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Steve Walsh is off the drink and refereeing again and the one-time bad boy spurned by the New Zealand union is determined to make it back to the top of the game.
The only problem from a New Zealand perspective is that he's doing so in Sydney, where eager Australian rugby officials have snapped up another Kiwi gift sent their way.
Walsh yesterday whistled his third game in Sydney's Shute Shield club competition, taking charge of the Easts-Norths clash at Woollahra Oval. He's hoping it will be a stepping-stone back to refereeing Super 14 as early as next season.
And the way he's going it looks like New Zealand's loss could be Australia's gain, with the 36-year-old veteran of 212 first-class games, 56 Super rugby matches, 35 tests and two world cups in great shape to add some much-needed experience to Australia's shallow pool of top referees.
Walsh, who has been living in Sydney for a couple of months, told the Star-Times he was highly motivated to prove his former Kiwi bosses wrong and believes he's on track to become an even better referee in his second manifestation.
His contract with the NZRU was terminated earlier this year when it emerged he'd breached conditions of his employment with unacceptable behaviour, including an all-night drinking binge at a Sanzar referee's conference.
But after opening up dialogue with the ARU (via former Blues coach David Nucifora) he was encouraged to cross the ditch and try his luck working his way back up their system, starting in Sydney.
"They said `there's no guarantees, you've got to come over here and prove yourself'. I believe it's more off the field than on the field," said Walsh. "And they said at the end of the season they'd talk turkey with me."
The New Zealander said he had undergone a lot of soul-searching and was viewing this as a second chance.
"It's difficult when you get given the flick. But I believe I've relied on my natural ability as a referee and haven't made the sacrifices I needed to make."
Walsh is definitely making them now.
As well as swearing off the drink "I finally woke up last year to the fact I had a problem" he's living hand to mouth in the big city, looking for a job and a flat while staying on a friend's couch in Bondi.
He's doing it because he's adamant he can be an even better ref this time around.
"I don't believe I've put the things in place in the past that were going to let me do that. The drinking has got a lot to do with that. I really want to come over here and make a statement with my performance."
Walsh certainly appears to have things back on track. His attitude to his sobriety reflects that. "I'm not doing it because I want to ref again, I'm doing it because I know I can't drink responsibly any more and the alcohol had got the better of me," he said.
Ad Feedback "I'm good enough on the park, but it's just making sure I pull my head in off it."
Walsh hopes to be included in Australia's Super 14 panel next year but if that doesn't happen, he won't give up.
"That's another good thing this has taught me. I had lost a little bit of the passion for rugby and last year it came back. It's good to know I've still got it."
But Walsh doesn't hold back when asked if there's bitterness about his treatment in New Zealand.
"I do think there's been some double standards," he said. "But I can't afford to dwell on that because it's just going to make me bitter. I'm about getting on with my life."
Maybe just a little motivated to prove some people wrong?
"It's not really a thing I should be thinking of, but the God's honest truth is yes."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/n...alsh-dries-out
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