A trip down memory lane with the Waikiwi Rugby Club
The highs and lows of 125 years of the Waikiwi Rugby Club.
The Waikiwi Rugby Club will this weekend celebrate its 125-year jubilee. The Tribune takes a trip down memory lane and highlights 11 things you may or may not know about the red-and-black brigade at Donovan Park.
The beginning…
There is little factual data on the actual start date for the club, but in a December 1899 photo proves the year the Waikiwi Rugby Club started, but not the exact start date.
In the early days of the Waikiwi Rugby Club it played in a paddock by the main road between Kakapo and Weka Streets. The club did not start playing on the Waikiwi Domian until the early 1920s.
Sole Galbraith Shield title…
Waikiwi won Southland club rugby’s prized possession the Galbraith Shield for the first and only time in 1910. The Shield was then contested between Invercargill clubs.
That 1910 team was possibly the strongest in Waikiwi’s entire 125-year history considering it included eight players who played for Southland.
Waikiwi’s first All Black…
The Waikiwi Rugby Club has had three All Blacks throughout its 125 years with the first being Jim McNeece in 1913 and 1914. McNeece made his debut at wing forward (flanker) against Australia at Carisbrook.
McNeece was also part of a famous Southland win over Australia in 1913.
He died while serving in World War I from wounds he received during the advance Messines in Belgium in 1917.
The remarkable story Andrew ‘Son’ White…
Waikiwi is home to one of New Zealand’s sport’s more remarkable sporting tales.
Andrew ‘Son’ White was diagnosed by French medics with shell-shock during World War I, a post-traumatic stress disorder that can afflict soldiers.
After his return home to Invercargill, in 1919, he was invited to attend a training at the Waikiwi Rugby Club.
White was 25 years old at the time and had never played rugby competitively. At that point it wasn’t about the rugby though, it was about camaraderie and getting better mentally.
Two years later he made his international debut for the All Blacks against South Africa in Dunedin and ended up captaining the All Blacks on three occasions.
All Black captain No 2…
Waikiwi can lay claim to not just one All Black captain but two.
Jock Richardson played 42 matches for the All Blacks from 1921 to 1925 and 16 of those were as captain.
Richardson actually arrived in Invercargill in 1923 after playing for Otago and linked up with his All Black mate Andrew ‘Son’ White at the Waikiwi Rugby Club.
Club hiatus in tough times…
Things weren’t all that bright for the Waikiwi Rugby Club come the start of the 1934 season.
It was decided to disband the club due to a lack of support. In a final attempt to attract players an Open Day was planned and advertised, but only three players showed up.
After a break the club was eventually restarted in the 1940s.
The club also went into recess at the end of the 1954 season, but a meeting was held on May 17, 1960 and there was enough interest to restart the club.
Clubrooms officially opened…
On April 15 1972 the Waikiwi Rugby Club officially opened its new clubrooms and gymnasium at Donovan Park.
Included in the special guests was Jean White, the wife of Waikiwi All Black Andrew “Son” White. Jean presented the club with one of White’s All Black mementos, an inscribed porcelain mug.
Prince’s arrival…
In 1996 the Waikiwi Rugby Club felt it needed an injection of quality players into its senior team to remain competitive.
It recruited two players from Wellington - Pailate Fili and Daniel Farani - and Afa Haniplae from Otago.
It was a move that came at a “significant cost” to Waikiwi but did have a positive impact on its playing stocks.
Fili - aka Prince - made an immediate impact and was picked in the Southland Stags that year after his first season with Waikiwi.
He went on to play 89 games for the Stags from 1996 to 2004. He also played Super Rugby for the Highlanders.
Fili played his later rugby for Marist but he does have Waikiwi to thank for bringing him south - an important move considering 28 years later he still lives in Invercargill.
Waikiwi Stags…
Pailate Fili appears to be the last Waikiwi player to play for the Southland Stags.
Doug McWilliam, Shaun Taane, and Shane Enright were others to play for Southland in the 1990s from the Waikiwi club.
It should be pointed out many players played their junior rugby at Waikiwi before heading elsewhere and then making the Stags.
Southland’s most-capped player Jason Rutledge is on that list.
Amalgamation talk…
In 1996 the talk of amalgamation floated around the Waikiwi Rugby Club. There was the thought of launching an investigation around the prospect of amalgamating with another Invercargill club.
The talk didn’t last long though. A Special General Meeting was called and the club voted against it. It did raise an awareness though of the need for more volunteers at the club.
The ultimate volunteer…
There have been many volunteer legends at Waikiwi over the years, but few with the story attached to it than Noeline O’Conner.
O’Conner has been with the club for 50 years. It started in 1974 when she took on the secretary/treasurer role. She the first female to serve on the Waikiwi Rugby Club committee.
At that time rugby clubs were very much male-dominated territory.
She spent many volunteer hours keeping the club’s finances in check. However, O’Conner wasn’t able to set foot into the clubrooms on game day because females were not allowed at that time.
That changed and O’Conner is proud Waikiwi was one of the first clubs to scrub the archaic rule and open the clubrooms up to females.
O’Conner is a life member of the Waikiwi Rugby Club.
For this piece, we leaned heavily on the Waikiwi Rugby Club’s book titled A ton of red and black which was produced for its centennial in 1999. To everyone involved this weekend, enjoy the celebrations.