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    • Celebration Postponement
      •   It has been decided to replace our intended Queens Birthday function with a Dinner on Friday 14 August the evening prior to the All Blacks/Wallabies Test in Wellington. The Celebration Committee has regretfully come to the conclusion that the paucity of numbers having registered at this point does not inspire confidence that an event catering for up to 300 will be viable. Hence the decision to have a Dinner Evening associated with the Test when numbers of our out of towners would be encouraged to make the journey and catch up with mates from the past. The venue will be the Cossie Club Upstairs Balcony area. We shall now dolly up the Registration process to recognise the new plan. Watch this space! Bob Vine on behalf of the Organising Committee.  

    • Supporters
      • Registration of interest ( Are you able to assist with hunting down some of those identities from the past? Please communicate to rugbyuh2020@gmail.com Supporters – Where have they gone? “Fifty Golden Years” compiled by Dudley Hercock for the celebration of the Club’s Jubilee gives mention of Denny Kelly, a very well known character and supporter of the club before and after World War I. Denny was a long time Railway employee whose battle cry was often heard from the side line – “Hutt! Hutt! Hutt! Kick the goots  out of ’em Hutt! Hutt!. Another supporter who made it to the Newspapers was the late Henry Williams who made it to the Upper Hutt Leader in 1995: Caption: “In nearly 50 years supporter extraordinaire Henry Williams has never missed watching his beloved Upper Hutt senior rugby side play. By the time of the Jubilee Game on Easter Saturday, April 15, against Norths, he will have watched 816 consecutive games.” Printed in the ‘Leader’ on April 3, 1995 It will be recalled that Henry was always amongst the first to arrive at Maidstone Park matches – by bicycle, and for his imaculate dress.   Then we have the Far Side Boys who occupy a prime advertising fence space at Maidstone, and recently with the temporary move to Maoribank Park, the side opposite the River. “City councillor Glenn McArthur and the Far Side Boys at Upper Hutt club rugby at Maidstone Park. From left: Chris Gallagher, Dave Ritchie, Steve Hearfield, McArthur, Colin Williams and Chris Hope”. Published in the Dominion Post, 28 March 2017. “There’s only one place you will find Glenn McArthur on winter Saturdays: watching the Upper Hutt Rams rugby team. If they are playing at  Maidstone Park, he’ll be at the halfway point on the far side of the ground, a spot McArthur and a hardy group of regulars have long made their own. “We’ve watched from here for a lot of years. I started to come across when I was chairman to get away from all the responsibilities and shoulder tapping and to just be able watch the game,” the third-term Upper Hutt city councillor said. Last Saturday for McArthur, decades of supporting Upper Hutt rugby came to the fore. The Upper Hutt Rams’ first home game in 2017 marked the appearance of “The Far Side Boys” billboard. The sign, and the sponsorship which goes with it, was McArthur’s idea. “Dustin Brattle who is busy in the club is from Dzine Signs and made it up for us. We’re  all very happy with it and the guys had a 50-point win in front of it too so maybe we are on to something, ” the former club premier manager, colts coach and junior and age-grade player said.  The sign sits on the fence which in 2014 McArthur, and Kerry Southee, built after the original fell into disrepair. “Yes that’s a nice touch I guess. The whole fence is looking good with lots of new sponsors’ signs up. So this is my hidden interest, though I’m not sure it’s that hidden. We can be pretty vocal. “We’ve grown to a wider group, we can muster up pretty well some days but whatever’s happening we’ll always have the core group here.  “We have our rules too, the vocal comments have to be supportive of our boys, we’ve had a ‘no muppets’ rule for years. “Referees and touchies too, we support them and we even try to help them out sometimes. “It’s the best spot to watch a game, whatever ground we are at we’re always on the far side,” the club life member, said. “You are close to the action, close to the players. We make an effort to watch the reserves too in the early game. It’s a club thing. “We happily take the sun in our face when we can and we’ve stood here in almost horizontal rain. It even snowed once but, to be fair, I do remember moving under the scoreboard for the second half of that one. “It’s just an afternoon of relaxing fun really, with no stress and a hell of a lot of laughs. There’s plenty of good rugby too.” Supporters Club: For many years the Club has been brilliantly served with a “Supporters Club”. However in the past few years regular membership has declined. Whereas in the past, under the leadership of the late Dorothy Troy, a Runciman’s bus load of upwards of 40 supporters would follow the Seniors’/Premiers’ bus to every away game, the group has declined to about 12 in number, who over the past 2 seasons have taken up occupancy on the Maoribank Park Stopbank. The regular choice of a “player” of the day continues – good thing, but without the terse debate which was a feature of the past. Dorothy was elected a Life Member for her services to the Club in leading the Supporters Club. The most “dated” member of the current Supporters is “Boot” aka Brian Foster. Boot’s membership of the Club dates back to the late 40’s, as a schoolboy,  through to the very early 60’s. He was a key member of the Club’s Third Second side, sometimes filling in with the Senior’s during the time of his “maturity”. The Upper Hutt Leader closely followed Boot’s time in the adult grades with 22 mentions 1955 – 1960. SENIORS DEFEAT ATHLETIC The team was changed from the previous week, Foster and Garrett being replaced in the forwards by Thorner and Daley, while the back line was Stewart half, Brennan 1st; Christie 2nd, Palmer centre, with Turvey and Mitchell on the wings. Upper Hutt Leader, 26 May 1955. Note: The goal kicker in this game was Brian Palmer who kicked over 100 points in 4 of the seasons he played for Upper Hutt, having been formerly with Hutt. THIRD SECONDS The team retained its position as co-leaders of the Competition on Saturday when.they defeated Wellington 8-3 at Kilbirnie. Upper Hutt’s points came from a penalty by Boot Foster who also converted a try scored by Bill Knight in the last minute of the game. Upper Leader, 21 May 1959. THIRD II STILL UNBEATEN One hundred points for and nine against is the record of this team who on Saturday defeated a weak Oriental-side 37-0 at Kilbirnie. For Upper Hutt tries ware scored by Cokey. O’Riely, Morgan, Reid (2) and Foster. The “Boot” converted all of these tries and kicked three penalties….. The star of  the game, of course, was the”Boots” boot with 22 points the majority of his successes were from well out. Upper Hutt Leader, 4 June 1959 THIRD SECONDS The locals again provided a chopping block for one of the top teams on Saturday when they were defeated by Varsity, Weir, 22-9, at