Archive

Link back to latest Red Machine

The Red Machine
No 2. May 2003

PREMIER Lock Bernie Upton (left) receives a player-of-the-day award from captain Kas Lealamanua after a top performance in the recent last-gasp loss to Petone. Despite the premiers’ patchy form to date, Bernie is confident the team will come right. Now in his fourth year out of St Pats Silverstream, Bernie, 21, was a member of the Hurricanes Development squad this year and Wellington B last year.

New gym to cater for 13 MSP teams
by Alan Woods
MSP chairman

The season got underway with the grand opening of the refurbished gymnasium, and my thanks to NZRFU president Jock Hobbs for unveiling the plaque and to MSP president Ray Safey for co-ordinating the occasion.
The gym is a tremendous facility, one that all members can be extremely proud of.
We are fielding 13 teams this season in a variety of grades. Members are invited to support all our teams as they endeavour to win their respective championships.
Our teams and coaches also need support in the form of team managers. Anyone interested in assisting a team should feel free to phone me on 0274 439 176 or club captain Michael Sood on 025 668 8287.
I take this opportunity to welcome new managers to the club, particularly premier manager Jo Gilpin. Any support given by managers is greatly appreciated.
‘Hoppy Hour’
The clubrooms have opened with a new-look bar crew, ably led by Hoppy. “Hoppy Hour” runs each week from 5-6pm, so come and enjoy a cheap drink prior to the player-of-the-day awards.
A social calendar has been prepared (see below) and a variety of events are planned throughout the season - including quiz nights and Ladies’ Nights.
Player-of-the-day presentations are held at 6.20pm and co-ordinated by our new resident MC, Michael Renouf, (sidelined due to a serious injury). Come and see him in his Frank Casey suit and support our players each week.
Players are reminded that attendance at the clubrooms for presentations is expected. The clubroom plays an important part in establishing MSP culture. By supporting the clubrooms, you support your club and each other.

Join us for a complimentary lunch on

Old Timers’ Day 12 noon on Saturday 10 May

If you are a past player, official, or club member come along to the clubrooms
and meet up with old friends and clubmates.
Following the lunch, transport will be provided to:

MSP premiers v Ories at Rugby League Park, 3.00pm

plus the curtainraiser, where the unbeaten senior 1s will also play Ories.
For catering purposes, if you have not already advised
a sub-committee member that you can attend, please phone either
Ray Safey - ph/fax 386 1234, or
John Gordon - ph 476 7081, fax 476 7085.

Last year’s Old Timers’ Day was a great success, so come along,
meet old friends, and support the Red Machine!

In-form senior seconds aim for promotion
by Steve Cavanagh

The senior 2nds find themselves third on the points table at the halfway stage of the first round. With the top two sides being promoted at the end of the first round, it is imperative the side continues on its winning way.
After a shaky start, with two close defeats to Rimutaka and Upper Hutt, they have steadily improved, amassing 194 points for and conceding just 16 in their last three games.
The side, which is well lead by Mike Semu, has a good mix of youth and experience. It relies on the forwards setting a solid platform and then shifting the ball out wide to speedsters such as Mark Marika, Chris Collins, Vaea Leota and Chris Slade.
The team has a great spirit and is consistently well turned out at the clubrooms after the games. With this team spirit and commitment there is no reason why they should not progress to the higher division.

NEW GYM A WINNER: MSP club member John Gordon (left), NZRFU chairman Jock Hobbs (centre), and MSP president Ray Safey (right) at the February opening of the refurbished MSP gym. The facilities are working well, says MSP chairman Alan Woods, with revamped changing rooms and new meeting venues proving a big bonus.

Events Calendar (see Events also)
Social events coming up at MSP include

Saturday 17 May
Quiz Night
From 7pm at the clubrooms.

Saturday 24 May
Ladies’ Night
A complimentary glass of bubbly at the clubrooms for all women friends and supporters - 4.30pm onwards.

Thursday 29 May
1st $100 raffle
MSP clubrooms, from 7pm.

Friday 13 June
The annual Shamrock Club celebrity dinner - clubrooms, starting 7pm.

