Page 21 - pākuViews Summer 2013
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COASTAL PROPERTY
SPECIALISTS
BUILDINGTHECOROMANDEL SINCE 1973
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New Club House dedication attracts
All Black Grant Batty in 1976
Three years of dedicated volunteer labor built the
club rooms, and 1976 saw the official opening of the
Tairua Rugby Club. Committee members (including a
surprising number of women) headed by president Jim
Farley worked diligently to assemble a top team for a
celebratory invitational game on 13 March.
They also approached local motels and restaurants for
sponsorships. “Hangis, raffles and a special evening
had been planned for the spectators”, touted a local
news story, “and on the following day fishing and skin
diving trips had been arranged for the players” who
would stay over with local families.
Their work paid off with superstar All Blacks winger
Grant Batty agreeing to captain. Tairua’s rugby crazed
locals went out of their way to make this event special,
“a day long feast of rugby and food” even if it did
mean sacrificing a finger! (See Thames Star newspaper
account of hand-to-beast barbeque boar bout which
sidelined senior team captain Warrick Brooks.)
After word got out about this momentous event, nearly
600 fans from all over the Coromandel hugged the
touchlines to watch the star studded exhibition match
between Batty’s Invitation XV (which consisted of a
mixture of ex-All Blacks, first class provincial players
and Tairua players) against the Thames Valley XV.
Batty’s Invitational XV won with score of 42 to 10,
cheered on by an excited crowd. Tairua players Neville
Kydd (fullback), Doug Hayward (wing), Dave Clarke
(flanker), Charlie Northcote, Noel Mason (hooker)
and Phil Mason displayed courage to play with such
towering (literally) talent. Thames Star reported “They
accredited themselves well and learned a few tips and
points by playing alongside Batty, ex-All Black Peter
Murdoch, Jim Manipoto and Bay of Plenty players Dini
Mohl and T Marriner”.
Time marches on
Over the next few years, Tairua rugby teams
strengthened. Year 1978 marked an achievement for
the Tairua rugby community: not only was it the first
time the team made it to the first division, but this was
the year that Tairua had two teams competing in two
Thrilling Invitationals bring
All Blacks to play in Tairua
not once,
but twice
Many area newspapers chronicled these legendary
events that drew crowds from all over the Coromandel.
19
divisions. As mentioned previously, the sawmill’s Doug
Petley was responsible for the profiling of the Tairua
Rugby Club; sustaining employment for the men and
hiring the right kind of rugby-ready worker.
Tairua Rugby earns another
“Day in the Sun” with star-studded
1983 invitational
In 1983, further extensions were made to the Tairua
Rugby and Sports Club to the form we see today. And
what better way to mark the occasion than to play
rubgy with some All Blacks!
To celebrate the completion of the new club rooms, an
even more star-studded line up was invited to play in
an exhibition match at the club field. For a town that
does not make much noise in the rugby world, this
significant (though muddy and rain drenched October)
occasion drew rugby fans from all around the country.
Grant Batty (retired as international player since 1977)
returned to captain the Invitation XV team which
included former All Blacks with selected provisional
and Tairua players.
The Barbarian team, captained by John Hart, was
composed of fine Auckland provincial players like
Chris Ellis and Richard Dunn as well as noted players
that were or would become All Blacks – John Kirwan
(only 19 at the time), Grant Fox (who kicked seven
conversions), Alan Whetton, former captain Wayne
“Buck” Shelford, Greg Burgess, Gary Cunningham and
John Drake,
One article reported “Late in the match, the crowd was
delighted to see first John Hart then Grant Batty score
tries and convert them themselves”. Tami Paul, a local
Tairua player was the crowd favourite and scored “two
fine tries”.
As usual, families throughout Tairua were involved
with billeting the guests. Well who won? The
Barbarians managed to end the day with a comfortable
win of 62 – 30 over Batty’s XV.
