I'm a Hawkeye Guy
There's Something About a Magpie
Hawkeyus Ontrailerus
(1965-)
There's Something About A Magpie.
This song was recorded in the 1960's by Robert (Bob) Houston and was written by Roland Lavin of 2ZC-2YZ Radio in Napier.
The Song is a Parody of "There's Something About A Soldier" from The 1934 Film, 'Soldiers Of The King' - Sung by Cicely Courtneidge.
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT A MAGPIE
(Robert Houston)
There’s something about a Magpie, there’s something about a Magpie,
there’s something about a Magpie that is fine, fine, fine.
And here’s to the mighty Hawkeye who gives the Hawke’s Bay war cry,
the greatest rugby cry of all time, time, time.
When the Hawkeye guys are roaring, the Hawke’s Bay team is scoring
and once again they’ve swept across the line, line, line.
Then you’ll hear the Hawkeye cry, as the Bay team scores a try.
Three cheers for black and white, they’re going to win again!
There’s something about a Magpie, there’s something about a Magpie,
there’s something about a Magpie that is fine, fine, fine.
With all the Hawkeye backing the Hawke’s Bay team gets cracking
and then their winger’s streaking down the line, line, line.
When the Hawke’s Bay pack is raking, the opposition’s breaking,
they surely know that they have had their time, time, time.
When the Bay is on the ball, you can hear the Hawkeye call,
as thousands in the stand all cheer? C’mon the Bay?
There’s something about a Magpie, there’s something about a Magpie,
there’s something about a Magpie that is fine, fine, fine.
And here’s to the mighty Hawkeye who gives the Hawke’s Bay war cry,
the greatest rugby cry of all time, time, time.
When the Hawkeye guys are roaring, the Hawke’s Bay team is scoring
and once again they’ve swept across the line, line, line.
Then you’ll hear the Hawkeye cry, as the Bay team scores a try.
Three cheers for black and white, they’re going to win again!
Life in New Zealand in the mid 1960’s was about as good as it could get. In 1965 we were listed 4th in the OECD index (GDP per capita) our standard of living was high. Unemployment was not yet a concern, although a downturn in wool price in December 1966, would give the agricultural sector – regarded definitively as the backbone of our nation - a considerable wake-up call.
The age of jet travel was upon us, diversification was entering the free market as internationally folk were looking at new foods and textiles, including synthetic fibers (which would be chiefly responsible for the downturn in demand for our wool). Advancements in science and medicine were spiraling upward, space travel even, had advanced to a point where NASA were serious about mankind stepping onto the surface of the moon before the end of the decade.
Rock groups like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, both from Great Britain, had breathed an air of freshness into the music industry and in that business and also the art and fashion worlds, cinema, a mini-renaissance was gearing up, that would take the world by storm. Yes, all-in-all – whatever was your ‘cup of tea’ as the colloquial saying goes - they sure were changing and therefore exciting times.
And while it all sounds very grandeur and exhilarating – and it was – there was also something a lot simpler about life and how we went about things, especially way down in our neck of the woods, the Antipodes. A season was still a season for example, not the mish-mash of weather patterns that we get today and when the sun was shining, we were always outside.
No (or limited) weekend trading was permissible in our private backwater, so everyone went to town on a Friday night, to shop, or dance, or catch a mate for a beer or two. A quick beer before 6pm that was! That was the current law associated with the clearing out of a licensed drinking premise.
New Zealanders - embracing all customs and ethnicities here - were a very pro-active people and we had always loved our sport, as participants, spectators or know-it-all armchair critics. And we could be found clutching a hot cocoa in the middle of winter, out of bed at 3am in the morning, huddled as a family or with friends in blankets around a radiogram, listening to Winston McCarthy call an All Black test match live from Johannesburg. In Southland, especially devised for just such situations, was the now legendary ‘cheese roll’.
The author, working his school holiday job at the sale yards in Stortford Lodge, Hastings, circa 1972.
We loved our rugby. We – as in New Zealand - were very good at the sport, probably the best national side in the world. And we were in the process, in the winter of ’65, of humbling the mighty Springboks on our own patch. And furthermore, after literally thirty odd years in the rugby doldrums, Hawkes Bay was once again a mighty rugby province.
