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The Red Machine
No 1. April 2005

Taupo trip builds senior squad
A pre-season trip to Taupo by an MSP senior squad (above) provided a good indicator of where the club is at and what needs to be worked on, says new premier coach Brendan Reidy.
Forty-two players and six coaches and managers travelled to Taupo on 11-13 March where they played Auckland Marist.
“It was definitely a good experience,” says Brendan, who can see “huge potential” for this year's team.
MSP will once again field a youthful premier side but Brendan says age is no excuse today.
“It’s all in the preparation.”

'It's a bit like watching a duck swim, really'
- most of what is going on is not seen!
by John Spillane
MSP chairman

The 2005 season is about to begin and any casual observer will think the work starts now. However, for MSP the season is already months old with many volunteers completing a heap of work to prepare for it.
The academy has been functioning since last October, with players trained, tested and measured. Rob Evans and many others have made countless phone calls and had many coffees with last year’s players, school leavers and those interested in joining MSP.
There have been talks to school groups, teams hosted at our gym ­facility to give the lads an initial look at MSP, and visits to the players’ parents to introduce the benefits of the Red Machine.
We have made hundreds of calls (including calls overseas to chase players who may be in Wellington for the season), and we have sent out letters and emails to anyone interested in joining the club.
There have been relentless preseason training sessions (thanks Cullam), trial games, a senior squad trip to Taupo, fixtures against Norths and Petone, and hosting of a Japanese University team.
Also a working bee at the club rooms, visits to council, negotiations with neighbours about the Evans Bay lights, and numerous meetings to coordinate coaches, managers and players.
Kalolo Afuie has been busy ­arranging the social calendar and this year promises to be full-on with the 2005 MSP Idol and Fear ­Factor sure to outshine last year’s ­epics. Kalolo also has plans that are sure to test the fortitude of even the most robust player.
Pat Dunn and Dan Tait-Jamieson have visited schools and weighed boys and girls ready for another year of MSP Juniors (this year we will field 29 teams in the junior club and 13 in the senior).
Gear has been ordered, physios arranged, and plans made for what we all hope will be a very enjoyable and successful season for ­Wellington’s premier club.
I would like to welcome all new players, coaches, managers and administrators, and to thank everyone for the hard work to date.
In particular, I would like to mention Bryce Tietjens who has taken on the Club Captain’s role, and Brendan Reidy, John Bell and Liam Halpin who will steer the top two teams through the season.
We wish them all the very best as they count down to the first game and assure them of our support throughout the season.
Let 2005 be a year when players reach their potential, and the club enjoys the true spirit of this great game.

Coaches and managers 2005 (see contacts)

	MSP's management commitee: PHIL GRIGG may look like he’s walking away from the game after the 2004 season finale, but no! After 10 years’ coaching, for which he was awarded the Special Merit Award at last year’s prizegiving, Phil is back in 2005 as a member of MSP’s management committee. For the full committee, see contacts.

April 2 kick-off
The club season gets underway on Saturday 2 April with the premiers taking on Poneke at Rugby League Park.
The senior 1s and 2s will also play against Poneke, with the senior 1s playing the curtain raiser at RLP.
Other teams will play grading or competition games that weekend also.
The following Saturday, 9 April, the ­premiers and senior 1s will play Ories at the Polo Grounds.

New coach draws on MSP background
New premier coach Brendan Reidy has played in two World Rugby Cups and professionally in Europe, but he understands the intensity of the local club competition and just how keen every other club is to beat MSP.
“It’s been that way ever since I’ve been at the club,” he says.
Over 90 players trained hard in the pre-season to win a premier place, and he has a message for those who made it.
“Just because you’re in the premier side doesn’t mean you will win. When you put on that jersey, it just gets harder.”
Brendan’s schoolboy rugby was with Marist Wilton, then St Pat’s College before playing for MSP from 1987-96.
That included winning two Jubilee Cups from three attempts.
In 1997 he had the first of three years with Saracens in England, followed by a year with Rivigo in Italy and two seasons in France.
The French lifestyle and rugby were the most enjoyable but also the toughest, says the former prop.
“Rugby in France is a lot more physical than in England or New Zealand. Scrums are real physical one-on-one contests, and the refs penalise the first player to pop up. So the French teams practise lifting in the scrums - it’s rugged stuff.”
As a Manu Samoa representative from 1995-99, Brendan also played in two World Cups.
His first taste of coaching was at Saracens where he assisted with the club’s academy side. He had learnt a lot from Saracens player-coaches including former Springbok captain Francois Pienaar and Wallaby Michael Lynagh.
Another big influence was Tim Lane, back coach for the 1991 World Cup-winning Wallabies.
Back in New Zealand last year, Brendan helped out with the Wellington Colts. Since last October, he has been planning for this season.
Married to Paula and with two sons, Louis and Xavier, Brendan says a key goal this year is to instil a distinctive MSP culture.
That relates to the professionalism MSP coaches such as Brian Coulter, Kevin Horan, and Tony Meachen brought to the role in his playing days, he says.
It also means premiers being at the clubrooms, watching senior or age-grade teams, and “building a true sense of club”.

OBITUARIES
W.A. (Bill) Maskill
After leaving St Pats (1936-39), Bill played briefly for the St Pat’s Old Boys club before serving in the RNZAF. He rejoined the club afterwards and became a member of the senior team in 1947, forming a strong front row combination with Des O’Donnell in the successful 1949 Jubilee Cup team.
He also played for Wellington and, after retiring, began a coaching ­career with the club. He later moved to the Hutt and continued to coach for Hutt Marist.
He was an all-rounder, involved in boxing, tennis and, later, golf at Boulcott Club. An outgoing and sociable man, Bill was made a Life Member in 1967.

Ray O’Callaghan
A former Marist player who won Jubilee Cups with Marist in 1948 and 1950, Ray’s distinguished rugby career included selection for the All Blacks (against Australia in 1949), North Island and South Island teams, All Black trials, and seven seasons in the Wellington representative side.
As a second-five or fullback, Ray was a strong solid player with a prodigious boot. After one rep game against Auckland won 11-3 by Wellington, a newspaper headline read “O’Callaghan beats Auckland”.
A popular, affable man with a ready sense of humour, Ray served in the Air Force during the Second World War and spent his working life with the BNZ.
The club extends its sympathy to his wife Noreen, son-in-law Paul Simeon, and grandchildren Mark, Craig and Deborah Simeon.

Deepest sympathy also to the families of two other recently deceased life members, Pat McInerney and Frank Buchanan.
Obituaries will appear in the next issue of the Red Machine.

Emerging talent recognised
Several MSP players, some new to the club, have already featured in representative and Wellington Academy sides this year.
Dane Coles is in the New Zealand team that will seek to retain its world title at the under-19 world championships in South Africa in April.
Hooker for the Wellington College 1st XV last year, Dane will play for MSP in 2005.
Ged Robinson, Joe Wright, Nick Passi and Pehira Huwyler were in the Wellington Academy side that completed a four-game tour of Australia in February.
Two other players, Arden David and Victor Vito, a NZ Secondary Schools rep last year, have also been drafted into the academy.
Victor joined Brendan Watt and Fa’atonu Fili in the Wellington sevens team that competed in the national sevens in Queenstown in January, after which Victor was picked in the New Zealand sevens training squad.

JUNIOR RUGBY

Coming up in the Junior Club....

Junior convenor
Any queries call MSP’s junior club convenor, Dan Tait-Jamieson.
Ph: 475 9909. Email: dan@t-j.co.nz.
You can also check out the club’s junior page: www.msprugby.co.nz/junior