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The Red Machine
No 5. August 2001

The Jubilee Cup, one of the few rugby trophies not held by Australia, will be in the Marist St Pats trophy cabinet over the summer after a late-season surge took the premiers to their second Cup victory in three seasons. Captain Kas Lealamanua holds the trophy high (see inside).

PRIZEGIVING FINALE
All MSP players and friends are invited to the club’s finale for the year, the annual prizegiving, to be held on
Thursday 6 September,
at the MSP clubrooms in Hataitai.
Cost: $10
Drinks will be served from 7.00pm, with dinner
(which is covered by the $10 ticket) due at 8.00.

Cup win a triumph of team spirit

Chairman's report
by Brian McGuinness

After the premier’s semi-final win over Petone, Dominion journalist Hamish Bidwell best summed up why our premier team triumphed and went on to repeat the effort a week later in the final.
“Marist St Pats have an uncanny knack of winning from improbable positions,” Bidwell wrote, “and once again showed what can be achieved through team spirit.”
We congratulate captain Kas Lealamanua and the team, coach Peter Russell and assistant Greg Halford, and the management team on an outstanding result which gave the club its fifth Jubilee Cup win in eight years.
Returning the finals to a Sunday was an unqualified success. The pre-match luncheon at the clubrooms drew excellent numbers and supporters packed the club after the game for the celebrations.
For our players, the welcome the team got when they came back to the clubrooms will remain a highlight of being part of a Marist St Pats Jubilee Cup-winning team.
Our supporters are a big factor in our success. The support of club members during and after the semis and finals is one reason why, once we make these play-offs, we seem to be able to go all the way.
Another achievement well worthy of recognition is our third team, the senior twos, winning their championship on the same weekend as the Jubilee Cup final.
This young team showed why many of these players are destined for the premiers. For coach Liam Halpin and assistant Stu Hancock, it was their third championship win in succession.
Mike Sood’s 80/80 Whites played in their final on 25 August, narrowly going down to the Axemen.
The Marist St Pats 80/80 grade has had another good year and we thank Jeff O’Sullivan and Richard Kilkenny whose enthusiasm is a big part of the 80/80’s success.
The club’s golf tournament at the Miramar Golf Club produced a very good field in spite of the cold conditions. Thanks to Tony Duffin and Brian Frederikson for their efforts in organising this popular tournament.
Our annual prizegiving is on Thursday 6 September. All players and club members are invited to attend this finale to the season.

Top points scorers

The club’s top goal kickers and try scorers during the season were:
Top try scorers
Tim Cahill, senior 2 - 16
Peter Henderson, 80/80 Black - 10
Fa’atonu Fili, senior 1/premier 1 - 10
J.P.Tocker, senior 1 - 9
Taua Sione, senior 1 - 9
Pio Savili, senior 2 - 9
Apoua Stewart, premier 1 - 8
James Reilly, premier 1 - 8

Top goal kickers
(figure in brackets is total points)
James Reilly, premier 1 - 184 (224)
Tom Cook, 80/80 Black - 166 (181)
Gareth Williams, senior 2 - 85 (115)
Hamish Walker, senior 3 Red - 82 (87)
Tyrone Edwards, Colts A - 77 (97)
Fa’atonu Fili, senior 1/premier 1 - 70 (120)
Alan Walker, 80/80 Green - 58 (68)

(Thanks to Barry Smith for the stats.)

Teamwork the key for top 80/80 side
“A good bunch of mates that teamed together well,” was how Mike Sood, coach of the club’s top 80/80 side, summed up the team’s success.
On their way to the division two final on 25 August the 80/80 Whites beat the three other MSP 80/80 teams. However, they went down to Wellington 6-11 in the final.
“To get to the finals was a good effort, because it was a pretty tough grade,” says Soody.
Captain and no 8 Matt Hunt led the team well, and lock Tim Ellis and prop Kaipara Murch also had strong seasons.
Centre Andre Gini and wing Tim Jackonetti stood out in a very sharp set of backs.
“In several games the whole team was just outstanding,” says Soody. He added that the team appreciated the backing from parents and other supporters.