Probably the best in the land, but it couldn’t be proved as such, because Hawkes Bay had failed (narrowly) in two attempts earlier in the decade to wrestle the Ranfurly Shield from the mighty Auckland dynasty. One could not accurately claim to be the ‘best’ team in New Zealand until one held the ‘log o’ wood’, as it was colloquially known to all.
It could galvanize entire communities; young and old, men and women, children and mascots. At provincial level, there was no greater illustration of this than when this coveted Ranfurly Shield was up for grabs and the holder’s colours – and that of the challenger on at least seven Saturday’s of every winter – adorned the city (or town) where the shield resided.
There was no such thing as night (or evening) rugby, not as we know it today in any case. There were a handful of grounds throughout New Zealand that did have floodlights – McLean Park in Napier being one of them – but principally, the game was played on a Saturday afternoon, at least all All Black home tests, Ranfurly Shield and all major provincial forms of the sport.
At seasons beginning and end there may have been festival rugby played on a Sunday afternoon and teams from overseas would generally play a mid-week match, usually on a Wednesday – or a Tuesday if a test against the mighty All Blacks beckoned the following Saturday.
Ranfurly Shield challenges were almost always confined to a 2:30pm (or 3pm) kick-off on a Saturday afternoon.
It had been two years since the Magpies of Hawkes Bay had been graced with a sniff of lifting the log, when they had challenged then holders Auckland and went within a whisker of snatching it, the match ending in a most dramatic and epic 3-3 stalemate.
But a draw is not good enough, only victory sees the beast change hands. And when it does it brings with it a fervour and excitement (known as ‘shield fever’) which sweeps through the new province like a pandemic and which will not be found in the universal majority of medical journals.
Many inhabitants of Hawkes Bay had not only experienced ‘shield fever’ first hand, but believed that the amulet’s true home was McLean Park, thanks largely to the legendary deeds of a squad of men from the 1920’s, who had repelled all-comers while in possession of it. Most of the names; Brownlie, Paewai, Nepia, Cooke, Grenside, Kirkpatrick, Mill, Irvine were not only legends of Hawkes Bay rugby, but also of the national All Blacks.
For during the Bay’s golden tenure, a New Zealand side toured the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Canada, playing 32 matches and winning the lot. The 1924/25 All Blacks were posthumously given the handle ‘The Invincibles’ and contained no fewer than six members of the Bay shield side, who contributed majorly to the on-field success of the team.
But once the era had passed (a brief flirtation with the trophy in 1934 aside), Hawkes Bay rugby fell into the doldrums. Since the appointment of Colin Le Quesne as selector and coach in 1957, things had slowly been on the improve and by chance, another opportunity to get their hands on the shield would present itself during the 1965 rugby calendar.
At the time, it was the North Island province of Taranaki which was plagued by the disease of ‘shield fever’ and challengers heading to New Plymouth were advised to be vaccinated before entering the region, to cope with a vista of amber and black, to help repel the usual host symptom of having only one eye and to fully prepare oneself for the charge of Ferdinand the bull, born 1953.
Rugby mascots had been creeping into provincial rugby in New Zealand for well over a decade. In 1951, a Hamilton company, ‘Booth and Chapman’, held a competition to create a mascot for the Waikato rugby team. ‘Mooloo’ the cow was the winner, the brainchild of General Manager, Jock McClintock. The competition was held after Waikato's first Ranfurly shield victory, when they beat North Auckland by 6 points to 3 in Whangarei.
Having then never previously experienced ‘shield fever’, the ‘Waikato Times’ reported; ‘Scenes in Victoria Street, when the team returned from Whangarei, were reminiscent of V-J Day’. ‘Mooloo’ placards were used in the street parade. Waikato Breweries issued ‘Mooloo Medicine’, "bottled in New Zealand especially for the Waikato Rugby Team".
In 1952, as part of the build-up to the annual game between rivals, Waikato and Taranaki, a press item revealed that ‘Mooloo’ would invade New Plymouth with a procession of decorated cars. A ‘Taranaki gate’ was duly built across Devon Street by some employees of the New Plymouth City Council, in an effort to thwart the bovine mascot and counter the ‘Mooloo’ attack.
