Rugby: Prolific Elrick not done yet

The metronomic and highly effective style of Takapuna double centurion Jon Elrick.

The best goalkickers are not always to be found in the professional ranks.

Take Jon Elrick, J El to all, one of the most prolific premier club scorers in New Zealand history.

He's 33 and just hoisted 200 games for his beloved Takapuna. Elrick has 2279 points to his credit since his 2004 debut. That is just 53 short of Colin Williamson, who racked up 2332 for Shirley and Merivale-Papanui during the 1980s and '90s. Records, of course are not definitive, but we know the exact tallies of Elrick and Williamson.

In the 1980s, Auckland club rugby was riddled with sharpshooters such as Grant Fox, Brett Craies, Paul Doubleday and Stu Hollier. Other than Fox, the other trio did not play their full careers at one club. In more recent times, Brett Williams scored 1613 points for Ponsonby from an even 200 games. He could have scored more but did not always take the shots.

Williams was an outstanding goalkicker who appeared to North Otago, but his most compelling stat was winning an astonishing and unprecedented 10 Gallaher Shield titles.

The keen observers among you may know that Elrick has played 20 games for North Harbour, the last in 2013 under Liam Barry, plus a handful for Northland.

But at club level he has kicked like a metronome from his home ground of Onewa Domain to Moire Park in west Auckland to the Warkworth Showgrounds in the north. And he has done it all for the love of the game, his team and his club. For Elrick is not a milestones or stats man. He loves kicking but cannot tell you his goalkicking percentage. That is not to say he doesn't care about those points of interest. He was fascinated, and surprised, to know that he was approaching a national record.

And unlike, say Jonny Wilkinson, you won't find him kicking endless goals at training to hone his technique and strengthen his left leg. He'll just pop a few over before games on Saturdays to ensure his timing is right.

From a young age he knew how to kick a ball, a soccer ball at first - his father is former All White Adrian Elrick - and in fact he only took up rugby when he was at Rangitoto College.

He joined a very strong Takapuna team that would go on to contest six straight finals, winning four of them, from 2004-09, before returning to the final last season, an agonising 26-23 extra time defeat to Massey. He rates the 30-12 victory in the 2008 decider over favourites North Shore as a favourite team and game memory out of the 200.

Elrick played his 200th match in last Saturday's 29-19 home playoffs victory over old rivals North Shore, but he aggravated a hamstring niggle and so retired just before halftime, allowing Takapuna, North Harbour and Blues No 10 Bryn Gatland to assume the goalkicking duties, a useful replacement if ever there was one. But Elrick reckons he's a fast healer and he should be right to suit up for his 201st on for this Saturday's semifinal at Massey.

"There weren't too many brown waters for me last weekend, but the end goal is to win the championship, so I'll celebrate then," he quips.

The Takapuna club honoured him in appropriate fashion. There were two big banners pitchside as he ran out, then a presentation of a special cap and a blazer which Elrick himself helped design. It was a big deal, and rightly so.

There must be something about North Harbour, as the last 2-3 seasons have seen a clutch of players from around the union hit the 200-mark. The East Coast Bays' duo of front-rower Slade McFarland (2016) and outside back Rhys Bennett (2017) were preceded by Glenfield's Jeremy Hikuroa and Mahurangi's Haden Kose.

"They are all really nice guys and respected around the clubs. It would be awesome if more guys could try and reach this milestone. It shows the older guys are still wanting to run around with the younger blokes, and the young guys still have respect for and want to learn from those older guys," Elrick says.

Further afield, Counties Manukau assistant coach Grant Henson reached the milestone for Waiuku a few weeks back. In Auckland, Waitemata lock Rory Lord raised the 200 in 2014.

The Elrick name and his family are writ large in the Takapuna annals. His younger brother Nick (31) plays fullback for the premiers and will run out for his 168th game on Saturday.

"I told him to try and hang in there and get a cap. It's not often two brothers get to 200 games. How awesome would that be?" says Elrick senior.

