Hurricanes assistant coach Carlos Spencer was given a souvenir to remember from his side's trip to Levin - his old softball bat.
Having returned to New Zealand to take up an assistant role under new coach John Plumtree, 43-year old Spencer's Hurricanes were today in his home town of Levin, taking on the Crusaders in a pre-season clash.
And despite his new side going down 34-19, Spencer still had a reason to smile afterwards, given a souvenir from his past.
"It's a strange story actually, a lady came up to me and sort of showed me, and I recognised it straight away," Spencer told 1 NEWS.
"I was a big softball player back in the day... She just offered it back to me, probably going back about 35 years now.
"Here it is back in my hands, I'll go back and give it to my kids, and see what they want to use it for.
"I reckon I could still get a couple of home runs with it."
Spencer also spoke about his return to Levin, coaching in his home town for the very first time.
"I've been around, been in a few different countries since I left Levin.
"It's good to be back and obviously see the turnout today. It's nice coming back home to where it all started for me as a youngster, where I learned my trade."
The former Blues and All Blacks star also said that it's so far been an enjoyable start to life with the Hurricanes, having only ever coached in South Africa.
"It's been awesome, exactly what I expected and probably more.
"We've got a great bunch of boys, great management team, the last couple of months have been really pleasing to get the first hit-out today.
"The boys were always chomping at the bit to get that first one out of the way, now that that's done, it's given us a bit to work on moving forward."
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