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William John McKeown Conrad
Date of Birth:
10/05/1925
Representative Teams
Position:
Half Back
Biography:
The former King Country halfback, now with Waikato, filled the halfback position very well and finally won selection for New Zealand honours; solidly built and strong, he can stand up to hard play, and with a swifter pass could develop into a champion; the future is his." So said the New Zealand Rugby Almanack of the 1948 Waikato and 1949 All Black halfback, W J M (Bill) Conrad, in its 1948 edition preview of the 1949 tour to South Africa.
Conrad played in 10 of the 24 games in South Africa, but unfortunately never displayed the form that had gained him the All Black jersey. The tourists soon found out halfbacks were one of the main targets for the opposition. One tour report said "When the protection they deserved was not forthcoming from their own forwards, both of the selected halfbacks seemed to lose confidence."
Born at Taumarunui on May 10,1925, Conrad made his first-class debut for King Country in 1946 and played in five matches. He started off in promising fashion and was soon nominated for the North Island trials.
The following year he again had five matches for King Country and scored a try to help his union down Waikato 9-8 at Te Awamutu. The Rugby Almanack said he varied his play well, but his passing needed to be sharper.
Conrad transferred to the Marist club in Hamilton in 1948 and went straight into the Waikato side and played the first four games. He missed the final two fixtures because of trial requirements. In all of his three trials he played only in the first half, an indication the selectors were satisfied with the ability of the then 23 year-old, 5ft.9in (1.75m) and 12st l31b (82kg) halfback. He played one game for Waikato in 1950 before retiring.
Bill Conrad died August 14,1972 from a heart attack whilst on duty as registrar of the Auckland Supreme Court.
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John Kingsley Fleming
Date of Birth:
02/05/1953
Representative Teams
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Hamilton Marist
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All Blacks
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Marist St Pats, Wellington
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Wellington
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Waikato
Position:
Lock
Biography:
Marist-St Pat's third All Black John Fleming first donned an All Black jersey in 1978 (the year MSP coincidentally won its first Jubilee Cup) when he toured the British Isles with Graham Mourie's 1978 side.
Lock forward Fleming was rewarded for his All Black tour efforts by gaining selection at number eight for the the final match of the tour against the Barbarians at Cardiff Arms Park on December 16,1978.
The All Black selection meant 'Bones' had to withdraw from the MSP Senior A side's 1978 31 day trip to the United States, Ireland, Wales, England, France and Singapore.
Being a forward inevitably meant Fleming did not have the same meteoric rise to All Black rugby as did his All Black predecessors at MSP Joe Karam and Grant Batty.
Fleming was born in Auckland in 1953 and educated at Auckland Grammar, a college with the ability to turn out many fine rugby players. He was a member of the school's First XV in 1970.
On leaving school he joined up with Grammar Old Boys and played for the the club's under-23 team which won the championship in 1971. He was a member of the unbeaten Grammar Senior A side in 1972.
Transferring to Wellington in 1974 MSP was indeed lucky to gain John's services. His build, 6'5" (1.96m) and 16st. 2lb (102kg), made him a particularly valuable lineout forward. While still in Auckland with the Grammer Club he had been selected for the New Zealand Under-21 team in 1973 which made a three match tour of the Seddon Shield Districts.
'Bones', living in Wellington and playing for MSP, was back in the New Zealand Under-21 team in 1974. The team, under coach Jack Gleeson, played four matches against Thames Valley, Manawatu, Horowhenua and Wairarapa-Bush, with Fleming playing in all four.
He spent 1975 consolidating his place in the Wellington representative side and in 1976 played in all six games for the New Zealand Juniors side on its internal tour.
That year the Juniors won their matches against Mid-Canterbury, West Coast, Nelson-Bays, Marlborough, Wairarapa-Bush and Manawatu.
In 1977 Fleming, along with Paul Quinn, played for Wellington against Phil Bennett's British Lions. The following year 'Bones' represented the North Island before finally gaining All Black selection.
In 1979, once again on a Graham Mourie led All Black tour of the British Isles, Fleming played his first test against Scotland at Murrayfield on November 10,1979. He played his second test against England at Twickenham on November 24, 1979 before going on to play in the losing three test series against Australia in Australia in 1980. The Twickenham fixture was a particularly good one for Fleming as he scored the match-winning try in the closely contested 10-9 encounter.
Following the tour of Australia Fleming broke his leg playing rugby for Waikato against Horowhenua at Rugby Park in Hamilton.
He suffered the broken leg in the first of the 30 games he played for Waikato between 1980-84.
While in Wellington Fleming married Stephanie Meachen at St Mary of the Angels Church in Boulcott Street early in 1976.
Best man at the wedding was his brother-in-law Tony Meachen who captained the Athletic club side in Wellington from 1976-79 before returning to MSP following Kevin Horan's retirement in 1980.
John Fleming shifted to Hamilton early in 1980 and subsequently took up sharemilking. He purchased a dairy farm at Kaipaki, just outside Cambridge. More recently he quit the dairy unit and sold real estate in Cambridge and has coached the Thames Valley NPC side.
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Matthew Cooper
Date of Birth:
10/10/1966
Representative Teams
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Napier Marist Old Boys
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Hawkes Bay
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Hamilton Marist
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ALLBLACKS
Position:
Second five-eighth and fullback
Biography:
A desire to play rugby at a higher level prompted Matthew Cooper's move to Hamilton from Napier in 1989.
He had already played for the All Blacks on the tour to Japan in 1987 after some outstanding performances for Hawke's Bay, but he saw Waikato as providing the first division base on which he could further establish his game.
Soon after the 1.88m, 90kg, Cooper linked up with the Hamilton Marist club he was in the Waikato squad where he played both at centre and at fullback and became goalkicker.
