Rugby: Greg's accurate picks make him bit of legend too

Havelock North resident Greg Curran has beaten more than 200 entries to win the Magpies Legends competition.

Curran accurately picked 13 out of 15 legendary players who have been selected by the union to be inducted as Legends.

A Hawke's Bay rugby fan of about 30 years, he said the likes of George Nepia, Kel Tremain and Maurice Brownlie had been easy picks.

However, he was not sure who his two incorrect picks were.

"It just sort of made sense. They all added up as in points scored, games played, all that sort of thing."

Curran didn't spend a "hell of a lot" of time mulling over his decisions.

"A couple of days thinking about it, I looked on the website, looked at the stats and most of it made sense but there was a couple that could have gone either way."

Greg and his wife, Janine, will be attending tomorrow night's function, to be held at the Rodney Green Event Centre at McLean Park, as well as receiving a dozen bottles of wine and 2013 season tickets.

Schoolboy Zac Southwick, of Clive, who spent a good part of a day researching Hawke's Bay rugby's history, also deserves mention.

This year's squad members will deliver a signed 2013 Magpies jersey to the 12-year-old at Hastings Boys' High School in August/September.

While the Year 9 pupil didn't come close to naming the right XV, his homework yielded names few included, such as Hiroa Tiopira, the first All Black from Hawke's Bay.

"I went to the Hawke's Bay rugby website and found some factfiles, so his [Tiopira's] name came up. I don't think anybody knew much about him," a laughing Zac replied when asked if he had consulted anyone for help.

Zac, an E grade Hastings Boys' player, said he wasn't disappointed at not winning and was looking forward to receiving his jersey.