Test rugby was McAlister's lure:
It wasn't until he visited his former All Blacks team-mates when they played England at Twickenham that Luke McAlister realised how much he missed Test rugby.
Initially, after moving to Sale, after the failed 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign, he hadn't missed Test rugby.
"It was nice to get away from it and have a break. But then watching it later on you do miss it.
"I went down to watch the boys in London and being there I sort of felt like I was missing being there.
"It's not easy, but you still support the boys and you want them to do their best.
I loved it at Sale, it was hard leaving. It was different to here in lots of ways - good and bad I suppose but you get that wherever you go," he said.
While he didn't know if he was a better player, he did feel he was a better person and more rounded.
"I had to grow up a bit and learn a few things over there," he said.
British rugby was demanding, not only for its duration but also for the variety of conditions involved.
"It's a long season over there, week in, week out, you're going for 10 months which is a long time. So it is a grind," he said.
"You're playing in conditions that probably aren't as good as Super 14 so you learn how to play in different conditions and you are playing with guys who are a bit more reserved.
"You've got to bite your tongue a bite and go with what the team is trying to do but in saying that you will want to play your natural game which you can't do all the time.
It's slower, so it's a bit more crash, bash type of thing but they are trying to expand the game and throw the ball around a bit more I suppose now that it is coming towards the end of the year.
"You can afford to throw the ball around a bit more otherwise if you make any mistakes near your own goal-line or in your own 22m you get turned over and you get punished. There are a lot of big forwards over there and you don't really want to be caught around them."
He said his preferred position was second five-eighths but he was prepared to fit in where it best suited his team.
He knew when he left that players would step into his position and make it their own and that happened.
He said he thought it was good for New Zealand rugby that 18 players had re-signed for the All Blacks from last year.
From what he had seen of the Rebel Sport Super 14 this year he thought the standard had been better than many British commentators were prepared to acknowledge and he shrugged that off as the chip on the shoulder that many have about the Southern Hemisphere.
One of the areas of his game that had advanced as a result of his move was the ability to close games out.
With England and Lions five-eighths Charlie Hodgson playing inside him there had been plenty to learn from the kicking five-eighths approach and the safer option in winning games with drop-kicks and the like.
"But in saying that I still like to play my natural game which is to run with the ball but you have got to work in with the team.
"When I first got over there I tried to throw the ball and there were a couple of intercepts, chip kick and they scored, in my first two games. It wasn't a good start really.
He's still carrying a leg injury and it is to be assessed before he confirms whether he will play for the Barbarians.
"I have told the Barbarians that if it is not right I am not going to risk it," he said. "My priority is over June-July."
As regards his return to playing in New Zealand for the Junior All Blacks, he said he had no problems and he had no idea how he would go but he was being chucked right back in and would soon know.