Macalllster Park. Varsity’s points came from 4 tries, 2 conversions and 2 penalties, while for Upper Hutt, Sandy Robinson scored a try and Boot Foster kicked two penalties. Upper Hutt Leader, 30 July 1959. “Veni, vldi, vici might well have been skipper “Boot” Foster’s theme, song on Saturday after leading his team to a hard-earned 9-6 win over the previous unbeaten competition leaders, Hutt Marist. Upper Hutt’s points-came from an unconverted try by Bill Knight and two penalties by “Boot” Foster”. Upper Hutt Leader, 16 June 1960. Maidstone Park Viewing Gallery: Occupation of this area on occasion became quite a furnace. Where as in earlier years the intensity was created by virture of the numbers from both sides, recent years have been notable for the decline in regular Upper Hutt supporters. On these occasions it has been a majority of opposition spectators with the derisive and aggressive comments with no real kick back from our fans. There was however one occasion when Norths’ supporters, representing about 80% of the number in the Gallery, were stirred into a real frenzy when it was quietly made known that the Referee was the son of Life Member, Ross Pinfold. The uproar was more mighty than on the occasion, a few years back, that Petone, in a vital Swindale Shield match, helicoptered in, with 5 minutes to start, All Blacks first five-eighth Simon Mannix. The Future: As with almost all sports and recreation clubs ours is no different, with over recent years, a substantial decline in numbers of players and followers. I read recently in the Dominion Post of Hutt Valley High School with 1,700 pupils struggling to sustain  more than 3 Rugby teams and even then with numbers being made up with a few from Naenae College.  I do not know what the situation is in Upper Hutt but would be surprised if it is any different. This is a nation-wide phenonomen. It is heartening to know (25 February 2020) that a process of radically changing the set-up of rugby in the country has started – with New Zealand Rugby releasing some of the findings of an independent investigation (McKinsey Report) into the state of the game. NZR has presented the findings of the McKinsey report to provincial unions – a new blueprint for how the game should be organised, managed and structured. Rugby is under pressure in many parts of the game, from participation, fan engagement, talent retention and increasingly tough financial environments. The purpose of the review is to address, amongst others, stagnant participation rates, increasing drop-out rates among teens and plunging spectator interest in Mitre 10 Cup and Super Rugby. Having said that I do not believe however that we should rely on the results of this higher level review to, in time, provide all the answers to allowing us to locally increase participation of players and supporters to the level of sustainability. Here in Upper Hutt there is anecdotal evidence that features of the “merger” in 2014 have exacerbated the situation with regard to support, on the paddock, administratively and spectator interest. I hesitate to raise this but we have to be honest with ourselves if we are to find ways and means of at least getting back some of those who were avid supporters of the two Clubs prior to 2014. The Celebration of 110 years of Rugby in Upper Hutt offers the opportunity to mull this over and look for positive measures to arrest the decline. Let’s open up and get talking about it! Bob Vine 06/03/2020    

    • Yellow Bellies – Morgy & Sam Coleman Classic
      • Found this is the April 1998 edition of “SPORTS Plus” which was a Free publication circulated in the Upper Hutt, Porirua and Kapiti Coast districts: The article was written under the pseudonym of some cove calling himself “Grumps from Gramps”. “Yellow Bellies, from Sam Coleman Classic A recent event, drawing large numbers to the Trentham Camp Golf Club course, was the Annual Sam Coleman Golf Classic, restricted to entries from Yellow Bellies and burgling Ockers. The feature of the prestigous event this year revolved around an incident involving well known Upper Hutt escort, Mike Morgan, aka Morgy. It seems that Morgy had been over-watered the previous evening, or had picked up a bug from within a sausage so ably cooked a little on the raw side by chefs, Biggles and Morty, for consumption at the Bubbly Breakfast start to the day. Anyway, on the second hole Morgy slipped a cog in his ring gear and soiled his jockies. As the first move to disguise his embarrasment he disappears into Effing Forest to turn the stained clothing inside out. This lasted OK for another few holes when he noticed that for some reason his mates where taking a different approach to the Hole. Morgy being quite quick with the brain picks up that he has been given away by the surrounding cloud of flies. In another effort to hide his dilemma he throws all caution to the wind and was observed washing his smalls in one of the puddles so fortuitously dug out by well known ditch digger Paddy Roil a few days beforehand. This saw him out to the 18th where, unlike normal practice, our friend Morgy quickly departed without so much as a good bye.” Morgy also features on the Yellow Bellies Honours Board for “Courage on the Field”. We were playing the Jugglers at Ngati Toa Domain when with a large cracking sound poor old Morgy hits the deck. Unfortunately he had broken his ankle. An Ambulance was called but took quite some time to arrive. In the meantime it was pissing down with rain. To shelter  Morgy he was covered with a large tarpaulin and the rest of his mates repaired to the Bar in the Clubrooms. We did however keep a close eye on him and provided him with the odd Ale or two while waiting for the Ambulance.

    • Yellow Bellies – Biggles
      • Great to see that Biggles aka Bob Galgey has updated his number 1 CV in commenting on one of our Posts: “coached junior rugby played j7s and presidents for the club and was an original member of the golden oldies and still playing”. This should keep him in a job for a few more years. In the course of my genealogical research I think I have found one of Biggle’s Great Uncles. Here he is pictured in “Gren’s Rugby Addicts’ Calendar – 1977” which stars the International Reject Fifteen.  Club History: Formed in 1973 after eight pints, two whiskies. PLAYERS WHO HAVE REPRESENTED THEIR COUNTRY: Kojak Llewellyn (table skittles v Andorra, 1974) Club badge – Chicken on yellow background. OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS: v. Melrose 1974 – came second; v. Bristol 1975 – came second; v. Sale 1975 – narrowly lost 104-9 in last minute of injury time. 1976 – won tight head against the scrumaging machine. W.C. (Biggles) SHORTHOUSE, L/Corp. (Retd.) Club captain. Plays at scapegoat. A product of the schoolboy rugby system, but even so still likes the game. In addition to being captain, Biggles also owns the ball, the ground and the clubhouse. He is a tireless worker behind the scenes and in addition to organising the club fund-raising activities is also the treasurer’s accomplice. By profession he is a gentleman farmer specialising in free-range sausages.

