Captain Hurricane, aka Nathan Lewer, will wear the costume for the last time at this weekend's Super Rugby final.

After 21 years as a mascot, the man behind Captain Hurricane is flying off into the sunset.

Nathan Lewer, 44, has been Wellington Lions mascot Leo the Lion for 21 years, and Hurricanes mascot Captain Hurricane for 12.

He's been there through wins and losses, rubbed shoulders with rugby legends Jonah Lomu, Christian Cullen and Tana Umaga, and once took the Ranfurly Shield home.

ROSS LAND Christian Cullen gives the Captain Hurricane salute after scoring a try in 2000. With him is halfback Jason Spice.

Even his trademark salute was copied by Hurricanes stars when they scored a try.

Now, after this weekend's Super Rugby final between the Hurricanes and the Highlanders, Lewer will bow out of the role he's dominated for more than two decades.

"It will be very different, a little bit emotional. It's been a big part of my life, but it's the right time," he said.

Lewer, of Whitby, was introduced to the idea of being a mascot in 1994, when he interviewed Leo the Lion as part of a spot run by television show Sports Cafe.

The man playing Leo asked Lewer if he'd like to take over. "So I did it once and I never grew out of it. That was it," he said.

In his first game, the Lions played Northland at Athletic Park in 1995, and Lewer quickly learned what not to do after he caught a ball from a bunch of kids and was promptly tackled.

"Athletic Park was an awesome ground, but it was pretty daunting. Fans were right there so they could grab you, punch you, tackle you, whatever.

"Luckily I was a runner in the day and I could just run away if I thought I was in trouble."

A few years into Super Rugby, he got the call up for Captain Hurricane."It was a step up, in terms of the rugby."

His favourite part of the job is making children smile. "I remember being a little kid at a game in Manawatu and being a bit bored and the mascot was rubbish – it was two guys dressed up as a horse called Cassius the Colt, just standing there watching the game.

"The kids are the main ones that flock to the mascot. You just see beaming smiles and you thought it was pretty cool if you got a high five. That's my main driver, I guess."

FROM THE ARCHIVES:

* Leo the Lion and Captain Hurricane unmasked

* Call up for Captain Hurricane

Over the course of 110 games for the Lions, and 64 for the Canes, Lewer has had only two days off.

One was when he got stuck in Auckland with his other job – in financial markets at the Reserve Bank – the other when his son was born in 2008.

Highlights include Wellington winning the NPC title in 2000, and grabbing the Ranfurly Shield off Auckland in 2008.

"I got to take the shield home for the weekend which was cool. My 7-year-old had it in his cot when he was 1½."

His rugby heroes are Lomu, Cullen, Umaga, and Ma'a Nonu, so when some of the players adopted the Captain's signature salute on the field, Lewer was stoked.

"That was a pretty cool feeling, I felt like they wanted to be just like me."

In 2009, The Dominion Post flew Lewer to Hamilton to rally the Canes as they played the Chiefs in the Super Rugby semifinal.

Lewer is retiring to spend more time with his five children. "The 5 and 7-year-olds are doing ripper, getting into rugby, so I want to take time off taking them to the games.

"Secondly to that, I'm doing a side venture with the boys and making a bouncy-castle business, and they're my little testers.It's finding time to do things like that and introducing them to rugby"

Now he hopes to see out his mascot career with a Super Rugby win for the Canes.

"I'm pretty confident. I think it'll be pretty tight for most of it, but Hurricanes to win by 11 for me."

Hurricanes spokeswoman Hannah Fleming said the club would be sad to see Lewer go.

"There's not many people who can dish out a few thousand high fives every match, cop a few to the groin and handle making the odd kid cry while keeping a smile on their face.

"But that's our Nathan – he'll be hard to replace."

The Hurricanes plan to hold auditions for a new Captain soon.