TRIAL by press photographer can be a harrowing experience. Or more accurately, it is for sportsmen of the short-fused, prima-donna persuasion, who often find the antics of the creative mind and the demanding lens hard to cope with.

"Knee forward a bit; look at that rock; smiling now; just slightly backward; don't fall off the edge, but just a touch more; chin up; now we need the wide-angled shot; can we get over that fence; just a couple more; smiling; just at me a touch; it's not raining too much is it; right elbow up a bit if you can; it is a bit damp; nearly there; did you see that lightning; last couple; back leg forward a touch; come on, big smile".

By this point the true character of the man has usually been stripped bare. Those who are still smiling and helpful and talking about home, their achievements and their aspirations -and have not plunged over the precipice striving for that one award-winning shot! - are generally the sort of even-tempered, balanced folk you need in a team.

That being so, Mel Matafeo, recently arrived in Settle to help North Ribblesdale as player and forward coach, looks a sound signing. Herald photographer Steve Garnett certainly put him through his paces and he handled the pressure implacably.

In physical terms, the newcomer is stout enough, without being a giant, to make a decent No 8, and after playing the game for 25 years in the Land of the Silver Fern and Australia, he ought to have something to offer at Grove Park.

His career his been divided between time spent at school and in his youth in Brisbane with Eastern Suburbs and Queensland junior sides and at his home at Te Ahora on North Island, where his representative Rugby involved playing with Thames Valley in the National Sevens.

A decent pair of shoulders also attest to his water-polo days, which brought him representative honours in Australia and New Zealand, and may come in useful as he tries to refresh his new team-mates in the Rugby culture of the Southern Hemisphere.

That said, there is nothing 'heavy' about his philosophy."It's important for coaching to be fun so that it's no hassle for a player to get out there a couple of times a week and have a run around." He says: "The secret is to make it tiring and physically demanding at the same time, as well as preparing players mentally for certain aspects of the game.

"Once you have that in place because of the work you've done in training, you can virtually go to automatic pilot and concentrate on other aspects of play."

First impressions obviously lead the newcomer to the conclusion that he can readily fit into the rural community.

"I'm from the same club as Brendan Cornes and he gave Settle and the club a glowing reference when I was thinking about making my first trip to England."So far, everything has been as promised, with people being extremely kind and friendly.

"Settle is a bit bigger than I expected and certainly busier, but it's the same kind of community as the one I live in back home. Te Ahora is in a farming region and I work for a builder's merchant, so I'm in touch with the day-to-day workings of the town

"One thing I am taking time to get used to is the amount of stone. Back home most of the houses are timber built and there are no dry-stone walls at all. It seems that everywhere I look is another shot from a picture post-card."

Needless to say, the British summer - or lack of it - is another curiosity for a man accustomed to dodging the sun. "Because the ozone layer over New Zealand is very thin, 15 minutes in direct sunlight is enough to burn you." he says. Worries about exposure to damaging rays may not be too high on his agenda as he settles into his new job.