Wesley RFC now official

You may recall the Wesley RFC became an incorporated society towards the end of last year. In mid-November, playing under the banner of the Patumahoe Panzers, we made our competitive debut, reaching the semi-finals of the Counties-Manukau Sevens tournament.

But we were still just a club in theory - we still needed to be formally incorporated into the Counties-Manukau union. And this could only happen at March's Counties-Manukau RFU AGM.

Fast forward then, to last Monday. With the union solidly in our corner, we expected our incorporation to be a formality but we hadn't reckoned on Manurewa and Wesley's bete noir Andrew Talaimanu.

Rewa led the charge against Wesley with a shameless array of spurious, self-serving and hypocritical arguments that I shall return to in a later post. But one of the principal points made by Rewa Chairman Kere Maihi was that our club would create an "untenable precedent which may adversely affect the very existence of the Clubs in this Union".

How so you might ask? Continued Maihi:

"The Academies being set up so successfully within the various High Schools in the Union, may also consider creating their own “Old Boys” Clubs. The question should be asked, what will happen to the existing Club structures, if school leavers were to no longer follow the path to the local Club?"

Now this argument is certainly worth considering and you can see why the likes of Waiuku, Bombay, Karaka etc might have felt this way. But mighty Manurewa?

After all, isn't Manurewa club already a de facto "old boys" club for Manurewa High School. Not only is Talaimanu, a Manurewa High School old boy, Manurewa club's Director of Rugby, he's also the director of Manurewa High School's rugby academy! The last person in Counties-Manukau who should be complaining about a school's relationship with a club.

This is rank hypocrisy of the silliest kind - petty self-interest masquerading as principle.

Happily, enough clubs within Counties-Manukau could see the bigger picture and Andrew Talaimanu was exposed as a butt-naked Emperor with no clothes.

Personally I hope the Wesley RFC remembers its friends and, in the future, help out the clubs who have helped us (with loan players etc). But I also hope that we remember our enemies and, in particular, the small-minded man who didn't want us to exist.

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This week's 1st XV games

Wesley's pre-season programme continues with the annual match against the De La Salle Lasallians TODAY (Wednesday, March 31) at De La Salle College (81 Gray St, Mangere East). Kick-off is at 3.30pm (apologies for the short notice).

The Firsts have another game on Friday, March 30, this time against the St Paul's College Pythons (also away, at 4.00pm, at Gribblehurst Park, 200 Sandringham Rd, Sandringham, Auckalnd). Note, this was the game that was going to be played on Saturday at Wesley, after the Old Students' meeting.

So duck off work early and come along.

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Wesley College Old Students' Association AGM

Kia ora,

The Wesley College Past Pupils Association will be holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the school on Saturday, March 31. All past pupils and Friends of Wesley Society are welcome to attend - we would like to encourage people who want to become a Committee member, to let us know or just turn up to the AGM.

Programme

AGM starts at 11am
Mihi whakatau
Correspondence
Presidents Report
Financial Report
General Business
Election of Officers
AGM finishes at about 12 noon
Lunch with the School
Following the AGM the Committee will discuss our plans for the rest of the year

The AGM and meeting will be held in the Dining Hall meeting room. The Wesley College 1st XV is also playing St Paul's (Auckland) at Wesley at 12.30pm. Field Number One.

NOTE: The 1st XV game against St Paul's has been brought forward to Friday (see next post)

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Wesley RFC Make the Semis

On an insipid spring morning, the Wesley RFC made its debut in the Counties-Manukau Club Sevens. This was our day of reckoning.
The team started particularly well - a thumping 38-5 win over Bombay with winger David Raikuna demonstrating Sitiveni-like elusiveness. A 31-12 win over a physical Pukekohe side saw Wesley top their pool and progress to the semi-finals of the main competition. Surely we couldn't take out this tournament at our first attempt. Or could we?

Unfortunately, injuries had taken their toll with the impressive Raikuna sidelined and wonder winger Frank Halai hobbled. Worse, we had the misfortune to come up against an imposing and well-drilled Karaka, the tournament's eventual winners. Marshalled by a rampant Waka Setitaia, himself a Wesleyan, Karaka monopolised possession, and despite brave defending by Wesley, won easily 36-7.

While the scoreline flattered the victors slightly, we were left in no doubt what we need to do if we are to compete - and win - at this level. We have the skills, we have the speed, but we need to add bulk, oranisation and strategic nous to the mix. That said, making the semis at our first attempt was a fair effort.

In an early coup for the club, Raikuna, Halai and Seremaia Tagicakibau were named in the Counties-Manukau senior sevens training squad.

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Draw out for Saturday

Fortunately for sleepy Wesleyans, our first game (against Bombay) isn't until 11.20am (Puke Stadium 1). We play Pukekohe at 12.20pm and then the post pool games kick off from 1.20pm.

Be there to see history made!

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Kepu to Play for Wesley!

This just in from Coach Bean. Sekope Kepu, the blockbusting Counties-Manukau (and NZ U-19) prop will be running out for Wesley this weekend.

HUGE NEWS!

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Wesley RFC make their debut - Nov 11

The very first Wesley RFC side will take the field on November 11 at the Counties-Manukau Club 7s. Yes that's right - our boys take on the swiftest men in the province in less than a fortnight.

