THE last time Kevin Tamati did something half-baked, Keith Floyd had still to master the art of boiling a spud, writes Brian Doogan.

Whether playing rugby, golf, trivial pursuit or clearing the weeds in his back garden, he operates by the maxim that a job half done is no job at all.

Barely five minutes into our discussion at Charnock Richard motorway services, this was clearly demonstrated.

Distracted by a girl cleaning the next table, Tamati, the coach of Chorley's rugby league side, immediately struck up conversation.

"I didn't know you worked here - what time do you start?" he asked.

"Seven o'clock ... every morning," she replied.

"What time do you finish?" he proceeded.

"Half past three," she said.

"Part-timer," he jibed, with a smile. "You're a regular here?" I ventured, as the girl made her way back into the kitchen.

"No, she's one of the players' girlfriends," came his prompt response.

Just over six months into his appointment at Victory Park, New Zealander Tamati might still be expected to struggle with some of the players' names - never mind recognise their partners as well - particularly as the post is part-time (Warrington Borough Council, where he is chief development officer, provides his main source of income).

But for Tamati, "part-time" is a figure of speech, not a description of his duties.

"Ever since I got involved with Chorley, and understanding the position that the club was in, being a coach and leaving it at that was not being realistic," said Tamati.

"I'm very much a hands-on person.

"I don't expect to be a prima donna coach of a lot of prima donnas.

"I very much hope that somewhere down the line part of the task is going to be promotion work and development work in the schools and in the community." It is easy to see why Trevor Hemmings installed the former Kiwi star as coach last February, particularly in light of the deal struck this week with Preston North End plc which it is hoped will eventually result in Chorley joining St Helens and Wigan in the Super League.

Tamati's considerable energies as a forward have easily been transferred to administration.

His equally considerable reputation should make more attainable the task of attracting new blood to the club.

"While Super League is important, I think the long term future has got to be with the youth, the Academy side, the reserve players and the Alliance side.

"They will strengthen the top team.

"The short term plan is definitely to bring in as many top, experienced, international professionals to generate interest in the team or in the club as we can.

"We must not, however, lose sight of our long term goals." But is there a sufficient groundswell of interest in a town like Chorley to justify such ambitious developments?

"I think so, yes," said Tamati, without hesitation.

"I'm biased, I guess, but I know there are a number of people in Chorley and the surrounding area who support Wigan - something I find rather sickening (mindful of his Widnes and Warrington days when they tried to challenge Wigan's emergence as a dominant force in the early 80s).

"All they're saying to us is, 'Get a winning side and we'll support Chorley'.

"Now we've gone into a bigger catchment area, if we can get it together, get our show on the road and put a winning side out there, we're bound to cause interest."

This matter-of-fact statement hardly belies the reality that the challenge will be great.

Second Division side Chorley are mere minnows of the game, as capable now of disputing supremacy with the likes of St Helens as Bruce Seldon has of knocking Mike Tyson's block off when the heavyweights clash tonight. Tamati, though, is at his most dynamic when confronted by discouraging odds.

It does not take much probing to establish why.

A Maori - the indigenous New Zealand people who had settled here over two hundred years before the arrival of European settlers in the 19th century - Tamati was born into a family of 10 and an existence he describes as "dog-eat-dog".

His parents provided as best they could working in the abattoirs or fruit-picking, vegetable-picking and sheep-shearing.

But this employment was seasonal and the winters, severe enough, were made harsher by Mum and Dad being out of work.

The family's clothes were purchased either in Salvation Army shops or jumble sales.

Racial taunts were a fact of life. School held Kevin's attention for about as long as it takes to recite the "two times" tables.

Or as he puts it himself, "It was a place where I could eat my lunch."

"It didn't interest me at the time," said Tamati who has since learned to read and write as his pursuit of knowledge and personal development grew.

"We were always looked upon as a second class citizen.

"To do anything about it, I had to prove to people that I was something in life and I wasn't going to just accept the fact that they were going to put me down all the time.

"People weren't slow in telling you that you had no money. "They weren't slow in calling you backward because you couldn't afford this and couldn't afford that.

"And it was getting on top of that - accepting the fact that you were better than people actually told you you were.

"I always vowed that when I had kids, something like that would never happen to them.

"New Zealand is very much a class society.

"Wrongs committed against my people by the Pakeha (unwelcome visitor) are coming to light and they are trying to rectify them.

"But it is a difficult task."

No more difficult than what Tamati had to endure to overcome it.

Making Chorley great will be a cinch in comparison.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.