At the start of the Mitre 10 Cup season, Ben Nee-Nee may have ranked No 3 or 4 in the Auckland locking stocks.

There was Patrick Tuipulotu and Scott Scrafton, both senior players. Michael Fatialofa was under an injury cloud, which subsequently curtailed his season.

Nee-Nee had played five games in two years, a promising player out of the Pakuranga club, a 24-year-old looking for a break. So well has he taken his opportunity in 2017 that he has been involved in every game, and Sunday’s crucial clash with Tasman will be his seventh start of 2017. He has pulled down 19 lineouts, made two steals, got through plenty of work and is now calling the lineouts as the senior second-rower with Tuipulotu on All Blacks duty.

“It’s been a big year for Benny. He probably didn’t expect to play as much as he has, but he’s taken to the challenge well, getting through a lot of work and calling our lineouts at the moment. Hopefully the boys can make it a good one on Sunday for him,” says Auckland head coach Nick White.

Nee-Nee himself has been pleased with how the year has gone.

“It’s been good. It’s unfortunate that some people got injured, but I took my opportunity and am loving it,’ he says.

He says his 2015 debut off the bench against Manawatu is still fresh in the memory.

“You never forget your debut. But it’s been a great journey to get to where I am now.”

He admits his blazer game on Sunday against the Makos – Auckland’s fifth such honour this season, after Blake Gibson, Marcel Renata, Isi Tu’ungafasi and TJ Faiane – had crept up on him, but he was grateful.

“I’m taking the responsibility of the lineout calls on my shoulders, and have learned heaps off guys like Pat (Tuipulotu), and have taken on a bit of leadership too.”

Nee-Nee feels the team took the right attitude from the first whistle against Bay of Plenty last weekend, which paved the way for a dominant win.

“We didn’t execute everything well, but the intent was there,” he says. “Everyone was flying into rucks.”

There will no room for let-up against the Makos, who have a bruising pack.

Nee-Nee broke his foot at the start of the club season, but has made his way back to good effect.

His father Petaia was a dangerous running fullback for Ponsonby and Auckland B in the 1980s, but was unable to persuade his boy, who lives in east Auckland, to commit to Ponies. Instead, Pakuranga, whose current Auckland reps include Sam Prattley, Dalton Papali’i, the Faiane brothers and Malakai Fekitoa, is Nee-Nee junior’s home. They gave him a shot at premier level when he was not long out of Botany Downs College.

He will receive his blazer on Sunday after the Makos game in Nelson, but it will be re-presented at home after the Canterbury game next Friday. – Campbell Burnes