Their grandfather Charlie Bancroft, who passed away aged 92 two years ago, was a former Takapuna prop, who packed down with the great Johnny Simpson, and was a stalwart of the club and a proud member of the NZ Barbarians.

"We've got a lot of family ties at Takapuna, with my grand-dad being one of the longest-serving life members. I'm honoured to continue the Bancroft-Elrick name through the club," Elrick says.

Only two other Takapuna men have raised the double-century for Takapuna, one of them being former Auckland halfback John 'Barney' Jessup.

Elrick may not know his goalkicking percentage, but he does average 11.40 points per game, which is gold for his team. His accuracy is likely to be well up over the coveted 75 % mark.

"It's what I've always done, coming from a soccer background. Timing the ball comes pretty naturally. I haven't had to work too hard on my technique either, so I've been very lucky. It's second nature. I haven't tweaked or touched my technique in years and it's working. I don't fix what's not broken."

Elrick must feature heavily in the team talks of opposition coaches, as he can land them from his side of halfway, the longest a veritable bomb from around 59m which is Francois Steyn, Don Clarke or Pierre Villepreux territory.

Among his 2279 points are a smattering of tries and drop goals. He can punt off either foot, but admits the left boot is much the stronger.

Elrick attributes his consistency and longevity to having good luck with injury and staying fit, helped by his job as a personal trainer.

"I've been very lucky. I missed a total of 33 games due to being overseas, but I normally play every game of every season."

He would always return post-haste from overseas stints, be it from Welsh club Llandovery, the England Championship's Bedford Blues or French division two clubs Perigueux and Limoges. They were horizon-broadening experiences, if not lucrative sojourns. The French love accurate goalkickers, so they would have loved Elrick.

But the pull of Takapuna was always strong for Elrick.

"I just love the club. The guys I am alongside week-in and week-out drive me to play. My
wife Hayley is a big factor too. She loves bringing my little girls (Jordan and Ashley) to the rugby every week in the rain and wind. To see her on the sidelines warms my heart and makes me want to play longer."

Elrick's 2017 form has been as strong as ever. Coming off a 186-point haul in 2016 which led all premier scorers, he has racked up 190 this season, placing him second to Silverdale's David McMurtrie with 219.

Just last month his 'full house', the first of his long career, sunk Kumeu 27-25. His winning drop goal was gut-wrenching for the Kumeu coach Adrian Donald, who coached and played with Elrick at Takapuna.

Elrick, at one stage, had kicked 29 from 30 off the tee this season. But he doesn't get away with too many misses.

"I do strive to be the best, but my coach Blair Urlich does give me grief if I miss one.

Having him on my tail keeps me going," he says.

And while he has played most of his career in the No 10 jersey, the advent of Bryn Gatland last season has meant a shift out one to No 12. The pair are hardly akin to Beauden Barrett and Ngani Laumape, but it works well for Takapuna, who have a solid 10-12, right and left foot kicking game, and Elrick is a good distributor.

"I'm Bryn's eyes from the outside in. He relays what he wants from the forwards and I relay what we have out wide. We work well together and I'm lucky to have a quality young player inside. It keeps me going."

Elrick's other sporting passion is the NFL and in January he was on the cusp of an unlikely contract with a pro team, a la Naas Botha with the Dallas Cowboys in the 1980s.

"I went to a pro kicking day in Alabama after paying my way, with Mum's support. Because
I try to be the best goalkicker I can be, I thought I'd venture to the NFL. I kicked nine from
10 field goals but fell just short of my kicking restarts," he says.

Had he succeeded in nailing 75 yards on his restarts, he would have got in front of an NFL
scout. It is no easy task when you have just 1.78 seconds to get your place-kick away or be charged down, unlike the 60 seconds in rugby. Then there is the player placing the ball for you.

"I had to critique my technique to be able to approach the ball to guarantee the power to snap it through."

Finances permitting, he would love to have another crack at the NFL in the future.

But for now, it is back to what he loves the most.

Regardless of how Takapuna fare this weekend or in the final, Elrick plans to be back for more in 2018.

"As soon as rugby training becomes a chore, I'll hang up the boots."