Saturday 14 June
All Blacks v England, 7.00pm, at the Stadium.
All club members invited to the Boatshed before and after the game.

Senior 1s rack up points in unbeaten start
The senior 1s’ unbeaten start to the season is even more impressive given they can’t field the same team in consecutive games because of demands from the premiers.
One of three unbeaten MSP teams at this stage of the season (along with the reserves and senior 4 whites), in six games the senior ones have scored 214 points for and conceded 45. Captain Aaron Davies says the team’s strength is its defence. Opposition teams have been held to an average of less than eight points per game.
Because of players moving up and down to the premiers, the team keeps to a simple style of rugby, but still manages to score tries from all over the park.
Aaron says top performers include lock Peter Atkins who has been playing outstanding rugby. Loose forwards Neil and Barry Meyer have also played well when not on premier duty, and last year’s colts Mark Simeon and Anthony Bradshaw are also having good seasons. Prop Josh Masson and hooker Ged Robinson have been other forwards to shine.
In the backs, centre/fullback Lote Raikabula is playing well, and the kicking of first-five Sam Rasch has proved invaluable.
While the biggest win to date has been 60-8 over Johnsonville’s seconds, three of the six wins have come against the top sides from the Wainui, Wellington and Stokes Valley clubs. The team is coached by John Bishop and John Bell.

Colts benefit from Spillane Cup trip
The MSP colts’ Easter trip to the Spillane tournament in North Harbour was a great success, says coach Tony Spillane.
The colts recorded a 41-12 victory over Auckland Marist on Easter Saturday but came unstuck in the Easter Monday final, losing 34-3 to North Harbour Marist.
Tony and club captain Mike “Soody” Sood accompanied 23 players on the bus trip to Auckland, where they were met by coaches Mouse Jensen and Chris Ryan.
Tony praised the behaviour of the squad, saying the players represented themselves and the club in an exemplary fashion. Even Soody was on his best behaviour.
“There’s absolutely no truth in the rumour that Soody ran naked around the Viaduct Basin,” said Tony. “He had a tie on.”
Halfback Henry Foleni and prop George Macgrannachan had particularly strong tournaments, he said, and the squad was well led both on and off the field by captain Fraser Quarterman.
All games were played at the Onewa Domain, but a tournament highlight was the five-star accommodation at the 15-storey Byron on Spencer Hotel in Takapuna, which bravely hosted 800 visiting Marist rugby players for the weekend.
Another highlight was the squad turning up for breakfast in the hotel’s white robes. The ample free breakfasts may have explained the flat performance in the 10.30am final.

SUPPORT CREW: Mike Renouf (centre, seated) is finding rugby life after injury - Mike is now MC at the clubrooms. Mike broke his leg in two places in the first game of the season. “I was tackled as I was scoring a try and I heard this massive crack,” he says. As MC he is now attracting quite a following - (from left) Michelle Symes, John Spillane, Jane Legge, Henry Fidow, and Kat Jensen.

OBITUARY
A.H. (Harry) Avery

A.H. (Harry) Avery left St Pats College in 1941 and joined the Air Force the following year. He served in the Pacific and played services rugby plus some wartime provincial matches before returning to Wellington and joining St Pats Old Boys.
He was an excellent lock and lineout forward. He was selected for Wellington in 1948 and 1949, and became captain in 1950.
He was chosen for the North Island in that year, but withdrew. Instead he retired at what, in today’s professional era, would be the ridiculously early age of 26.
He captained St Pats OB for their only Jubilee Cup (in a tie with Petone!) in a team that was probably the best-ever combination of Silverstream and Town Old Boys drawn from the war and pre-war years.
Harry was the highly respected captain of a closely-knit team and was a regular attender at their reunions, including that of the three Marist and St Pats sides of 1948-50.
His son, Roger, is a past MSP committee member.
- Dan Kelly

Around the traps

Marist stars
Two well-known New Zealand rugby players were honoured at the NZ Marist conference in Wellington in February.
Hamilton Marist’s Marty Holah was voted Marist Player of the Year 2002, with Ben Blair of Marist Albion Christchurch runner-up.
Blessed result
MSP’s Lome Fa’atau made one punter very happy when he scored the first try in the Hurricanes 42-26 hammering of the Waratahs. At odds of 11 to one, the punter had put $2000 on Lome to cross the try line first.
That investment netted a very tidy collect of $22,000. The question is: when the punter went to the TAB to collect his winnings, did he make the same little sign of the cross that Lome does when he scores his tries?
Big hits
MSP’s website continues to be well used, with over 9500 hits recorded in the three months to 23 April. Traffic has increased now the season is underway, with 4051hits in the last month.
The most popular web pages feature the newsletter, and the lists of fixtures and results which are updated weekly.

