Rugby: Albie Pryor - a legend who moved easily in two worlds

By VANESSA BIDOIS

TE TEKO - Tales of Albie Pryor's exploits on and off the rugby field flew thick and fast at his tangi in Te Teko yesterday, but his greatest legacy is still to come.

Sporting greats young and old saluted the uncompromising Maori rugby stalwart who touched thousands of lives in recent years as head of an indigenous sports trust.

In a fitting tribute to the former Auckland rugby player and butcher, a slight drizzle dampened the powhiri (welcome) for the hundreds of mourners who gathered at Tuteao Marae in the tiny eastern Bay of Plenty town.

As the sun shone through, so did the anecdotes as rugby old-timers, including legends Colin Meads and Bob Scott, reminisced about a respected mate who was not afraid to speak his mind.

Former All Black centre Frank Bunce, who was coached by Pryor at Manukau in the early 1980s, described him as a hard but fair leader who gave him direction at a time when he was wavering in his commitment to the sport.

Close friend and former Youth Court judge Mick Brown said that beneath Pryor's rugged exterior was an incredibly passionate person.

"I remember when my daughter was killed overseas and I rang him straight away and he burst into tears because he'd lost a daughter, too," Mr Brown said.

"In situations like that, there was nothing he wouldn't do for you."

Yet it is Pryor's recent work as the force behind the premier event on the Maori sporting calendar that will endure. The chief executive of the Tainui-owned Maori Development Corporation, Waari Ward-Holmes, said Pryor originally approached him nearly a decade ago with the idea of recognising outstanding Maori sporting success.

Today, the MDC Maori Sports Awards attract more than 1000 guests from the Maori community, sporting codes, political and corporate arenas to acknowledge the achievements of athletes, coaches and administrators.

While the likes of golfing sensation Michael Campbell, rugby legend Zinzan Brooke and squash star Leilani Joyce are among the dozens of past winners, Pryor expanded the brief to identify and support young Maori talent.

Mr Ward-Holmes said one of his greatest achievements was convincing the Maori-owned Moana Pacific Fisheries to establish scholarships for Maori teenage athletes so they could win places in the New Zealand team for the 2000 Olympics.

"I know that his target of 20 Maori to Sydney will be exceeded and we believe it will closer to 30."

The Hillary Commission's Jim Maniapoto, who chaired the Wellington organising committee of the 1998 awards ceremony, said the annual event needed to carry on in Pryor's memory.

"There won't be another Albie Pryor, that's for sure.

"He could walk in both Maori and Pakeha worlds and to fill his shoes ... that's going to be a massive task."