Editorial: Memories rekindled by clash

Magpies fullback Richard Buckman on the attack. Photo / Paul Taylor

There were days when losing to Auckland by fewer than 60 points was a victory.

Back then we heard whispers of how the Magpies were once a Ranfurly Shield powerhouse, but as kids we couldn't imagine it.

Such are the vagaries of national provincial footy.

Tonight's shield clash against the Wellington Lions is a fond fixture for me. My earliest memories of the black and white hoops was when my father took us to a shield match between these two teams at the hallowed Athletic Park, August 21, 1982.

Up against a Wellington team packed with current All Blacks, we lost by just a single point (12-13) after a torrid battle.

Since then there've been plenty of highlights back home on McLean Park.

Hawke's Bay v Wales in 1988 was something. Welsh fly-half Jonathan Davies was like teflon. Rugby was a non-contact sport for this diminutive, nymph-like goal kicker. For the least physical player I've ever seen, he was strangely effective.

During that game, Magpie Jason McDowell monstered a drop goal from just inside the Welsh half. When it left the foot we all laughed at the audacity - until it didn't lose altitude and crossed with millimetres to spare. The resulting clamour shook the piles of the McKenzie Stand.

Then of course was the win (29-17) against the British Lions in 1993, where Norm Hewitt made Tony Underwood's life a misery.

Last Saturday's loss against North Harbour proved, we're still a mercurial team; one that must be wary of a Lions team with nothing to lose.

Still, Clint Newland's infamous act of enforcement meted out to All Black prop Neemia Tialata at the same fixture on the same park in 2007, showed we've always punched above our weight.