Kieron Fonotia can’t believe how far he’s come.

This time last year, he was on the fringes of the Crusaders’ squad and preparing for Tasman’s ITM Cup campaign.

Twelve months on, he’s starting for a side ready to make a run at the Super Rugby title, and doing so on the wing, rather than in his usual centre position.

While he hadn’t played there since his days in the Shirley Boys’ High School first XV, when he was a lot smaller than he is now, Fonotia is loving his new role.

“I haven’t played much rugby out on the wing, but it’s something that I talked to the coaches at the start of the year about,” he said.

Being able to fill in out wide is another string in Fonotia’s bow.

“I don’t really just want to be that one trick pony who just plays centre. It just really helps me for getting in the side.” he said.

He worked on it a lot in preseason, and so it wasn’t a shock when he was asked to play there against the Blues last week.

It was a bit of an adjustment, with the wide role not requiring him to crash and bash about as much as he is used to, and involving more of the sort of running that tends to go unnoticed.

The decision to move Fonotia to the wing was made with shoring up the Crusaders’ defence in mind.

Fonotia said good defence was the product of good communication.

“I’ve just to tell Crotts who I’ve got, Izzy tells me whether he’s on last or if I’ve got my man. The more (we) talk, the more confident I am to try and get up and make a shot,” he said.

The 26-year-old didn’t spend a lot of time in rugby academies and age-group sides growing up, and he said taking the length of time he has to make it at Super Rugby level made him appreciate it so much more.

Before he wore the red and black, he was a tiler by trade,

“I used to do tiling and stuff and now I’m out here playing the sport I love and getting paid for it,” he said.

Fonotia doesn’t miss the tiling, though some of his teammates have him doing little jobs for them when he can.

Now he’s also doing a job for them out on the field — providing the final piece in their backline puzzle.

Before his move to the wing, he had formed a partnership in midfield with fellow New Brighton man Ryan Crotty, and the two were linking up well.

Fonotia said shifting out wide hadn’t changed that one bit.

“I’ve got to yell from a bit further out now.”