Aotea Club rugby’s re-emergence from recess following World War II

Aotea third grade football team, 1951. Winners of the DSRU Shield, Setford Shield, Drinkwater Shield and Merrylees Cup. Games played: 13, Games won: 12, Games lost: 1. Points for 196, Points against 15. Back: D Te Ture, U Beach, R Gilmore, S Thompson, H Chase, K Pene (coach), J Paul, G Winiata, M Churcher (vice-captain), R Puki, W Ratima. Front: M Stewart, J Erickson, J Bassett (coach), P Paewai (captain), L Gilmore (manager), W Renata, K Gilmore. Mascot: H Paewai.

The impact of World War II had a wide-ranging effect on the country as a whole. For the Aotea Club, it was a decade of recess until 1950.

A report at the Dannevirke Rugby Sub-Union 1950 AGM reads “a nomination for a new third-grade team to be called Aotea and comprising mainly Māori players was also accepted”. That same year Aotea fielded a team in the Third Grade.

Len Gilmore, well known among local Māori, played prominent roles in bringing the club out of recess working respectively as club administrator, coach and fundraiser. There were memorable successes on the rugby field during this period as evident by the 1951 Third Grade team achievements.

A junior team was fielded in 1952 along with a brief return of a women’s hockey team. Aotea returned to the senior championship in 1954, fielding both senior and junior teams in 1955. The early years of this decade were exciting times for the club aided by a song composed by one of the Aotea ladies to the tune of Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer; a club favourite now. They also enjoyed the support of the Aotea Women’s Committee which, in the words of one Aotea player, “fundraised and supported and no matter how badly we were beaten, we were still their champions”.

In 1956, an enlarged competition involving teams from Central Hawke’s Bay was created. This inter-town competition as it became known initially consisted of nine clubs of which Aotea was one, the others being Dannevirke Old Boys, Excelsior, Waipukurau Old Boys, Te Aute College, Waipawa, Takapau, Porangahau and Poho.

This competition varied over the years but the local Hunter Shield prevailed. The remaining 1950s included a women’s hockey team in 1957, an elusive win over Waipukurau Old Boys in 1958, two Aotea players selected for the Dannevirke Representatives and a “contention for honours” match against Ruahine where, despite Aotea being defeated 12-14, the Evening News described it as a “wonderful match” given the sportsmanship of the Aotea team.

The Aotea Football Club were represented by several prominent members at a meeting at the Mākirikiri Community Centre where the decision was made to relocate the Aotea Tuarua meeting house closer to town to be part of a sporting complex for the younger generation. Their involvement in the move and attendance at the opening was significant in the marae’s history. The wharenui Aotea Tuatoru was eventually opened in 1967.

Aotea maintained its playing strength through the 1960s but a player number decline in 1964-65 meant it could not field junior teams and had to default Hunter Shield games in 1966. On a brighter note, Aotea’s Hepa Paewai was included in the reserves for the 1966 NZ Māori team against the touring British Lions. That match, played at Auckland’s Eden Park, had the Lions victorious 16-14. Hepa had a second opportunity against the Lions, playing halfback for Hawkes Bay in which they drew 11-all. Aotea rugby continued to be competitive in the closing 1960s.

In the early 1970s, Parekura Horomia arrived in Dannevirke where he joined the club, firstly as a player then administrator and would, two decades later, be elected to the role of club patron. The Hon. Parekura Horomia later became a Member of Parliament (1999–2013) and was Minister of Māori Affairs (2000–2008).

Acknowledgements: The Aotea Rugby/Sports Club Archives and two research documents; 1903-2003 Centennial Booklet & 1902-2007; Celebrating 105 Years of History, by Geoff Watson, Lecturer in History in the School of History, Philosophy and Politics, Massey University.