Rugby Honours

Endorsements

Just wanted to drop you a line to say that Trevor Howard from New Zealand Rugby has advised me/us (fellow REO’s) of your website. I have had the chance to go through it and must say that you have done an outstanding job in collating and publishing this information. I have, in turn, shared it with all my referees in my regions (for which there are a number of referees in your data base) and I have nothing but praise and complements for what you have done.

Often referees (and players) simply drop off the system and the only records are in books and word of mouth (especially the less known personnel) but for them (and me), to search through and find our names and details of our 1st class accomplishment is very flattering and a sense of pride is established as we show our children or colleagues/friends of years gone by. Of course this is helped by the ease of access (as opposed to searching through books and magazines).

Thanks again for your efforts (for which I can only imagine are enormous) and I hope you continue to enter the details and expand your website.

John Dustow (JD)
Referee Education Officer (REO)
Counties Manukau Rugby Football Union/Thames Valley Rugby Football Union.

Hi Kerry

I’ve been meaning to drop you a line for a while after literally stumbling across your website in a Google search.

Since I was a kid I’ve been a bit of a sports stats geek – over the years I have progressed from A4 exercise books with scribbles and cross-outs, to Word and Excel – much more user friendly and secure. My stats have always been my own hobby and pleasure and never shared with anybody.

Your website is nothing short of phenomenal, I can’t begin to imagine the time and research that has gone into it. As a resource for not only NZ rugby supporters, but statisticians round the world, it is second to none. I have yet to come across a site that offers so many easily searchable players and team stats in one area.

The one thing that struck me in doing my own NPC stats research is the vast number of players whose career is limited to one game (or part game) for a minor union. But there they are on NZ Rugby History, with their details recorded exactly the same as a Carter or a McCaw.

Your website is a priceless asset to the NZ rugby fabric, and I can only hope that you can access some kind of sponsorship or support of some kind from NZ Rugby or other avenues. It needs to be treasured and nurtured as it grows to a complete historic record of our game.

Regards
Paul Thomas

When the battle scars have faded
And the truth becomes a lie
And the weekend smell of liniment
Could almost make you cry.
When the last rucks well behind you
And the man that ran now walks
It doesn’t matter who you are
The mirror sometimes talks
Have a good hard look old son!
The melons not that great
The snoz that takes a sharp turn sideways
Used to be dead straight
You’re an advert for arthritis
You’re a thoroughbred gone lame
Then you ask yourself the question
Why the hell you played the game?
Was there logic in the head knocks?
In the corks and in the cuts?
Did common sense get pushed aside?
By manliness and guts?
Do you sometimes sit and wonder
Why your time would often pass
In a tangled mess of bodies
With your head up someone’s......?
With a thumb hooked up your nostril
Scratching gently on your brain
And an overgrown Neanderthal
Rejoicing in your pain!
Mate – you must recall the jersey
That was shredded into rags
Then the soothing sting of Dettol
On a back engraved with tags!
It’s almost worth admitting
Though with some degree of shame
That your wife was right in asking
Why the hell you played the game?
Why you’d always rock home legless
Like a cow on roller skates
After drinking at the clubhouse
With your low down drunken mates
Then you’d wake up – check your wallet
Not a solitary coin
Drink Berocca by the bucket
Throw an ice pack on your groin
Copping Sunday morning sermons
About boozers being losers
While you limped like Quasimodo
With a half a thousand bruises!
Yes – an urge to hug the porcelain
And curse Sambuca’s name
Would always pose the question
Why the hell you played the game!
And yet with every wound re-opened
As you grimly reminisce it
Comes the most compelling feeling yet
God, you bloody miss it!
From the first time that you laced a boot
And tightened every stud
That virus known as rugby
Has been living in your blood
When you dreamt it when you played it
All the rest took second fiddle
Now you’re standing on the sideline
But your hearts still in the middle
And no matter where you travel
You can take it as expected
There will always be a breed of people
Hopelessly infected
If there’s a teammate, then you’ll find him
Like a gravitating force
With a common understanding
And a beer or three, of course
And as you stand there telling lies
Like it was yesterday old friend
You’ll know that if you had the chance
You’d do it all again
You see – that’s the thing with rugby
It will always be the same
And that, I guarantee
Is why the hell you played the game!

By Rupert McCall

Credit: Sutton & Epsom Bs

It gives me great pleasure to write this character reference about this website. There would not be a person in this country who doesn’t know that rugby is the national game of New Zealand. The passion runs deep and the profile and exposure of the sport is without peer. A fair chunk of our heroes come from the game and nothing affects the mental psychology of the people more than rugby. Not even politics.

Because of this rich feeling, discussions in society are often based around the game and on the players involved. Memories tend to play tricks on people. They can fade and forget and get things muddled up. For nearly 90 years New Zealand rugby enthusiasts have been superbly served by the Rugby Almanack. It remains the definitive source of information from each season despite the advancement of technology.

However, we must accept that technology has advanced and like rugby, we therefore need to embrace the good that comes with that change. www.rugbyhistory.co.nz is the best rugby history site that is available. It provides comprehensive records of the All Blacks, all the Super rugby sides and most impressively of all, places a large emphasis on the national provincial competition, which remains such a crucial part of the fabric in New Zealand.

Kery Geertson’s dedication to this growing rugby treasure can not be denied. It continues to grow, mature and impress. To paraphrase the late, great Terry McLean www.rugbyhistory.co.nz should be stored as a favourite website for every rugby lover; it provides facts and fairness and hours of one of life’s greatest pleasures – browsing.

Grant Hassall
Wannabe Rugby Historian
New Plymouth

Thanks for this great work. I hope you can soon raise the funding you need to expand these rugby records.

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Endorsement

I would like to thank Kerry for his Rugby History website. The site is very easy to use. The information it has provided me with for an article I am researching for the Rugby Statistician's Magazine has proved invaluable.

Dave Hall

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Rugby Honours