When it comes to hunting Maddison Trophy winner's medals few have had more success than former Hawke's Bay Magpies captain Mutu Ngarimu.
So it was no surprise when Taradale Rugby and Sports club captain Stu Cruden, himself a multiple winner of the most sought after silverware in Hawke's Bay's premier club rugby comp as a coach, heard 1997 Maori All Black Ngarimu was back in the province he had no hesitation in offering him a co-coaching role alongside another former Magpies captain, Jason Shoemark, with the Mighty Maroons.
As a player former loosie Ngarimu, 42, tasted Maddison Trophy glory with Taradale in 1997, '98, 2003, '06 and '07. As a co-coach with Taradale he helped guide the Tareha Reserve-based club to a Nash Cup-Maddison Trophy double in 2009.
"I came back to the Bay for a new job and it's good to be back at the old club. We'll take things one year at a time on the coaching front," said Ngarimu, who has taken up a final assembly supervisor's role with Tumu Timbers.
The veteran of 73 first-class games for the Magpies from 1997-2006, Ngarimu, left the Bay in 2011 to play for his home province of East Coast. From 2013 to 2016 he coached Poverty Bay, another of his former provinces.