Dynamic Napier Old Boys Marist rugby loosie Chris Johnston was the talk of the Bali 10s tournament last the weekend.
"Everybody was talking about him over here. All the Aussies and players from the other teams we faced couldn't believe he wasn't in the Hawke's Bay Magpies team this season. He should have been ... he was that good," NOBM coach Craig Gowler said, after his troops beat Perth-based Kalamunda Bulls 12-0 in their final.
In their semifinal NOBM beat the Perth Bayswater side 19-0. In their pool games on day one, when temperature reached 36 degrees, NOBM beat Augmen Barbarians from Australia 17-0, a British Army team, the Flying Kukris, 31-0 and an Indonesian side, Tabalan, 44-0.
"To score 142 points in six games while conceding none really says something for our defence," Gowler said.
Another of his loosies, Ricky Hayes, who played for the Magpies earlier in the season, impressed with his elusive runs and halfback Zac Donaldson, who also had Mitre 10 Cup game time earlier in the season, shone with his ability to sniff out space.