Charlie Ngatai is looking forward to sharing the limelight with Sonny Bill Williams as he braces for a massive campaign with the Chiefs in 2015.
The New Zealand Maori captain struggled with calf and rib injuries last season but has now fully recovered after successfully leading Taranaki to their first ITM Cup title last year.
Having played inside centre for the majority of the last campaign, the 24-year-old is now preparing to shift out one spot to accommodate Williams' return.
Ngatai is full of praise for the returning super star.
"Sonny is an exceptional player. He's got a lot of skills and can offload the ball quite well. Just feeding off that and seeing how he preps for games is quite amazing," Ngatai said.
However, a shift to centre is no guarantee of a starting position either with the versatile Andrew Horrell returning to full fitness, and Samoan international Tim Nanai-Williams and giant Fijian Seta Tamanivalu other options for the No.13 jersey.
But from Ngatai's perspective he's up for the challenge of fighting for a place in the starting line-up.
"It's exciting competition, it makes you train well and play well to really fight for your position."
Chiefs coach Dave Rennie has no doubts about Ngatai's ability to return to the role he occupied in the side two years ago.
"He started the final in 2013 at centre. He's played a lot of big footy for us there and at 12 but we would predominantly use him at 13.
"He's probably more comfortable at 12 but he is so quick and devastating that outside, a big man with his sort of pace and guile can cause a few problems."
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