The Wesley side is made up of current 1st XV stars, backed by some of the College's most talented recent graduates (including former NZ Secondary Schools 7's rep Josh Davies).

As the Wesley RFC has yet to be formally incorporated into the Counties-Manukau union, we'll be playing under the auspices of the Patumahoe club (big ups to them for helping us here). However, you can rest assured we'll be playing in the black and white!

So get along to Pukekohe stadium on November 11th (kick-off at 9.30am) to support our boys. And spread the word - bring your family, your friends, your fellow Wesleyans and show Counties-Manukau the power of the Wesley spirit!

Wesley RFC Sevens Squad 2006

Josh Davies, Folau Fifita, Jeff Doe, Seremaia Tagicakibau, Vuga Tagicakibau, Heremaia Pene, John Sikuea, Sione Anae'ala'angi, David Raikuna, Frank Halai, Nikau Ratumaitavuki (one to be added)

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Wesley Rugby Football Club

Well it's happened. Finally. After years of cheap talk and idle chatter, Wesley Rugby Football Club is at last up and running. A constitution has been drafted and officers will be elected at the club's first AGM, scheduled to take place in late November.

If you'd like to come along, or if you'd like to get involved, either on the field or off, then please get in touch with Chris Bean (through the College) or else email me at commanderATclearDOTnetDOTnz.

The Club's constitution makes for fairly dull reading - no offence constitutional genuis Jeff Johansson! - but here's a few of the club's "objects" so you know what we're about (note the emphasis on other sports besides rugby):

(a) to promote the furtherance of sport in Counties-Manukau, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands;
(b) to provide a pathway for Maori and Pasifika people to further their sporting careers;
(c) to promote the game of rugby union and other sports as may be affiliated to the Club;
(d) to build and maintain a positive working relationship with both Wesley College and the Wesley College Old Students Association.

So when's this club getting off the ground? Well, check out the next post!

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Jesus Christ Superstar - Review

First performed in 1970, Jesus Christ Superstar , an account of the last week of Jesus's life, remains rock opera's heaviest hitter. But Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's masterwork has started to look decidedly middle-aged - what was cool and "edgy" back in Sir Keith Holyoake's day can seem, well, try-hard to a modern audience.

So the not inconsiderable challenge to directors Michelle Johansson and Molly Wills was to funk up the production, though retain the reverence that the subject demands. Make it resonate to the MTV generation. And on this opening night, the Old Student's command performance*, Johannson & Wills' charges responded with a show of passion, confidence and no small amount of swagger.

Here was a decidedly Pasifikan Superstar. Swathes of tapa cloth. Hip-hop handshakes. The disciples hangin' in their Hawaiian shirts.

And the main players? Big Inoke Tuita is a marvellously garish Herod. Bigger Lauie Sila, a show-stealing Pilate. And Catalina Kamira plays a heartfelt Mary - her Annie-Crummer-like voice ensures songs like I Don't Know How to Love Him and Could We Start Again Please? will dominate your shower solos for weeks.

With the Wesleyan love of singing to fall back on, the "mob", backed by Will Payne's fresh backing track, were always likely to sound magnificent. And they don't disappoint though it is the details, a subtlety of performance you rarely see in school productions, that impresses most.

Of course, this is a show carried by Jesus and Judas. After a nervous start, Simas Tekulu (Judas) brought a conflicted anguish to a role that very easily lapses into caricature. John Salanoa's Jesus was "just a man" and yet somehow much more. Word is that their alternates - Poloma Iosefa (Jesus) and Jonathon Aiono (Judas) - are equally adept: they'll be doing pretty damn well to match Tekulu and Salanoa.

There were a few glitches: a couple of mikes weren't on (this was technically the dress rehearsal) and there were lengthy pauses between scene changes that could've been better masked by music. But these are minor quibbles. This was a performance of exuberance and joy. Sadness too - the final scene, Christ's crucifixion, is chilling and simply unforgettable.

Jesus Christ Superstar runs until Thursday night at the Wesley School Hall. The performance starts at 7.30pm - tickets are $10 for adults with concession prices available.

* The Old Students' Command Performance was dedicated to the late Richard Honey, Wesleyan and good friend of the director Michelle Johansson.

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Old Students' Weekend Report

Well... it was a typical Wesley weekend. The old boys, thinner of hair and thicker of gut, regaled each other with ever-taller stories. The old girls, more elegant than ever, rolled their eyes a lot. The organisation was on the muddling side of meandering with everything running on Wesley time. However, a good time was had by the 70-odd old students who materialised at various times over the weekend.

Highlights? A rather lovely powhiri where the old students were formally welcomed and reminded there's a bed (or at least a mattress) here whenever they need one. The Jolley Roger's (Roger Jolley's) Tour of Memories which wound up in the Rec foyer. Ernie Lepper being formally recognised as the founding member of the Wesley RFC. A historic triumph in the netball (aided by some shameless cheating). A heroic performance in the touch where we were all over the current students for the opening two minutes before their cheating - they brought on second-formers who were too fast and fit - saw us lose heavily. Then there were disgraceful accounts of old-fools-who-should-know-better finding themselves at Boogie Wonderland at 3.00am on Saturday morning. And, on Sunday, a chapel service stirringly led by Steve Tema which culminated in a rousing haka outside.

But the absolute highlight of the weekend deserves a post all of its own...

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