    • Celebrating Rugby in Upper Hutt – 1906-2020: Registration Forms
      • Registration Forms It would seem that the earlier post to this site carrying the Registration Forms was unusable by some. I have edited the earlier edition to eliminate the error. “Queen’s Birthday weekend 2020 the Club will be celebrating over a Century of Rugby in the Upper Hutt area. There has been much discussion about what was our actual Centennial year. If you click here you will find that it has been finally established as being 1909 when the Club was affiliated as a member of the Wellington Rugby Football Union. Prior to this Rugby games of a casual nature were played in the district from around 1906. These games were primarily of a casual nature involving Railway teams. The situation was further compounded with the establishment of a new club incorporating Rimutaka and Upper Hutt in 2014 when both the Upper Hutt and Rimutaka Clubs were dissolved and replaced with the new Upper Hutt Rams RFC. The decision was taken to embrace all Rugby right from the start in 1906 to the present day. Also as part of the celebrations, the Junior Section of the Club will mark its 75th year. A Celebration Committee has been set up and has begun the task of organising this important milestone. One of the first tasks is to compile a register of past and present members, to make contact with them and to request an Expression of Interest so as to ascertain the likely numbers to attend. It is with this in mind that we ask that the attached forms be completed and returned to the Club either by Scan completed Form and email to:  rugbyuh2020@gmail.com Complete Form and return by post: The Celebration Secretary Upper Hutt Rams Rugby Football Club PO Box 40889 Upper Hutt  5140 For further information refer to the Club’s Website at our Website:https://uhramsrugby 

    • Yellow Bellies, Golden Oldies Rugby, the Early Years
      • Informal team photograph, ”Golden Oldies’ Maidstone Park 1987′. Standing; from left: Kevin Keown, Bill Steere, Alan Waterson, Kevin Murphy, Roy Sutherland, Neville Lomax, John Troy, Allan Ross, Charlie Palmer, Keith Watts, Ron Jarvis, Bob Vine, Dave Mudgway, Mike Kwokson, Ron McFarlane, Ray Greville, Butch Harawira, Ray Morunga, Dick Woollett, Trevor Colling, Robbie Baker, Dave Painter, Ian McFarlane, Dave Hendren, Jim Gilligan. Front, from left: Trevor Symonds, Paul Stott, Colin Cowden, Bill Jago, Bob Galgey, Mike Morgan, Geordie Marshall, VernElliott, Paul Murray, Trevor Davidson, Brent Morton and Steve Quinn. The “Yellow Bellies” is a team of old codgers playing rugby for Fun, Friendship and Fraternity. The team was formed in the early 1980’s after a World Festival was held in Auckland, some clips were shown on TV and it was thought it would be a good idea to have a team here in Upper Hutt and join in the fun. The name “Yellow Bellies” was adopted from an archive of the Evening Post newspaper, when on a rare occasion that the Upper Hutt Rugby team played in Wellington, the headline read “Yellow Bellies Come to Town”. In recognition of this the name was taken and our Golden Oldies played in the jersey with the traditional yellow band. Bob Vine, Brent Morton and Dave Hendren (RIP) got together and called a meeting of interested over 35 year olds. Around 30 players turned up for the first Sunday morning training run and drinks which at all times was the main attraction. A small informal committee was established with Brent Morton being appointed Pooh-Bah (losely meaning a pompous self- important person) a term which has stuck within the team, with Dave (Four and a Half) Hendren being the money man of the day. Everyone would always lend a hand and no one ever said no when asked to help out even the opposition players who would do the dishes after the meal with the promise of a couple of bottles of Port in the Kitchen. Part of the informal rules was that you had to join and be a paid up member of the Upper Hutt Rugby Club before you could play for the Yellow Bellies. The team also did work around the Club, cleaning up the grandstand and changing rooms before the start of the new season and they also painted the entrance way and toilets one year and cleaning the kitchen was another of their regular tasks. They also sponsored a Player of the Day each week from the top team who played at Maidstone on a Saturday and provided that player with their aftermatch drinks. Sponsorship of Junior Rugby teams was also undertaken. All games were held on a Sunday with home and away fixtures with games against the the Masterton Millhillians, Wainiomata Wags, Ories Magpies, Hutt Old Boys Hobnobs, Petone Villagers, Stokes Valley Gangsters, Otaki Gazbo’s, Tawa Toads, Norths Blues Brothers, Paraparaumu Gorillas, Avalon Tanners, Ngatitoa Jugglers, Levin Crusaders, Manawatu Evergreens and The Rimutaka Rams which was chosen as our first opponent in 1985. This game proved to be rather “testy” (easily irritated; impatient and somewhat bad-tempered) and as is the protocol the match ended in a well deserved Draw. Some of the teams also had Netball teams which played a Curtain Raiser. It was usual for the home team to provide some food for the visitors before they left for home and the locals got the leftovers. The Yellow Bellies had a great reputation for providing quality meals and on occasions a roast meal was the order of the day. Locals from around and about would turn up for a free feed and a door check was needed every now and then. Everyone gave a helping hand from selling raffle tickets, preparing food, cleaning up. There was always a hilarious fining session with “Dick and Dickless of the Day” awards for both Rugby and Netball. Wives, Girlfriends, and Children who have always been a big part of the Yellow Bellies, providing a family atmosphere. The first away trip was to Nelson for the weekend to play Waimea. They didn’t turn up as we had already obtained a reputation as a team not knowing when to go home. This occasion has been written into the team’s history as our first away trip and a bonding get to know you exercise. Regular weekends away to Napier, Wanganui, Masterton, Palmerston North and Fielding followed. The first overseas trip was to Hawaii in 1989 followed by World Festivals, which are a big part of Yellow Bellie life. Festivals in Perth, Adelaide, and Christchurch were some of the early ones attended.  Fund raising was a big part of going on those trips with all sorts of tasks taken nothing too big and nothing too small. With this came along the need for a GST registration as we were required to give a GST receipt so a Constitution was put in place to enable us to become an Incorporated Society and get GST registered. The Yellow Bellies did not make Rugby their only active sports pursuit. Annual matches of Irish Road Bowls with the Irish Society were also major events. The event path commenced at the Mangaroa School and ran to Bill Jago’s Barn for a barbecue and drinks and back. The Bowling teams were followed by a portable bar and a mine detector to find bullets which had been fired off course – usually in amongst the gorse. Competition organised by Upper Hutt Yellow Bellies Golden-Oldies Rugby team; four-person teams hurling 2-pound (900-gramme) steel balls along 2.3 km of rural roads.A greyscale image was printed in the Upper Hutt Leader on 26/1/2000;    The Yellow Bellies have been a great success over the years and are still going strong to this day. The only original players still actively playing are “Biggles” aka Bob Galgey and Ron Macfarlane aka “Grey Way” puts the boots on every now and then. This item has been contributed by Morty, Pooh Bah #One

    • Women’s Rugby in Upper Hutt
      • This photo was posted recently by Rosalie Reeves- Smith to the “You know you grew up in Upper Hutt, New Zealand when you remember ………..” Facebook page with a number of requests for a better copy. I am waiting on this to happen but in the meantime this provides us with an opportunity to gather a little bit of the history of Women’s Rugby in Upper Hutt and to find people interested in joining the celebration of 110 years of Rugby in Upper Hutt. Teresa Howland Homan commented: “I always remember Jimmy Walsh saying you have to make at least a few feet before passing the ball along the back line.I shout that at the hurricans We were first upper hutt women’s team.” That establishes who the Coach was for this particular team. We have also got the First Aider – Neil Rowe and several suggestions as to who the other players were. Evidently one game played was a charity match at Taita and it would appear that this was reported in a newspaper, possibly the Leader, but unfortunately we do not have online copies of that publication beyond 1965. Good copies of both the photograph and newspaper clipping would be greatly appreciated – please email me at bvine697@gmail.com However I do remember a visit from a team of “ladies” from San Diego sometime in the 1980s. This led to a riotous weekend with a welcome function in the Clubrooms on the Friday following which we retired to the Tote. The session at the Tote blew the locals away with its likening to an aftermatch on an away trip with Rugby songs that would have made, excuse me, the Censor sh.. him/herself and beer consumption at a level never before seen. I cannot recall which team won the Saturday match but I do recall the repeat performances from Friday night at Astral Towers where we held the Aftermatch. Looking at what we have and talking to some of the old timers it now appears that our women played a charity match at Taita and in later seasons participated in regular competition matches. Any further information would be greatly appreciated as it is a must that Women’s Rugby is recorded in the publication being composed to celebrate Rugby in Upper Hutt 1906 – 2020. Please use the “Leave a Reply” or the “Post Comment” boxes below.

