Vainikolo's volcanic power primed for eruption

There were times last season when the player they call The Volcano looked less likely to erupt than to evaporate.

Plagued by injuries, criticised over the rough edges on his game, depressed by the weather, Lesley Vainikolo more than once wished himself back in the southern hemisphere.

"But the boys kept telling me to stick at it, as well as the coaching staff. I just put my foot down and said: 'I'm going to do this. I've got another year here and it's going to be a big one'."

He could hardly have been expected to put up with another season like the last one.

"I tore my hamstring in the first game. I came back and I did my ankle. I came back and did my quad. Then I did my ankle again in training. It probably wasn't my year."

That ranks as something of an understatement from the quietly spoken Kiwi, who will line up for the Bradford Bulls against Leeds in the Powergen Challenge Cup final tomorrow.

What made it worse was the fanfare with which he had been welcomed to the country from the Canberra Raiders, with his coach, Brian Noble, uncharacteristically predicting that he would sweep all before him.

"I think it was a case of too many expectations," he says. "It was just a very hard year for me last year. This year I told myself it was a new year, a new game and a new me."

Although there were glimpses of his potential in 2002, this season has seen him discover far more consistency, as well as leaving the trail of destruction on the left wing that Bradford supporters were led to expect from the start.

Part of the reason for that is the smooth combination he has struck up with Bradford's new centre, Shontayne Hape, whose clever handling has opened up new running channels for Vainikolo. "We enjoy playing together on the field and each other's company off the field as well, which is what you need," Vainikolo said. "I played with him in the Junior Kiwis, but we did not really get to know each other until he came over this year."

Vainikolo has also taken a leaf out of the book of the winger on the opposite flank, Tevita Vaikona, by coming inside looking for the ball when it is not coming to him often enough. "All the best wingers are hungry for work," he says. "You don't want to stay out there getting cold."

Vainikolo has also set himself a regime of extra training this year, admitting that his near-18st frame takes some keeping in shape, if his speed is to be sustained. Much of the extra work is done alongside another Kiwi, the Test prop, Joe Vagana, who, at 20st, is one of the few players at the club bigger than him.

The Volcano has also worked hard on technical aspects of his game. Last year, some teams decided that, especially when less than fully fit, he had the turning circle of an oil tanker and they tormented him with low kicks behind him.

"I've still a lot of work to do on kick returns, but if they do that to me now, they're going to get hammered," he says calmly.

Vainikolo has every reason for confidence at the Millennium Stadium, because, more than any other player on duty in Cardiff tomorrow, he has nothing but the happiest memories of the place.

Playing against Wales there in the 2000 World Cup, he scored a hat-trick of tries for New Zealand, one of them a stunning 70-yard effort that was an early warning that, when fully fit, he has pace as well as power at his disposal.

"I think that was just our day. Everything went our way. This time, it's going to be full, the roof will be closed and the atmosphere will be something special. My whole family will be watching back home in Auckland and some in Australia as well."

Another Aucklander, the Bradford captain, Robbie Paul, has told team-mates who have never experienced it what to expect of that Cup final atmosphere. "He's been there and won it and been there and lost it, so he's a big help," says Vainikolo.

As usual, his own pre-match ritual will be to read several passages from The Bible, before going out to rip into a Leeds team whose form has been so consistent this year.

"I'm full of respect for them, because they've been playing so well as a team, but we're starting to play well as a team as well."

Playing like a team that has unlocked the destructive potential of The Volcano, in fact.