\u201cIt was always a dream to play professionally, but I wouldn\u2019t have thought I\u2019d play one game, let alone 50.\u201d<\/p>\n
He credits Hamilton Boys\u2019 High School\u2019s professional\u2011style environment, alongside coaches Nigel Hotham and Greg Kirkham, for shaping his early development.<\/p>\n
With more than 2500 students and fierce competition for first XV spots, Roe said this pushed him to grow quickly.<\/p>\n
He debuted for the Chiefs in 2021 against the Highlanders, a match he remembers vividly, even if the result wasn\u2019t one to savour.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got a hiding, actually, but last week we got a bit of redemption,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Tonight\u2019s opponent, the Crusaders, add a bit of extra weight to Roe\u2019s special milestone.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou couldn\u2019t ask for anything more, 50 games, Crusaders at home, first home game of the year. It\u2019s going to be one to remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also, since tonight\u2019s match is a repeat of the Chiefs\u2019 first-ever game in 1996.<\/p>\n
But Roe insists that despite this, he won\u2019t change his approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve played 49 of them so far, no point changing too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Life beyond the field<\/p>\n
Roe\u2019s positive reputation extends beyond his on\u2011field abilities.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s known as a player who always stops to chat, signs autographs, and treats people well.<\/p>\n
When he isn\u2019t playing rugby, Roe returns to his roots in Pauanui whenever he can.<\/p>\n
The beach, the surf and time with family are his antidote to the pressures of professional rugby.<\/p>\n
Xavier Roe debuted for the Chiefs in 2021. Photo \/ Chiefs<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the season finishes, I go home for six weeks. Just chill out, surf, swim, hang with family. That\u2019s how I reset.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also golfs, but this is off the agenda for now, partly due to niggling injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cGolf\u2019s probably not too good for the mentals either when you\u2019re whacking it around,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Roe admits he once sported the classic surfer\u2019s mullet, but genetics may be catching up with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m losing my hair at the moment, so I don\u2019t know if I can grow a mullet anymore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad\u2019s been bald since he was 23, he reckons I\u2019m not allowed a hair transplant. I\u2019ve just got to shave it off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Special night ahead<\/p>\n
Aside from a special first home game of the season, for Roe\u2019s fans and his family, tonight will also be a celebration of a local boy who worked, competed and surfed his way to a milestone.<\/p>\n
Roe expects around 25 family members to travel from the Coromandel, and he has been busy juggling ticket requests all week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s probably the only thing that\u2019s changed, trying to organise who\u2019s coming and who needs tickets.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got 4500 mates today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graeme \u201cMintie\u201d Mead is a sports commentator, the host of the radio show Waikato All Sports Breakfast and a Newstalk ZB overnight host. He is also a Hamilton City Councillor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt was always a dream to play professionally, but I wouldn\u2019t have thought I\u2019d play one game, let…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[27603,9526,115,17909,3019,56380,43893,167093,13687,5269,26882,1345,78,5511,22638,111,139,69,21710,213,16674,5911,1524,6923,1533,167092],"class_list":["post-305461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-50th","tag-another","tag-calls","tag-chiefs","tag-clash","tag-crusaders","tag-fact","tag-footy","tag-franchise","tag-game","tag-halfback","tag-home","tag-in","tag-just","tag-marks","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-roe","tag-sports","tag-stadium","tag-tonight","tag-waikato","tag-what","tag-will","tag-xavier"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}