Shield dreams in hard-covered glory

From the first game to the last - long-time Napier Magpies fan Dave Turnbull saw every Ranfurly Shield game during the glorious era of the 1960s and from game one, when the Bay lifted the Log o' Wood from Waikato in Hamilton, he was determined to create a lasting memory.

"I got a match programme from that day in Hamilton and from there on I was determined to collect them all," he said.

Which he did, although some of them got a bit buckled and tattered at a couple of the games he devoutly attended at McLean Park - so afterwards he would seek out a better copy.

After Canterbury lifted the Shield from the Bay at the end of the 1969 season he set about getting the programmes bound into a hard-covered volume.

"One of a kind," Mr Turnbull said.

Over the past couple of days, since the Magpies put an end to a 44-year drought, he has brought the collection out again to stir up a few memories of what he described as a "golden era" for Hawke's Bay rugby and one he'd love to experience again.

The day in Hamilton when they lifted it 6-0 from the Mooloo men was the start of it all, and he recalled how he and his brother John, and their wives Lorraine and the late Moira, went along to the hotel where the Hawke's Bay team were staying.

"There were Hawke's Bay people everywhere - hundreds of them - all in black and white."

The atmosphere was electric, Mr Turnbull said, and he added that the Waikato fans they encountered were in good spirits before and after the game. "They were good people."

They had intended to stay the night in Hamilton to celebrate the win but there was no accommodation available anywhere.

"We even drove down to Cambridge but that was all booked out too."

So they ended up driving to Taupo where there was accommodation.

"But brother John said 'No, we might as well keep going'." So they returned to Napier.

There were so many magic moments over the following three seasons when McLean Park would regularly swell to hold up to 25,000 people, Mr Turnbull said.

"Great crowds and great rugby."

The Blair Furlong drop-goal to secure the Shield-retaining draw against Wellington was one of the big moments. "No one could forget that." And the time, on July 29 in 1967 against Waikato, when Ian MacRae snapped up four tries, Kel Tremain two and Dennis Smith one in a 35-9 thumping. The tries were described by the media of the day as "the magnificent seven".

"Referee Miller from Otago was run off his feet trying to keep up."

Mr Turnbull, an equally devoted film buff, said the game was just like the great film of 1960 The Magnificent Seven and was "a cracker".

Mr Turnbull also recalled a strange but regular weather phenomenon which seemed to favour the black and whites.

"We'd have the wind in the first half and in the second half it would turn around and we'd have it again. That happened a few times."

He also remembered the "absolute bravery" of fullback Ian Bishop who would never flinch under the high ball.

At that time there was nothing in the rules to prevent an attacking player from taking the ball catcher while he was still in the air.

And while it was sad to finally see the Shield go south, when Canterbury lifted it with an 18-11 victory on September 27, 1969, the Bay fans were not too downcast because, as Mr Turnbull said, they had seen and enjoyed something very special during the Magpies' tenure.

But the Bay had outplayed 22 other sides during a reign which Mr Turnbull would love to be a part of again after seeing the Magpies bring it home against Otago.