    • From the News over the Years
      • Introduction; This Blog contains a variety of newspaper extracts involving the Upper Hutt Rugby Football Club harvested from three main sources: The National Library’s “Papers Past” Newspapers Collection. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers The Upper Hutt Newspaper Archive where you are able to access retrospective issues of Upper Hutt’s longest running community newspaper — The Leader. The current digital collection https://newspaperarchives.uhcc.govt.nz/ covers the early years of the paper, 1939–1964 but is incomplete with no issues for 1942, 1945 and 1948 and some issues missing from various years. The Upper Hutt City Library Community Archive which holds paper copies of the Leader from 1965 to the present day. Enquiries can be made to archives@uhcc.govt.nz The two UHCC Collections contain a gold mine of articles of weekly reports of matches across all grades in which Upper Hutt teams participated, contributed by Jack F Douglas who in recognition of his work in reporting club news was appointed at the Club’s 1960 AGM as its Publicity Officer, a post he held until 1970. We welcome comments and anecdotes to add to this collection of items from the past. Please forward your contributions by posting a “Comment” from the box at the bottom of this Post or by email to bvine697@gmail.com . Also, you may be able to assist in growing our former members’ mailing list. In this respect we would be delighted to have any contact addresses (preferably email) that you may be able to muster up. An option here would be to subscribe the good soul. Thanks. At the recent meeting of the Wellington Rugby Union the Referees’ Association proffered a request for first class fare and tea money for the members officiating in matches at the Upper Hutt. The union had previously decided to grant 2s 6d for expenses, and it was decided to stick to this resolution. One of the committee remarked that the referees would soon expect to be provided with cigars and chocolates. Evening Post, 1909. It was decided to reply to an application from the Upper Hutt Football Club, that unless the club could procure a ground convenient to town, its nomination could not be accepted.  Evening Post, 1 April 1909 An explanation was received from T. Nuttall, referee in the Upper Hutt St. John’s game, regarding a protest made by Upper Hutt concerning some of his decisions. He admitted on one occasion having ruled against Upper Hutt by mistake when the team had really scored a try. The match was won by St. John’s by 5 points to 3. It was decided to accede to the request of Upper Hutt Club and have the match replayed. New Zealand Times, 8 July 1909 NEW ZEALAND BODY MEETS.The Management Committee of the New” Zealand Rugby Union met last night. ……….The action of the Wellington Union in suspending H. Benge, captain of the Upper Hutt Club, for failing to appear before the union, was endorsed. Evening Post 21 December 1920 The annual meeting of the Upper Hutt Football Club was held last evening. There were about 60. members present. Mr. T. Quinn, President, occupied the chair.The club had a very successful season, the third-class championship being annexed. This team was beaten twice in the first round, but won all games in the final. Four members played with the third-grade representatives. The fifth class team gave a creditable showing.The election of-, officers resulted:— Patron, Mr, W. H. Field, M.P. ; president, Mr. T. Quinn; vice-president, Dr. Kemp, Messrs. F. W. Connell, D. P. Barrett, H. B, Barrett, P. McLauglan, J. Wunnibal, W. Keys, J. Horlock, A. K. Jowitt. M. Greig, P. Robertson, P. D. Davis, R. E. Jones. G. Campbell. W. H. Edwards, W F Hawker club captain, Mr. J. Paul; delegate to Rugby Union,. Mr. G. Wall; management committee, Messrs. L. Benge, G. Wale, W. Hawker, J. Paul, R. Sanderson; treasurer, Mr. F. Martin; secretary, Mr. L. D. Greenwood. Evening Post, 16 March 1922 The Upper Hutt Club is to be asked to supply an estimate of the approximate cost of putting two grounds at Quinn’s Post in order. Evening Post, 2 April 1930 UPPER HUTT BOROUGHA meeting of the Upper Ilutt Borough Council was held on Monday. Mr. J. Robertson (Mayor) was in the chair, and others present were Councillors M. Hood, G. 11. Guthrie, J. 0. Duff, E: W. Cottle, C. L. A. Spearman. A. Howell, and W. Greig.Thc-Upper Hutt Football Club was granted the use of No. 1 and No. 2 grounds on Maidstone Park at a rent of £1 per ground every Saturday during the football season. Councillor Greig said the Rugby Union had not taken advantage of the park during the latter part of last season and said he thought the Park should be used for games each Saturday to the end of the season. Evening Post, 2 April 1930 SENIOR B GAMEThe Selwyn team continued on its winning way by defeating a much-improved Upper Hutt fifteen at Maidstone Park on Saturday. Play was very even in the first spell, and give-and-take play was the order, until- Leggat kicked a penalty goal for Selwyn from well out. Shortly afterwards Mitchell secured from a. line-out, and, after a short run, scored in the corner. Leggat missed the kick. Selwyn 6, Upper Hutt 0. Just before half Mime Taylor scored for Upper Hutt and Avery converted. Selwyn set up a strong attack at the commencement of the second half. Leggat secured the ball and “potted” a clever goal. Selwyn 10, Upper Hutt 5. Selwyn continued to press, and from a line-out Mooney secured and forced his way over. The kick missed. Selwyn 13, Upper Hutt 5. Ward next made a strong run for Selvyn, but he was well tackled near the line. Ballinger then broke away for Upper Hutt, but met with the same fate as Ward. Selwyn came back, and Hancock scored a good try, which. Leggat converted just on time, leaving Selwyn the winners by 18 points to 5. During most of the second spell Selwyn played with fourteen men, owing to Allerdyce having to retire wth an injured ankle. Evening Post, 3 June 1930 Jim Kemp is a member of the Ohakea Air Force team and has represented Manawatu. He is at present on leave because of a football injury which will keep him on the bank for some time. Note: Jim Kemp served the Club as Senior II Coach 1948 1949 1956 1959 and 1960. Hutt News, 18 July 1945 SCHOOLBOY RUGBY. A practice will be held at the gymnasium on Friday evening at 6.30 p.m. All boys are also asked to bring their cobbers. Teams for Saturday at Maidstone Park at 10 o’clock will be selected from Adamson, Turvey, Burgess, Dunn, Lloyd, J. Braid, Butler, Barr, Doran, Williamson, D. Braid, Braddock, Piper, Hardie, Sygrove, Mountier, J. Braddock, B. Braddock, Foster, Alley, Edwards, Myers, Howan, Coley, Askew, Moore, James, Jackson, Pelling and de Stefano. Upper Hutt Leader, 19 June 1947 RUGBY FOOTBALLUpper Hutt’s Success: Upper Hutt won the Wellington Rugby Union’s senior second division on Saturday, beating Wellington 17-15. Note: This was the first time in its history that Upper Hutt had won the Harper-Locke Shield and the right to challenge for Senior A status. The match was lost 25 – 20 to Hutt. Note: The Harper-Locke Shield was also won in the 1958 and 1960 Seasons. Both Promotion/Relegation matches were lost – Oriental 11-14 and Taita 3-3 all draw. Of interest the Try to draw was scored for Taita by John Penny the owner of the New World Supermarket in Maidstone Mall. Hutt News, 3 September 1947 SHADES OF THE PAST IN RUGBY. On September 15, 1934, Upper Hutt Rugby Club played their Annual Match against Ngaruwahia at Maidstone Park and after some bright and fast rugby the local team was successful. Players who represented Upper Hutt on this occasion were Avery, Bell, Musgrove. Collins, Carrig, Aitkin, Gibling, Martenga, Danby, McGregor, Jackson, Bruid, Maher (Stan), McDonald, Galloway. Note: “Jackson’ was the father of the late “Jacko” Jackson a popular Upper Hutt player whose father was Lawrence Jackson (rower) Lawrence Jackson (27 February 1907 − 28 October 1937), also known as Lawrence Woodgate, a New Zealand rower, who represented New Zealand at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. He was a member of the New Zealand crew that was eliminated in the repêchage of the men’s eight. Jackson, of Ngāi Tahu descent, and Jack Macdonald, also a member of the men’s eight, were the first Māori Olympians. (Wikipedia) Upper Hutt Leader, 12 March 1953 Colin Guppy former Upper Hutt Club player, who last year captained the Petone second diyision team, will be turning out for the local club once again. Guppy is a great line-out forward, and will be a tower of strength in the local pack. George Torkington, Upper Hutt’s best line-out forward last season, will also be turning out, so between the two of them in line-outs, a decided weakness last season may become one of our strong points. There is still a grave shortage ofcoaches, so anyone interested should contact the club captain. Eric Connolly, or any member of the committee. Another