DRESS-UPS: The Vatican Army and young friends warm up for the final - from the clubrooms before the game.

Congratulations to Marist teams
Marist St Pats was one of six Marist club sides around the country to top their local competition. Congratulations also to these winners:
- Ardmore Marist (Counties)
- Old Boys Marist (Poverty Bay)
- Napier OB Marist (Hawkes Bay)
- Marist (Nelson - the club’s first championship for 21 years)
- Marist (Southland).
Nationally, a feature of this year’s club finals was the huge attendances in some centres. For instance, 6000 spectators were reportedly at the Taranaki club final between Tukapa and Eltham-Kaponga. And 5000 were at the Glenmark-Oxford final in North Canterbury.

St Pats Old Boys Dinner
at the MSP clubrooms
Thursday 11 October 2001, at 7pm.
For tickets contact
Nelson Nunns, ph 384 6410, or
Budgie Jacobsen, ph 386 3476.

Cup final action

Peter Bush wasn’t the only top photographer at the stadium - our very own paparazzi Paul “Budgie” Jacobsen infiltrated the changing rooms to get these post-match photos of the premiers (below).

CELEBRATING HALFBACKS: Nick Tuohy (left) and Reece Poutawera.

RHYS JOHNSTON looks happy, but his son still looks a little disappointed at dad’s sinbinning.

JUNIOR RUGBY

Congratulations to under-12s
Congratulations to the following MSP junior club members who were nominated for trials for higher honours in 2001:
Under-12; Valentine Meachen, Tipene Friday, Sean Conway, John Mollo, Joshua Dunn, Benjamin Nansett, Michael Faamau, Ben Goodwin, Aaron Telfer, Jason Geusebroek, Vincent Schumacher.
In the under-11s, nominated players from the MSP Pumas (coached by Dan Tait-Jamieson, manager Kathy Shaw) and MSP Hurricanes (coached by Mike Greco and Jim Gerondis, manager Denis Reid) joined together with the Wellington club’s under-11s to compete in a Wellington Zone tournament.
The team came a very creditable second (to Poneke-Ories), and displayed high skill levels in representing MSP with distinction!

All MSP juniors are invited to enjoy MSP’s hospitality at
the Grand End-of-Season function
on 15 September at the Hataitai Clubrooms.

Parents and players from the U-7 Pacers (coached by Brent Edwards and managed by Krysia Reid); the U-7 Saints (coached by Tony Basile and managed by Jo Dalton); and the U-8 Flyers (coached by Rob Siolo and managed by Chad Daniels), who helped Saatchi and Saatchi with the filming of a new TV advertisement for the NZRFU.

Fourth formers to the fore! St Pats Town fourth formers Michael Holden (left) and Casey Dalton have contributed to the success of primary school rugby by stepping forward to coach and referee MSP junior teams. Michael coaches the U-9 Knights and Casey, with his brother Luke, is assisting John Newell with coaching the U-13 Sharks.

MSP U-11 coach Mike Greco with Hurricanes flanker Kupu Vanisi. Under-11 teams spent a full Sunday morning recently with Wellington Hurricanes and Lions players, culminating in a series of matches refereed by the stars.

Enjoying MSP’s clubroom hospitality at the famous grand sausage sizzle are players from the U-10 St Francis team. The team is coached by Mark Tesoriero and Pat Hannaway and managed by Ralph Byrne.

The junior club is proudly supported by:
- The Society of Mary (the Marists!)
- Trust House and Pak ‘n’ Save Eastern Suburbs Sports Trust
- Community Trust of Wellington
- The Hillary Commission and Wellington City Council.
The juniors’ team photos are generously sponsored by Deep Blue Seafoods, Circuit Systems Ltd, Kilbirnie Sportsworld, Dalton Business Action Planning Ltd, Portable Fence Hire, and Jo Tesoriero - First National Real Estate.

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