Hogan’s most recent MacRobertson Shield game had been in 1990, and he had not played for New Zealand since 1994.
He gave up serious croquet to be around for his wife Robyn and children Sam, Mary and Matthew, and stayed away from the sport apart from a few wild-card entries.
Then early in 2015 one of the New Zealand selectors rang him to ask if he would consider returning to the croquet circuit and be available for selection.
With his family’s blessing, he started a comeback that convinced the selectors he should be in the team to defend the MacRobertson Shield in the United States.
New Zealand had broken Great Britain’s 24-year hold on the Shield when the competition was held in New Zealand in December-January, 2013-14.
Two late withdrawals from the team for this year’s tournament put New Zealand at a disadvantage.
Their first test was against the US, who had beaten New Zealand the last time the MacRobertson Shield was contested in the States in 2002.
Thrashed before lunchThe first day was given over to doubles, and Hogan and Shilling were “thrashed” 26-0 before lunch as the Americans took a 3-0 lead.
New Zealand won a match on the second day, but so did the US, and they were 4-1 up. The only match still going late in the day was that of Hogan and Shilling.
“If the Yanks had taken us that day, it would have been 5-1 and we would have been ‘killed’,” Hogan said. “Our opponents, one of whom was the American captain, had won the first game — the matches are on a best-of-three basis — but we took the second and they had to stop the match at 6.30pm because the sprinklers were to come on at 7. We’d started at 8.30am, playing in 35- to 42-degree heat.”
The following day was set down for six singles matches. When they were finished, the US led 7-4, with the Hogan-Shilling doubles match still undecided.
“They put our doubles on again so we could play the third game of the match,” Hogan said. “We managed to keep it going by ‘digging in’ so they couldn’t finish before it was time to peg down for the day.”
Day 4 was “New Zealand’s day”.
“We took all three doubles matches; Chris and I took out their top doubles combination in two straight games. But we had still to finish the doubles match that we’d started on Day 2. A daily fixture at the tournament was ‘wine and wickets’ at 5.30pm, so they put us on the centre court with everyone on the sideline having their savouries and wine.”
The test score was 7-7. After four days in the sun, Hogan was feeling jaded, but he saw a chance — if he played his next shot right — to go round the hoops and finish the game without giving the opposition a chance to respond.
“I put the bit between my teeth and dug in,” he said.
He made the shot, and completed the series of shots that won the game and put New Zealand ahead 8-7.
He and Shilling had completed the longest doubles game in the modern era of MacRobertson Shield play. It had stretched over three days of the tournament.
But the test was not won yet.
“On Day 5, the Americans quickly wiped out three of us, and it was 10-8 to them for most of the last five hours of the day,” Hogan said.
“Then our last three players took their games for an 11-10 win. My doubles partner, Chris, was playing one of those singles matches. He won both of his singles against the US and his performances throughout were outstanding. Part of being a doubles partner is supporting the play of your teammate, and I think our three-day marathon match stood Chris in good stead for the tournament.”
Seeding liftedThe withdrawal of two of the team meant Hogan’s seeding within the team lifted, so in singles matches he was playing the opponents’ third and fourth-seeded players, rather than their fifth and sixth. He won only one of his six singles matches, against Ian Dumergue, the New Zealand-born captain of the Australian team, who won the Shield for the first time since 1935.
Hogan also came within two points of beating 2016 world singles champion Stephen Mulliner but couldn’t finish him off.
All things considered, Hogan is pleased his ranking has dropped only three places, from 43 to 46.
And since his return to New Zealand, he has had a “makeover”.
While in the US, Hogan noticed he was not doing well with some of his critical shots — those over distances of two to five metres. Back in Gisborne, he had his eyes checked by an optician, with the result that while playing he will wear glasses prescribed to sharpen that short-range vision. Till now, he has worn glasses only to read.
It also became apparent to him in the US that he would have to upgrade his mallet. New Zealand teammate Chris Clarke told him he would have to move on from his “tooth pick”, the implement with the head from the first mallet he owned. Barry Memorial Croquet Club matriarch Phyllis Clarke got the original for him in 1973 from Arthur Bruning, of Christchurch.
The old head has a honeysuckle top, a hard-timber base and end-plates of Tufnol, a resin-impregnated cloth material, about 12 millimetres thick, bonded to the ends of the mallet head as the striking area. Hogan broke a few mallet handles, but the head survived.
“The new-generation mallet supports a slightly different shot, one that we couldn’t play before,” he said.
And because Hogan felt comfortable looking down the shaft at the honeysuckle top of the old mallet head, Wood Mallets of Hawke’s Bay had a timber veneer — with a honeysuckle look to it — stuck to the top of the new head.
Instead of wood, the shaft is carbon fibre, with polystyrene fill. The weight is in the stainless-steel ends of the mallet head.
Vision sharpening: tick.
Mallet upgrade: tick.
Cancer treatment: So far, so good.
His cancer was found early and Hogan had high-dose-rate brachytherapy.
Back from the US, he saw the cancer specialist and the test results were good. His PSA (prostate-specific antigen) reading was almost zero.
“They’ll keep an eye on me for the first year and then it’s back to the annual test every man should have after the age of 50,” he said.
Hogan said his croquet comeback helped keep his mind occupied while his body dealt with the cancer treatment, and then while he waited to find out whether it had worked.
From now on, it’s all about the joy of the game, and of life.