acquisition to .the club will be Brian Palmer, a former Hutt senior. “Happy” Swain, whose swerving runs have caused so much excitement at Maidstone Park has decided to retire. Trevor Burgess, who played in the front row for Massey College last season will be turning out for Upper Hutt. Neil Butler, former Upper Hutt junior, has transferred to Wellington Marist and stands a good chance of gutting into the senior first division. Ray Daley, who showed promise in the forwards last year, has also transferred to Wellington Marist. Tom Humphries, who played for Hutt senior B last year is returning to the Upper Hutt Club. Peter Edwards, ex-Saturday morning schoolboy star is also to play for the local club this season, probably with the fourths. Colin Thorner, Dick Gribben, the Turvey brothers, Brian Osborne, Johnny Fowke, Don Garrett, Fabian Stewart, Nev. Turner, Keith Maher, Bill Moule and Joe Daley are all in training, so most likely the senior team will start off very much the same as last year. It has to be remembered however,that with young players fighting for promotion it is quite possible that there will be quite a few alterations as the season progresses. Noel Bell, a third grade representative, shows good prospects as a five-eighth. Jim Toms, who played for the juniors but turned out for the seniors on a couple of occasions will also be available. The seniors will be looking around for a good hooker—he will have to be a good one—to take the place of Ray Maher who has decided to call it a day. The club is keen to enter teams in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades so if you were under 18, 17 or 16 on April 1 get in touch with Eric Connolly. Ross Wilkinson, who played on the wing for the junior and senior teams last year will be playing for Otahuhu this season. Ross was a Wellington junior 440 yds champion so Upper Hutt’ s loss will be Otahuhu’s gain. P. & T. have again affiliated with the club and hope to field a very strong team. It is understood that former All Black Mike Gilbert will be coaching the team. All players are requested to be at Trentham Camp at 1.30 p.m. on Saturday for training games. There is a possibility that matches will he played in all grades with the Taita Club. Upper Hutt Leader, 1 April 1954 JOHNSTONE TO PLAY FOR UPPER HUTTJ. Johnstone, the Athletic Club and Wellington representative rugby fullback; has joined the Upper Hutt Club. Upper Hutt play in the senior second division. Johnstone is now living at Upper Hutt.  Johnstone played many times for Wellington. One of his best performances was his full-back display against the Springboks. Upper Hutt Leader, 27 March 1958 Promotion/Relegation Match 1958Sport Rugby Football ORIES LUCKY TO WIN 14-11.At the risk of being considered one-eyed, we are going to say that Upper Hutt could be considered unlucky to be beaten by Oriental 14-11 at Athletic Park last Saturday. Certainly the maroon and golds did not play as well as they had been going a few weeks back, hut nevertheless the Upper Hutt pack had the measure of their opponents. Weak tackling and lack of penetration by the Upper Hutt backs proved the team’s downfall. .However with a shade of luck they still could have got there. The bounce of the ball went Oriental’s way for the entire game. To prove our contention about Upper Hint being a bit unlucky to start with, Oriental gained 5 points from two kicks at goal, a conversion and a penalty goal -in each case the ball hit the upright and bounced in over the crossbar. A bit lucky for Oriental? Well, all in the game. At a most crucial part of the game Oriental were awarded a try after the ball had apparently been forced by two Upper Hutt players. Then again in the first spell after Dalev had bullocked his way to the line, he flipped the ball to Bradv who certainly appeared to score. In the second half, Martin must have gone close alter Cole had made a break. Neither move raised the referee’s arm.Still it is no use grizzling, Upper Hutt are still Second Division, but there’s no doubt about it, they gave the Magpies a fright!Upper Hutt won the toss and once again surprisingly elected to play against the strong wind. Oriental used this wind to advantage and were on attack for ten minutes before opening the scoring with a converted try.It was another ten minutes before Upper Hutt moved into opposition territory. This came when Pelling went through quickly to catch Oriental in possession, and he then toed the ball to the 25. Palmer had a shot at goal from between the 25 and the 10 yard, when-Oriental were caught offside but the wind held the ball up. A minute later he had another shot from 28 yards out 5 in but again the wind proved too strong. The Upper Hutt forwards followed up fast and Oriental were caught in possession. Daly emerged from the ruck, broke through to the line and handed on to Brady who only had to fail on the ball. A dropout was ruled and Oriental used the wind to take play inside the Upper Hutt 25. However, Oriental were not having it all their own way and tho cover defence withstood the attack. The local forwards then worked their way to the half where Martin collected and booted downfield. Sullivan was up fast and took the ball at toe but. near the 25 stood on the ball when things looked dangerous for Oriental. The black and whites kicked to Upper Hutt’s 10 yard where Upper Hutt handled in a set scrum. The ball from the kick hit the post and bounced over to make the score after 25 minutes, OrientalS 5 Upper Hutt 0.Upper Hutt went on the attack following this lapse, but all Oriental had to do was to kick and the wind did all the clearing necessary.The Upper Hull defence lasted until two minutes before halftime when Oriental scored an unconverted try. Oriental 11, Upper Hutt 0.From the kick-off for the second spell, Upper Hutt moved to 30 yards from the line and Palmer had a shot at goal from six yards in from touch. An excellent kick sent the ball about a foot outside the uprights. However, following the dropout. Oriental were penalised again and another excellent kick earned three point.s this time. Oriental 11, Upper Hutt 3.Upper Hutt remained on the attack but found the defence solid. Johnstone had a glorious attempt at a field goal and the ball sent very high from 40 yards out must have gone very close. Upper Hutt hammered the line but after 15 minutes Oriental cleared and moved to the UpperHutt 25. Winning the ball from a lineout here, Oriental kicked for the corner. Priddle and Jackson both raced back over the line and fell on the ball which, however, rolled away from them to be forced again by a Oriental player who was awarded a try. The kick missed. Oriental 14, Upper Hutt 3. That try was Upper Hutt’s downfall.The ball was sent dead from the kickoff and the maroon and golds camped near the line. Upper Hutt won a serum and the ball was sent on to Palmer who kicked Into the corner and when an Oriental defender over-ran the ball, Priddle scored 5 yards from ‘the corner. A magnificent kick by Palmer reduced Oriental’s lead to 14-8.Upper Hutt were striving in every possible way to penetrate, but found the opposition stiff. Then the maroon and gold forwards swept down to the line in a grand short passing movement and a yard from the line Cole handed on to Martin who dived over only for a 5 yard scrum to be ruled. Upper Hutt were doing everything but score, and then with four minutes to go Palmer goaled when Oriental infringed in a ruck. Oriental 14, Upper Hutt 11.The maroon and golds kept up their efforts but to no avail and it must have been a very relieved Oriental team that heard the final whistle sound. Upper Hutt Leader, 18 September 1958 TAITA AND UPPER HUTT DRAWAn excellent runaway try by the Taita winger just four minutes before the final whistle dashed Upper Hull’s hopes and chances of senior first division status next season.Leading 3-0 and having had all the better of the second spell, Upper Hutt were really unlucky not to take the game, but full credit must go to the Taita scorer for a very line try after a 45-yard dash. Playing against the breeze in the first spell Upper Hutt held Taita to a scoreless draw and then in the second half looked by far the better team. They pounded the Taita line for prolonged periods, but could not breach the defence. Upper Hutt’s points came after 17 minutes when Dudley kicked an excellent penalty goal when a Taita player deliberately threw the ball out. Although they didn’t quite make the grade the Upper Hutt team had a remarkably successful season – unbeaten after 16 games – 15 wins and a draw. Congratulations are offered to the coach and team on their outstanding performance to win the Harper-Lock Shield. It is hoped that this season’s performance can be repeated next year. Upper Hutt Leader, 18 August 1960 Upper Hutt Leader, 4 September 1958 It would seem that times have not changed too much! GAME MAY BE REPLAYEDThe senior second division match between Upper Hutt and Eastern Suburbs will be replayed if the result of it has any bearing on the championship or the club championship. The decision was made at a meeting of the management committee of the Wellington Rugby Union on Tuesday night, when an appeal was received from the Upper Hutt Club, who contended that the referee’s ruling was contrary to law 33. In his report to the meeting, the referee did not say whether the ball had been forced or not. Mr.’ H. B. Simmons (president of the Referees’ Association), said that it was such a blatant sort of act of tomfoolery on the player’s part that the referee thought it was deserving of a penalty. If the referee had awarded a penalty try between the posts there would have been no appeal—as it would have been a matter of fact. There is no doubt the referee’s decision, given on the spur of the moment,was wrong,” said Mr. J N Millard. Upper Hutt Leader, 7 July 1960 UPPER HUTT MAN IS RUGBY FINDA Hutt medical student, E. W. Kirton, has proved the find of the Otago Rugby Season. Kirton has won the first-five-eighth berth in the Otago team and has played with considerable coolness and ability in that position. Kirton began the season in Otago Rugby in the second grade B competition, playing for Otago University. Mid-way through the season he gained a place in the University B senior team, when R. G. Pirrett retired because of injury. Otago’s big problem was the first five-eighth position, and after two matches, against New South Wales Country and North Otago the chosen man, J. Mcllroy, was dropped, and Kirton went into the team as a “bombshell” selection. His-first, game was against South Canterbury at Timaru and he-gave a delightful exhibition of solid yet attacking play. Facing a solid and experienced man in A. Pearce a former Canterbury player, Kirton showed a deal of promise. Later he was matched against the experienced Robin Archer, of Southland. Archer was in top form and the architect of Southland’s crushing 28-0 win over Otag0 but Kirton again showed considerable coolness and ability in a vital position. With at least five years of medical studies ahead of him in Dunedin, Kirton, now 20, could prove the answer to Otago’s most pressing problem. Kirton is 5ft. 8in. and weighs near 12st. Kirton attended St. Patrick’s (Silverstream) College and played as first five-eighth in the first XV. He left school in 1957, but did not play Rugby in 1958. Last year he played for the Upper Hutt senior team as first five-eighth and at full-back, playing his. best football in the latter position. Lawn tennis is Kirton’s summer sport. Last year he won the Maidstone Club’s senior singles. He also played top tennis at school. Upper Hutt Leader, 25 August 1960 UPPER HUTT WIN CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPIn one of the closest finishes for several years, Upper Hutt won the Wellington Rugby Union’s club championship for 1960 by one point from Petone. Upper Hutt 180 Petone 179University 153 Wellington 145Marist (Wellington) 135 Taita 115 Athletic 111Onslow 98 Oriental 85 Johnsonville 84 Poneke 80 Wellington College Old Boys 80Marist (Hutt Valley) 80 St. Pat’s Old Boys 77 Hutt 69 Karori 68 High School Old Boys 63Paremata-Plimmerton 59 Tawa 58 Naenae 57 Eastbourne 48 Brooklyn 36 Titahi Bay 32 Porirua 29 Berhampore 28 Eastern Suburbs 23 Te Aroha 22 Teachers’ College 18Wainuiomata 18 Stokes Valley 17 Kaiwarra 5 Upper Hutt Leader Upper Hutt Double ChampionsCRICKET AS WELL AS RUGBYCongratulations to the Upper Hutt Cricket Club on completing thc double for the district. The local Rugby Club holds the club championship for the Wellington Union and now the cricket club has been awarded the Hutt Valley cricket club championship. The cricket club had an excellent season, particularly in ‘the lower grades, the third firsts being runners-up in their division and the fourth firsts and fifth seconds both winning their respective grades. Upper Hutt Leader, 20 April 1961 MARRIED V. SINGLE.The annual .match between Married and Single for the Lidia Shield was won this season by -Married by 15 points 9. It was great to see the Coaches turning out in such force and also good to hear the comments of the players turned spectators as to the handling of certain aspects of play by their respective coaches. There must have been some ears burning at times. Brian Palmer showed that he has not lost the skill with his boot, while Bill Hourigan proved he still has a turn of speed. Tom Cunningham, Jim Day and Dave Curruthers also proved that there is still plenty of fire in the boiler. Upper Hutt Leader, 30 August 1962 Worthy AmbassadorsThe following is a letter received from the Secretary of the Randwick District Rugby Union Football Club, and addressed to The Editor, “Leader”, Upper Hutt – Dear Sir, I would appreciate you allowing me a few lines in your paper to publicly express this Club’s appreciation of the conduct and good fellowship of the Upper Hutt R.F. Club’s team, which under the managership of Mr Eric Connolly, has just completed a tour of New South Wales. My Club had the honour and pleasure to act as hosts to your team for the first week of their tour. Their conduct both on and off the field was beyond reproach. They made many friends with our players and supporters, and we were indeed sorry to see them leave. Their manager, Mr Connolly carried out his duties without fuss, and in a manner that endeared him to all who had pleasure of his company. We at Randwick look forward with pleasure to renewing our friendship with your team when we visit New Zealand next March. Rugby supporters in the Hutt Valley can rest assured that New Zealand Rugby and the Upper Hutt Club, in particular, could not have had better ambassadors to this country than Eric and his team. Best wishes to the; Upper Hutt Club for the coming season. Yours :faithfully, H. KAHL Hon. Secretary. Randwick District R.U.F.C. Upper Hutt Leader, 18 April 1963 RANDWICK WINS NARROWLY With a couple of decisive wins under their belts the Randwick touring Australian XV most likely thought that Upper.Hutt would be a “piece of cake” when they met the maroon and golds at Maidstone Park last Saturday afternoon. But they were in for a shock. Trailing 8-6 with only a couple of minutes to go the Aussies had to throw everything into it to snatch a narrow 9-8 victory. The tourists fielded a strong team, tall weighty forwards and solid backs with good hands, an eye for an opening and tons of pace. Individually there were flashes of brilliance at times and given a well-drilled leader in the pack, Randwick would be a force to be reckoned with in Club Rugby in New Zealand. Undoubtedly the star of the day was full-back Jim Briggs. An attacking fullback who never loses the opportunity to run his three quarters, Briggs has been Randwick Club’s leading points scorer. In the last two seasons scoring 127 points in 1962 and 97 In 1963. He represented City Colts against Newcastle in 1962, Sydney versus Country, and South versus North in 1963. He was a Wallaby trialist. The visitors defeated the Chistchurch Marist Club Seniors by 30 points to 13, and downed a Central Otago Invitation. XV by 14 points to 6. The Otago team included such players as Otago number 8, D. W. Clark, Archer the ex-All Black and Southland first five and Townsend ex-Otago and New Zealand halfback. The Australians were also to play a Rotorua Sub-Union XV, and the Taranaki Colts. In the game at Maidstone Park, the Tourists opened the scoring early in the piece with an unconverted try, but although both sides went close at times these were the only points of the spell. Upper Hutt took the lead after 10 minutes had gone in the second half. Upper Hutt. had been pressing for some time inside the 25 and when Randwick cleared, Edwards snapped up the ball and attempted a field goal. The ball hit the upright and Ernie Neale collected the rebound and weaved his way over. Gordon Dry converted. Randwick went on attack from the kickoff sweeping downfield and regaining the lead with a try in the corner following a good back movement with the fullback up to give the overlap. The kick missed. 6-5. Ten minutes later after the Upper Hutt forwards had battled their way to the line Kirton bulldozed his way across for a try six yards in from the corner. The kick missed. 8-6 to Upper Hutt. The maroon and golds remained on the attack but long raking touch-finders by Briggs took Randwick to the Upper Hutt 25 From here the backs were sent away once again with the fullback up and he flashed through a gap to score a very nice try in the corner. The kick missed and the whistle sounded shortly afterwards with the score Randwick 9, Upper Hutt 8. The game was very capably controlled by Mr Bill Shakespeare. At a very pleasant little “do” after the game, the President of the Upper Hutt Club, Mr Dudley .Hercock, welcomed the. .Rahdwick players to Upper Hutt and expressed the Club’s best wishes for a most enjoyable tour. Upper Hutt’s skipper. Rex Kirton, also said a few words, thanking the Randwick players for the game, which Rex affirmed was thoroughly enjoyed by the wearers of the maroon and gold. All the tourists were presented with Upper Hutt badges as a memento of the visit. Replying on behalf of the Randwick Club the Captain, Tony Moore, thanked the Upper Hutt Club for the badges and also for a most enjoyable game’ of Rugby. “We all feel that we have played a hard game of rugby, a feeling one should have after a good game,” he said. He presented the Upper Hutt Club with a framed Randwick monogram as a token of appreciation of the hospitality received. The referee, Bill Shakespeare, was presented with set of drinking glasses. The visitors were the guests of honour at a ball given by the local Rugby Club in the Gymnasium on Saturday; evening, and from all accounts a grand, grand time was had by all. Upper Hutt Leader 12 March 1964 Rugby Gate TakingsUp to and including Saturday, June 22, rugby gate takings amounted to £140. It was reported that cars had been kept out of the park because of wet conditions and the reforming of the road leading to the car park area and that this had affected receipts by as approximately £10 on a good day. Upper Hutt Leader, 1 August 1963 More at a later date.

