New Zealand Listener - 09.07,2019

SEPTEMBER 7 2019 LISTENER 55

by RUSSELL BAILLIE

I

t’s been four years since Dan Carter

kicked his last points in the 2015

Rugby World Cup final, which gave

him a fairy-tale ending to his career

as an All Black and the top-scoring

player in the international game. At 37,

he’s still playing, with at least one more

season to go with the Kobelco Steelers

in Japan. He’s still a heavily sponsored

sports star with a big following (600,000-

plus on Twitter and 900,000-plus on

Instagram). He remains a brand and now

he’s a movie. The documentary about his

career, A Perfect 10, arrives in New Zealand

cinemas ahead of the 2019 Rugby World

Cup.

The career-highlights showreel presents

some of Carter’s very Instagram moments,

whether he’s jogging across the Rakaia

Gorge Bridge, contemplating Aoraki/

Mt Cook from Lake Pukaki, or prac-

tising his goal-kicking beneath the

Mt Hutt range. It also takes him back

to his hometown of Southbridge to

visit his old schools and rugby club,

and well-known local pilot Richie

McCaw flies him over Christchurch.

But unlike Chasing Great, the 2016 film

about McCaw, the Carter doco is a British

production. It’s one clearly designed to

explain Carter’s spectacular career – and

occasionally rugby in New Zealand – to

an audience wider than All Blacks fans.

The film crew followed Carter for a year,

filming his farewell to Parisian club

Racing 92, his first season in Kobe, his

off-season with his family in Auckland

and the lead-up to neck surgery earlier

this year for an injury that has been just

one of many. They also gathered a squad

of coaches, teammates and those he’d

played against to chime in on Carter’s

virtues.

When they said, “Dan Carter, it’s time you

were a movie”, what did you think?

I was a bit taken aback at first and I

thought, ‘Who am I to have a film made

about my life or my career?’ So, my initial

reaction was, “No, that’s a silly idea.” But

then the more I thought about it, the

more I thought it’d be quite a cool thing

to do as a chance to reflect on my career.

It’s not something you really get a chance

to do while you’re playing. And it will be

a nice little memento for my children,

too.

Was Chasing Great an influence on your

decision to say yes.

No, not really. He’s a bit of a ... he’s

an icon. His story is incredible. I

did an interview for that movie and

I actually only just watched it about

a month ago. Don’t tell him that. GE

TT

Y

IM

AG

ES

His life

goals

Dan Carter reflects

on why he agreed to

a doco on his rugby

career and what he

hopes it will explain

about him.

FILM

Dan Carter and wife Honor at A Perfect

10 ’s Auckland premiere. Above, lining

up a kick in 2003.