Fruean eyes breakthrough | Canterbury Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Canterbury

Robbie Fruean's All Black hopes have been dashed the last two years, but the Crusaders centre is doing extra yards this year to make it third time lucky.

The 23-year-old says winning a black jersey is his big goal in 2012 - and he knows the way to earn it is by performing week-in week-out for the Crusaders.

A taste of international rugby when he played for the Henry & Hansen-coached Barbarians against the Wallabies at Twickenham in November has only made him hungrier.

Fruean had an excellent 2011 for the Crusaders and backed that up as a key figure in Canterbury's fourth consecutive NPC success.

But the former IRB world under-19 player of the year knows he was overlooked for the All Blacks because of deficiencies in his work rate and work off the ball, and intends to fix that.

The Crusaders also wanted to drive his work rate and that involved doing a lot off the field as well as on it, he said.

So he's doing extra after team training.

"Even if it's going for a bike or going for a walk - and I'm trying to make sure I'm eating well, eating enough, eating sufficiently, and just really focussing on recovering well," he said.

He'd been doing a lot of bike riding on his mountain bike and in the gym, and in the last couple of weeks had felt the benefits, he said.

"I've got a lot of support crew that continue to help me, that come along and do it with me. Teammates and friends and family."

Zac Guildford - another player with something to prove - and Matt Todd and Patrick Osborne are among players who've been jumping on the bikes with him regularly.

Fruean said he was upset at missing the All Blacks last year, but "heaps of things came out of it in terms of what I needed to do".

The Rugby World Cup win had been inspiring for him and "it's driven me to do a lot more this year".

Fruean won't have Sonny Bill Williams alongside him this season, but will build on the effective partnership he had with Ryan Crotty in the NPC.

He would miss the "aura" Williams had around the team, but Crotty had really stepped up, he said.

"He's got a different style and game and I think it's probably going to bring the best out of both of us. And we've both got aspirations to be in the All Black squad, and obviously we'll be driving a lot together in terms of really helping each other out."

Fruean came back to the Crusaders fresh from holidaying for a week and a half in Rarotonga, where he caught up with relatives.

He admits he dreaded the thought of hard training again when he was flying back from England, but worked to shift some kilos in Rarotonga.

"And when I came back and saw the guys working hard, it inspired me to get out there. And once I got out there, the Super rugby season couldn't come any too soon!"

He's now only one kilo above what he sees as his ideal playing weight, 110kg, and looking good to make the Super rugby impact he so desires this season.