    • UH Rugby during the World War 1 years
      • WW1 Centenary Poppy Research shows that the “Upper Hutt Rugby Football Club” was first formed in 1906 and that its affiliation with the Wellington Rugby Union which commenced in 1909, lapsed from 1917 until re-affiliation in 1919. This situation requires explanation and obviously resulted from the impacts of World War I and the country’s “response to the Empire’s Call”. The Military Service Act passed on 1 August 1916 had made all healthy New Zealand men of military age (20 to 45) liable for active service overseas. At this point the WRFU decided to confine the playing of Rugby Football in Wellington, to players under 20 years of age. Insofar as the Upper Hutt Club was concerned it can be established that it participated in the Wellington Competition for the 1915 and 1916 Seasons – Third Class 1915, which included the Wellington and St Patrick’s Colleges 1st XVs, and First Class 1916 at which time the “under 20 years of age” restriction came into effect. The newspapers of the day did not carry very much information re the matches involving Upper Hutt, only Fixtures and sometimes Results. However the Free Lance on 14 July 1916 reported as follows: From Free Lance 14 July 1916 by “Touchline. Of interest is that games played at Upper Hutt over these two seasons were all refereed by Mr. E H Pelling, the father of Everard Edward Henry Pelling, aged 18 years, a member of “D” Company, 5th Regiment, one of the seven victims who died as a result of the explosion at Messrs Benge and Pratt’s store in March 1914. Another Pelling with a Club connection is Brian who was a member of the 1958 Senior Second side, winners of the grade championship and the Harper Locke Shield and the right to challenge Oriental for the promotion relegation game, lost 11 – 14. In looking for evidence that Upper Hutt was active in the 1917 season I have found a report in the New Zealand Times, 30 May “Complaint was made by the Athletic Football Club that a member of the Upper Hutt Football Club’s team was over age. The schoolmaster at Upper Hutt supplied information that the boy was 16 years of age, and this was accepted as satisfactory.” In any event Upper Hutt did not have any teams entered for the 1917 season and joined with the majority of other Clubs in going into recess. There is no evidence of Upper Hutt RFC having teams entered in WRFU competitions in the 1917 and 1918 seasons. The following article appearing in The Sun, 27 June 1917 outlined “Wellington Rugby Union’s Trouble” with this: “Owing to the stoppage of football and the absence of most of the players, the Wellington Rugby Union cannot find the money to keep up its payments for Athletic Park. Nearly L3000 is owing. The yearly cost for rent and rates is L600, while the union’s income is nil. An appeal is now being made to all supporters of Rugby to come forward and save the ground by investing in a ticket scheme to raise funds. The Park was originally the property of a private company, but some years ago it was taken over by the Wellington Rugby Union.” The Trentham Camp Teams For the War years Rugby in Upper Hutt was dominated by the Trentham Camp teams. It was reported on 13 March 1915 that 3 senior teams from the soldiers in camp would be got together to take part in the WRFU’s matches during the coming season. The Trentham A Team (E. Roberts, Wellington, Captain.) The New Zealand Free Lance 28 May 1915. The Trentham C Team (F. Wilson, Auckland, Captain) The NZ Free Lance 28 May 1915. All went well for the Trentham teams until July when all its teams had to be withdrawn from the senior championships because of an epidemic in the overcrowded Camp, which at its peak, on 8 July, there was a total of 859 men in the medical facilities. Until that date its teams had been performing well. The Round late in May saw Trentham A win 17 Poneke 12, Trentham B 11 – 6 over Wellington and Trentham C 6 – 3 over Oriental. For Trentham the 1915 Club Season concluded as follows: The following from The Observer 8 April 1916 explains the situation with regard to the Trentham teams competing in the WRFU Competition: A meeting of the sub-committee of the Auckland Rugby Union was held during the latter end of last week, to consider the position of the Rugby game during the coming season. It was resolved to submit a series of resolutions to a conference of club delegates, to be held shortly , based on the Union’s proposal that during the coming season no player of over twenty years of age shall participate in senior football. Amongst the resolutions proposed to be submitted to the delegates will be an alteration to several of the existing rules, to bring these into line with the existing circumstances, and also to assist in the government of the various contests during the coming season. Rugby players have so nobly responded to the Empire’s call that these suggested alterations have not been made to freeze out men eligible for enlistment, as very few of the old senior players remain, but have been found necessary owing to the depletion from the ranks of players generally. The position in Wellington in Rugby circles, will be somewhat different to that of other districts, and was explained to a “Post” reporter by Mr D. Weir, president of the Wellington Rugby Union recently. He stated that the course to be adopted as far as Rugby in this province was concerned would come up for discussion at the annual meeting of the union next week. Wellington was in quite a different position to the other unions, as the men at Trentham had made a request for football to be continued. There were quite a lot of senior players who had attempted to enlist, but had not been passed by the medical men because of twisted knees, varicose veins, and other complaints, and yet they were able to play football. It was for the union to decide whether it would give these men an opportunity to play, and so comply with the request from Trentham. The union did not want players who were eligible for active service.  For the 1918 season it was determined to throw the senior competition open to all available players. I do enjoy the reference in the following to “Bill Masseys Boots”. It would seem that “no quarter given” was as relevant to our soldiers on the Battlefields as on the Rugby paddock. Free Lance 27 June 1918 by “Touchline” Trentham Camp played a number of representative matches over the period of the War. The first of these was against Auckland at Eden Park on Friday 11 June 1915 won by Trentham by 15 points (C Weston mark goal and penalty goal, G Murray penalty goal, F Wilson try and Paul try) to 5 Lang try converted by Stewart. The attendance was 7,000 with takings of nearly 300 Pounds in aid of the Hospital Ship Fund. In the 1918 Season 2 games were played against Canterbury, the first at Wellington won 27 – 12 by Canterbury, the second at Wellington won by Trentham 14 – 8. The 1918 Season for Trentham concluded with a match against the Wellington Representative side: Dominion 28 September 1918. Result: Trentham 40 Wellington 3. A Conclusion There has been much speculation and uncertainty as to the Club’s founding date. I think I have clarified the situation in this latest research. 1906: Upper Hutt Star Team formed to play informal matches. Comprised mainly Railwaymen. 1909: Upper Hutt Rugby Football Club affiliated to Wellington Rugby Football Union playing in the Third Division. 1917- 1918: Club in recess. 1919: Club re-affiliates with WRFU. Looking at this in a formal sense the Upper Hutt Rugby Football Club (Inc) Club could/should have celebrated its Centenary in 2009.

