Te Awamutu United 1989 captain Wayne Annan. Photo / Pip Annan
Waikato Rugby representative #801 Wayne Annan recalls his greatest rugby moments spent with his Te Awamutu United mates and being part of the record-breaking 1987-1991 Te Awamutu Sub-Union Peace Cup tenure.
Annan was born in 1962 at Ngahape Rd, near Te Kawa Crossroads, and started playing rugby while attending Kihikihi Primary School.
He wore the yellow and black colours of Kihikihi Rugby Club until attending Te Awamutu Intermediate, where he played for the 1975 Te Awamutu Gwynne Shield and Waikato Rovers Roller Mills teams.
Moving on to Te Awamutu College, Annan was part of the weight class teams and captained his Under 65kg squad.
He remembers a young Warren Gatland as a skinny No 8 before “Gats” flew the coop to Hamilton Boys’ High School.
In 1979, Annan played half a season of first XV before leaving education to start his welding apprenticeship.
He played for the 1980 Te Awamutu United Under 19 and the Te Awamutu Sub-Union Fourth Grade teams.
As a small player, his main position was halfback but he filled in at other positions when needed. He was handy off the tee and was a regular goal-kicker for Te Awamutu United as he transitioned into senior rugby.
“I didn’t make any rep sides. I went to a few trials but once again, it’s who you know and what division you’re playing in for people to spot you. A trial doesn’t pick up a little fella in second division.”
Then in 1983, he received a Sunday morning phone call asking if he would like to trial for the Waikato Colts - on that same day.
Annan ended up being the starting Colts halfback all season over a former New Zealand Secondary Schools rep.
At 1.73m and 75kg dripping wet, he still sometimes wonders what could have been if he had been recognised before the age of 20, but it seemed “there was always a bigger halfback somewhere”.
“I used to get a lot of Waikato back coaches come and watch me playing second division and nothing came of it. I might have played some of my best games when they were watching, but I think it was my size and the competition too,” Annan says.
“That was a good year though. I enjoyed the Colts. The coach then became assistant coach for the seniors and brought me through to the 1984 Waikato squad because of an injury to the [backup halfback] Graeme Holmes. Then I went back to second division club rugby.”
The Te Awamutu Courier covered his 1984 involvement in the senior Waikato squad.
“Te Awamutu United halfback Wayne Annan has been added to the Waikato representative rugby squad to prepare for Sunday’s match against New South Wales at Hamilton.
“Selector-coach George Simpkin has brought the 21-year-old in to cover the absence of regular halfback Graeme Holmes through injury.
“It appears likely that Waikato’s halfback against Victoria on Queen’s Birthday weekend, Craig Luxton, will retain his place and Annan will be one of the reserve backs.
“A Waikato under-21 representative last year, Annan had a very good game in the Possibles-Probables trial at Hamilton a week ago. This coupled with play of a consistently high standard for United makes his selection well justified.
“He has created a fine impression with his cool, mature play, long, accurate passing and a swift, effective break from set play. It has been a steady climb up to status for Annan.”
Annan made his Waikato debut that weekend, his only appearance for the senior Waikato team. New South Wales took the win 21-15.
He says that it was amazing to have achieved that, it was something that he had always wanted and he was very grateful for the experience.
Wearing the jersey had always been his inspiration to play. In those days, there was no merchandise, if someone was wearing a Waikato jersey you knew they were a player.
After a few years out of the Waikato picture, Annan transferred to division one team Te Awamutu Old Boys in a last bid to get back to provincial level. He was instantly named in the Waikato B side, where he spent several years.
Two were with Kiwi Searancke as coach and one was with Kevin Roigard, grandfather of All Black Cam.
He loved the Waikato environment, rubbing shoulders with greats and the training, but was eventually over the politics.
All the while, he was also representing the Te Awamutu Sub-Union, for over 10 years both at under-21 and then senior level.
The Sub-Union players would have to leave work every Wednesday to play.
After the beginning of their impressive winning Peace Cup tenure from 1987-1991, Annan says they were lucky to be unbeaten for so long because that meant all the games were played at home.
It was massive for the town and players, it’s not common for any team to win as many games as they did - from Tauranga to Paeroa to Western Bay of Plenty to Hamilton.
Annan says they played their own brand of rugby and would run the ball from anywhere on the field. It was entertaining to watch.
The core of the team stayed together for over five years, including Richard Adam, Greg Ruscoe, the Semmens brothers and the Livingstone brothers. They had connections on and off the park.
After the tenure ended, the Te Awamutu players all looked at each other and knew they had been part of something special.
Annan would travel to Tokoroa for Waikato squad training on Sunday for several years, and at one point had six days a week of rugby while also working full time.
He returned to captain United in 1989 and the following year saw an amalgamation with Old Boys to form Te Awamutu Sports.
He played the 1990 season for Sports, which included a big North Island Sevens tournament at Taupiri.
It was almost a national tournament, with the likes of Eric Rush and Zinzan Brooke attending.
Scotland called his name and Edinburgh Academical Football Club (Edinburgh Accies) became his rugby home from September 1990 until the following April, before he returned to Te Awamutu Sports for the twilight of his career, playing a few more seasons for the B side.
He says by then it was more about the fun, social side for him before he retired when his first-born child was young. Annan had also suffered several concussions.
Other sporting highlights included representing the open men’s Waikato touch side for 1989-1990 and attending the Touch Nationals at Whanganui.
“It was good but playing wing was not my style. I liked to create gaps and motivate people. I was quick for 10 metres, quick off the mark - that was my signature move,” Annan says.
“I couldn’t run the full field quickly enough, there was always a speedster that could mow me down but if I could offload, someone else would be quicker.”
He played touch well into his 50s at the local Te Awamutu module, something he enjoyed alongside his sons.
While his children were involved in junior rugby, Annan was a member of the Te Awamutu Sports junior committee for over a decade and coached the Gwynne Shield rep team.
He says his legacy was bringing the Gwynne Shield side back from struggling to get one team to trial, to almost having four teams trialling after flyer-dropping at all the local clubs.
Hamilton Boys’ High School also received Annan’s coaching services, where he was involved in his sons’ weight-graded teams.
Still living in Te Awamutu, Annan is based in Takanini for work. He works with stainless steel for Fonterra factories and creates the odd stainless steel sculpture as a hobby.
Looking back on his sporting career, he says his highlights were being part of such a great era with the Te Awamutu Sub-Union and the Peace Cup, while taking the field with and against some of rugby’s greats was incredible too.
Thankfully his wife Pip was there on the sidelines with her camera for much of his career.
“Facing the likes of ‘Beegee’ Williams and Michael Jones, at club level. David Campese and Nick Farr-Jones were part of the Australian Colts touring team when I was in the Waikato Colts - to play against them, with them and see how they trained and played was great.”
Annan also recalls a highlight that could have been, playing for United against Old Boys, he drop-kicked the ball and as it hurtled towards the posts, it shaved the side.
If the kick had been successful, Old Boys would have dropped out of the first division to be replaced by United - which would have been a shock to the town.
Although Annan only played one game for Waikato 40 years ago, his sporting legacy and journey far exceeded one appearance and one jersey.
Jesse Wood is a multimedia journalist based in Te Awamutu. He joined the Te Awamutu Courier and NZME in 2020.
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