His solid performances and points scoring efforts for Waikato kept him to the forefront and eventually he was given his chance at international level against Ireland in Wellington in 1992. His 23 points in his debut test was a record and on the strength of that showing he was chosen for the All Black tour to Australia and South Africa that same year.
Played against the British Isles in New Zealand in 1993 and went to Scotland and England later that year where he became firmly established in the All Black midfield and took over the goalkicking role with great success. However, injury ruled him out of the test against England. He returned to play two tests against France in 1994.
Born Gisborne, October 10,1966, Cooper was educated Napier Marist Brothers and St John's College Schools where he was a member of first XV from 1982-84. In 1984 played for NZ secondary schools against Australia then toured with the team to Britain. He made his Hawke's Bay debut in 1985 as an 18-year-old.
Chosen to play for the Otago Highlanders in the inaugural Super 12 series in 1996, Cooper soon proved his value with a couple of match-winning performances and that form saw him called up for the All Black tour to South Africa. On his return, Cooper topped 1000 points for Waikato. He continued to represent Waikato until 1999 and with 1604 points holds the union's scoring record. He also appeared for Waikato Chiefs 1997-99.
His elder brother Greg J L Cooper, a fullback, was an All Black 1986, 1992, making seven appearances, all test matches.
Profile courtesy Waikato RFU.
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Brent [Buck] Anderson
Date of Birth:
10/03/1960
Representative Teams
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Wairarapa Bush
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Hamilton Marist
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Waikato
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ALLBLACKS
Position:
Lock
Biography:
Very much a late developer, Brent Anderson had lengthy stints in Dunedin and Auckland as no more than a club grafter before entering first class rugby while well into his 20s as a lock with Wairarapa-Bush.
Anderson played for Wairarapa-Bush in one of the most successful periods in the small union's history. From 1982 through to 1987, under the coaching of Brian Lochore and Lane Penn, the union competed with surprising success in the NPC first division and for much of the time Anderson was a leading player.
Anderson played 69 games for Wairarapa-Bush and after a move in 1989 to Hamilton to take up a schoolteaching post he then enjoyed an equally significant stint as a Waikato representative.
When he retired at the end of the 1993 season Anderson had played 72 games for Waikato and been one of an outstanding provincial pack which claimed many honours.
In 1992 Waikato won the national provincial championship winning the inagurual final from Otago. In 1993 Waikato beat the touring British Lions and later that year they ended Auckland's long, historic Ranfurly Shield era. Anderson was a constant presence in all of these triumphs and after the 17-6 shield win over Auckland he made an apt comment. "Now I can die happy", he said.
Anderson's distinguished provincial deeds overshadowed what was a limited international record.
As a Wairarapa-Bush player, he appeared for the All Blacks on three occasions in the 1986 and 1987 seasons.
His one test was for the so called Baby Black selection which met the Wallabies at Athletic Park, losing by only 13-12. Because of injuries and suspensions Anderson was in effect New Zealand's seventh choice lock when he was called into the test against the Wallabies as a late replacement for the injured Gordon Macpherson.
Anderson was overlooked for the remaining two tests against the Wallabies, missed the tour of France at the end of the 1986 season and after playing in the trials was narrowly beaten for a World Cup squad position by his Canterbury namesake, Albert Anderson.
Anderson's only other All Black appearances came when he went on the short tour of Japan late in 1987, owing his selection in part to the fact that the World Cup locks, Albert Anderson and Murray Pierce, were rested for the tour. Anderson partnered Gary Whetton in the two internationals against Japan but full caps were not awarded for either of these games.
Anderson played for the N Z Emerging Players 1986, in 1988 for the Central zone and for the New Zealand Divisional selection while still with Wairarapa-Bush. His strong driving and powerful mauling made him a key member of the Waikato packs of 1989-93, but despite his consistently solid form he never appeared to be in the reckoning for All Black honours in these seasons.
After gaining somewhat of a following on the Sky Television programme Re-Union, Anderson has more recently taken a position within the NZRFU that is specifically aimed at addresing the needs of Clubs and Schools.
Profile by Lindsay Knight
for the New Zealand Rugby Museum.
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Marty Holah
Date of Birth:
10/09/1976
Representative Teams
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Hamilton Marist
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Waikato NPC
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All Blacks
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Chiefs Super 14
Position:
Flanker
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Sosene Anesi
Date of Birth:
03/06/1981
Representative Teams
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Hamilton Marist
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Waikato NPC
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Chiefs Super 14
Position:
Wing
Biography:
One of eight new Chiefs this year, Anesi possesses great speed and ball skills on the wing. He comes into the Chiefs squad after an impressive nine-try Air New Zealand NPC season with Waikato.
In 2004 he debuted as a New Zealand Sevens representative. The Samoan-born winger has also represented Samoa at Sevens, in 1999 and 2000. He’s a former Waikato Secondary Schools representative (2000), and Waikato Colts representative (2001).
Career Notes:
New Zealand Sevens (2004)
Waikato (2003, 2004)
Waikato Sevens (2004)
Waikato Colts (2001)
Waikato Secondary Schools (2000)
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Kevin John O'Niel
Date of Birth:
24/02/1982
Representative Teams
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Waikato
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Chiefs
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All Blacks
Position:
Lock
Biography:
Already known to his team-mates as 'Giant', Kevin O'Neill grew in stature during Canterbury's campaign in 2006 where he was the only player to start all 12 matches.
Formerly of Thames Valley, he was raised in the same town as former All Black second rower Keith Robinson.
He was part of the World Cup-winning Under 21 team in 2003. He went to school in Auckland but moved down to Christchurch to further his rugby career.
Moved to Hamilton in 2008 and joined Hamilton Marist making the All Blacks that year
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