JUNIOR RUGBY

MSP junior club growing strongly
With registrations mostly completed, final numbers of players in the junior club are expected to be up 9% over last year.
This result comes after excellent work in the last few years by former junior convenor John Holden and is a tribute to all the effort he has put in.
Assisting greatly has been the work of the School Liaison Officers (see below) who have looked after registrations in the core schools. With 27 MSP junior teams, the growth has come mainly in the Small Black grades (under-6 to under-8).
Considerable time and resources were spent in the form of school visits and distributing brochures explaining what a great game the non-tackle version is for the little ones.
Strong growth was seen too in the western suburbs, where the club is keen to rebuild a strong base of players from St Brigid’s, St Benedict’s, Cardinal McKeefry and St Teresa’s.

Junior liaison officers for schools
A big thank you to the following School Liaison Officers, who are attached to each school to assist parents and help with enrolments - remember, it’s never too late to enrol.
St Teresa’s: Bernie Hunt - ph 970 4949
Cardinal McKeefry: Helen Ford - ph 477 3231
St Benedict’s: Chris Kelly - ph 385 2665
St Brigid’s: Dan Tait-Jamieson - ph 475 9909
Sacred Heart Dan Tait-Jamieson - ph 475 9909
St Bernard’s: Nikki Scott - ph 972 2110
St Frances de Sales: John Murfitt - ph 383 8366
St Anne’s: Denis Reid - ph 383 5452
St Patrick’s: Mary Crewdson - ph 386 1071
Holy Cross: Pat Dunn - ph 388 5780
Scots College: Kim Muollo - ph 380 9367
St Anthony’s: Pat Dunn - ph 388 5780

Under-13s off to flying start
The season opened with a bang for MSP’s juniors on 26 April, although only the under-13 teams played as problems with the draw prevented play in all other grades.
In the under-13 Open Grade, MSP Saints coached by Paul Nansett had an exciting 46-12 win over Newlands.
In the under-13 Restricted Grade, the Barbarians (MSP and Wellington combined) coached by Mike Blanchard, held on for a well deserved 27-17 victory.
Meanwhile the MSP Pumas raced away with a 63-10 defeat of Poneke that featured some great backplay.
James Philipsen-Yip in his first game on the wing scored four tries, while Aleni Pua at second five took a hat-trick. Darren Kippen also had an outstanding game on debut.
Clubs combine
MSP and Wellington RFC are leading the way in the new under-13 grade competition.
This year there are two grades: Open Grade for under-13s over 53kg (and under-12s over 63kg); and Restricted Grade for under-13s 53kg and under (and under-12s 63kg and under). The MSP Hurricanes team of many years has combined its strengths with Wellington to form the Barbarians.
Mike Blanchard of Wellington will coach, assisted by MSP’s Jim Gerondis and Mike Greco, with MSP’s Denis Reid as manager.

Junior convenor
Any queries call MSP’s junior club convenor Dan Tait-Jamieson
Ph: 475 9909.
Email: dan@t-j.co.nz.

Coming up...
Season underway
The season kicks off for most junior teams this Saturday, 3 May.
Sevens tournaments
Junior coaches are invited to enter their teams in two junior sevens tournaments coming up. The first will be held at Te Whiti Park, Lower Hutt, on Sunday 18 May.
The second is the Paremata-Plimmerton sevens on Queen’s Birthday Weekend. Interested coaches should get in touch with Dan Tait-Jamieson.

Thanks again to the Eastern Suburbs Sports Trust for their continuing support of Marist St Pats Junior Club.