can open up and as Fallon recounts, it’s a place where there are plenty of stories

‘‘He’s a top man, Rolls . . . He’s always got a new story for us.’’ Assistant coach Rory Fallon

Roland Jeffery, right, with fellow physio Wade Irvine, centre, and team doctor Mark Fulcher at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico ahead of the All Whites World Cup playoff in 2013. to be told – many from Jeffery and what he’s soaked up during his two decades on the road.

‘‘We always bring up the worst-ever tours and stuff like that, and the stories are brilliant,’’ says Fallon. ‘‘He’s a top man, Rolls . . . He’s always got a new story for us.’’

On June 17, days after the All Whites play Costa Rica, they will mark the 100th anniversary of New Zealand’s first men’s international, against Australia. Jeffery has been around for almost a fifth of that time, and takes pride in his role sharing what he describes as ‘‘an unofficial oral history of the team’’.

International football tours can be intense, with 12-hour days the norm for Jeffery and his medical team.

‘‘Your own personal time is from 6am until 7.30am,’’ he says, then it’s a matter of giving the players – and sometimes the staff – whatever support or treatment they need to perform.

‘‘It’s about the players and the coaching staff – we’re there to support them . . .’’

Sport

en-nz

2022-05-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282746295379603

Stuff Limited