    • The Southee Family UH Rugby Club Connections & Recollections
      • This is the first in an intended series of Blogs telling the stories of some of the identities involved in the 110 years of Club Rugby in Upper Hutt to be celebrated 2019 – 2020. I take the cue for this from the extraordinary number of families involved from the very early days as players, supporters and administrators who are still involved in some way. Here is a photograph of the Upper Hutt Third Grade Team, Runners-Up in the Grade Championship in 1920. This photograph was included in the Upper Hutt Rugby Football Club Jubilee History 1970-1995 researched and edited by Dudley Hercock and includes team members Charlie and Stump Southee. J A Kelliher in his publication “Upper Hutt – The History” records that the first of the Southees, millwright and then seaman John, and his second wife Sophia, nee Sharpe, with his 6 children, arrived in New Zealand in 1841 in the Lady Nugent. Their second son George with his wife Maria Sunnex were the family’s Akatarawa pioneers. Charles and Albert Henry (Stump) commonly called “Alf” were sons of Henry Alfred, the son of George and Maria. Alf, a Carrier and Drover by trade, was also prominent in Upper Hutt with the Axemen’s Club and was accidentally killed at Trentham in 1940 in a vehicle accident. He gained some notoriety with the officials in Upper Hutt for his practice of understating the number of sheep he had driven through the town, thus avoiding payment of the full amount of the charge payable under the Bylaws. Alf’s Grandson, Kerry, a prominent present day Upper Hutt Rugby identity, recalls that Grandfather Alf joined the Salvation Army as a result of some discontent with the Roman Catholic Church which his family supported. Alf’s major role was as the Collector attached to the “Sallies” Band on Friday nights canvassing Main Street in Upper Hutt. Kerry has told me that Alf, who was Deaf, walked everywhere. It was on a walk home to Upper Hutt from the Salvation Army Church in Lower Hutt on a Sunday that he had the misfortune of being hit by a motor vehicle. For the record Alf’s brother Chas. Southee received the award for the most improved Back in the 1912 Season. Charlie Southee 1922. Somewhat different physique to Kerry’s. Another Southee family connection was George Farrow, a Life Member of the UHRFC, elected in 1931. The Upper Leader, 12 March 1959 reported that at the Club’s AGM George had been congratulated on having reached the age of 80 Years – “a high scorer”. George, Kerry’s Grandfather, was the Great Grandfather of All Black T J Perenara and Father of Terry Farrow of the Titahi Bay and Norths Clubs, the donor of the Terry Farrow Cup played annually between Upper Hutt and Norths. Terry’s mother had been born at Cross Creek and Terry in Russell Street, Upper Hutt. Another Southee was Randall “Huckleberry/Huck Southee (Kerry’s Uncle) who played for the Club in the 1930s. Upper Hutt Weekly Review, Vol. 8, Issue 41, 24 September 1937 From the Upper Hutt Leader, 13 June 1940: “Another player who is a toiler, but is liable through eagerness to become offside is Southee. this player is yet another asset to the team.” K J (Kerry) Southee played through many grades with the UHRFC and was playing with the UH Senior Second side which won its Grade in 1968, Vice-Captain in 1969, Captain 1970-72 and then moved on to coaching – Second Grade 1st Division 1973, Presidents Grade 1975 and Senior Thirds 1977. In 1965 Kerry was selected for the WRFU Senior 2nd Representative Team. He was a prodigious worker for the Club giving it the advantage of his carpentry experience and skills. Captain Kerry Southee leads the Seniors out for the first game played on completion of the new Club Rooms and Stand 1972. It is interesting to note that Rugby in Upper Hutt was not the sole domain of the Rugby Club. The Upper Hutt Leader 5 October 1961 reported that the U.H. Axemen’s Club “Last weekend a team of 26 sportsmen “flew to Nelson by a chartered aircraft to play a challenge rugby match against a combined Nelson Marlborough team. An interesting feature of the combined team was the presence of four current Nelson representatives. The combined team took the lead early in the game by using their heavier forwards thus giving their backs a decisive advantage allowing them to build up a lead of 11 points. Just before half-time lan Simpson scored a good forward- try from loose play to make the half-time score 11-3. Upper Hutt showing renewed vigour opened the scoring in the second half when Colin Rose scored between the posts from “a dribbling rush”. This try was converted narrowing the margin by .11-8. Five minutes later the ,combined team kicked a good penalty- furthering their lead by 14-8. With 10′ minutes to go Bob Christie, showing his old dash cut through their defence to run ’50 yards and score between the posts. This try was converted to make the score -14-13. With a minute to go the pace was really on. Colin Rose won a tight head on the combined 25, Gordon Wyeth ran the blind side where -a reverse pass was taken by Kerry Southee who cut through to score mid-way between the post and corner flag to clinch the game, with the final score of 16-14. This victory highlighted an undefeated season by the ‘Axemen’s’ team who scored a total of 89 points for and 31 against.” Kerry took time out in the mining industry in Australia for a period and on his return started where he had left off leading the many maintenance projects around the Club Rooms, in particular he is remembered for the replacement of the roof. I am hopeful that this Blog will encourage others with an interest in Upper Hutt Rugby to contribute anecdotes, pictures etc to help build a history base to back our Celebration of 110 Years of Club Rugby in Upper Hutt. Turn your memories my way at bobvine697@gmail.com and I would be delighted to included them in this blogging chain. Please also help with building our contact list by signing up for our news publications via the block bottom right. Much appreciated. Bob Vine4 April 2019

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