This action led on from chance remark to further discussion, amid considerable regional speculation that Taranaki themselves could do with their own mascot to challenge Waikato’s dairy industry icon. A children's story popular on radio stations at the time told of Ferdinand the bull, who was gentle and loved smelling the flowers in the fields, but could be easily roused when stung. Ferdinand the bull was born.
New Zealand's very first rugby mascot. Mooloo the cow (seen here during a shield parade in 1953) was conceived as a mascot for the Waikato team and supporters following a competition run by a Hamilton company, Booth & Chapman.
The following year, when Wellington had brief possession of the Ranfurly Shield, council workers, Murray Mitchell and Geoff Bendall (in the latter’s parent’s garage) set about constructing a bull out of straw, number 8 wire and papier mache, to take to the capital as Taranaki's very own mascot for their challenge. Wellington won 26 – 3.
Back home, Ferdinand’s first trip out onto Rugby Park, with Mitchell as the back legs and Bendall the front, was a rainy day, by no means ideal for a papier mache bull.
"It was pissing down with rain - and the ground was all sloppy. Before we even got out onto the field we'd fallen over. We went out and took a bow. The crowd went ‘burko’ they thought it was wonderful. The guy on the microphone said ‘You've heard of Mooloo - well now you've got Ferdinand!' “
Murray Mitchell, (Taranaki Rugby Annual, 1978-1979)
Ferdinand the bull was a hero. He appeared in cartoons, wooed crowds and led parades through town before games, following a circuit through the city, which began and ended at the State Hotel, on the corners of Robe and Devon Street East.
During 1958 and ’59, when Taranaki held the shield and Rugby Park was packed for the match, Taranaki's mascot would arrive in style on the cab of a truck. The buzz of the crowd, starting a quarter mile away, would erupt into a deafening roar as he entered through the main gates.
Ferdinand the Bull
You've heard about Mt Egmont, and our rivers, parks and lakes.
You've heard about our high producing land.
But what has brought us glamour and distinction in its wake?
The Shield - and a bull called Ferdinand.
Ferdinand, Ferdinand, with your fifteen men,
Play the game, guard our name, ruck and bowl again.
Let victory's gleam shine on our team
in this land, you are grand, Ferdinand.
Back in the Bay, there were two major events on the rugby calendar in 1965; a date with the Springboks and – if they still held it – the aforementioned Ranfurly Shield challenge of their own against Taranaki the Saturday prior.
The Magpies were the 5th designated challenger of the season, most annoyingly for Bay supporters, as Wellington, perennially strong, were 3rd on the list, 2 places ahead in the queue and It would be a nervous afternoon for those fans, tuned into the live radio broadcast of the Auckland-South Africa match, anxiously awaiting updates from the shield match down the road in New Plymouth.
There is little doubt that Taranaki had their sights firmly set on this match up. Wellington had all but destroyed the Springboks on Athletic Park only a matter of weeks before, to the tune of 20-6. Led by All Black great Ken Gray, the pack was regarded as one of the finest and best drilled in the union’s history.
Their Taranaki counterparts were not half bad though either, well balanced with a mix of experience and promise and - on the day - had by far the better of the forward exchange, paving the way for victory. Having the first use of a strong southerly did little for the challengers, who went to the break at 3-3, ex-All Black and back-line maestro, Ross Brown, having equalized for the holders right on half-time with one of his trademark dropped goals.
As the clock ticked down in the second spell, panic set into the Wellington camp, mistakes were made and the holders were to capitalize on these errors. Taranaki’s other All Blacks stood up when they were needed the most. Neil Wolfe played a blinder against his old province, scoring one of his teams two second half tries. Wellington were vanquished by 11-3, their largely unexpected defeat had sent a rugby ripple through the offices of Napier’s ‘Daily Telegraph’ newspaper.
Only a few weeks earlier, journalist and community public relations officer, H K ‘Jock’ Stevenson, had run a series of articles written by his work colleague, rugby writer Ken Hawker, proposing the idea that Hawkes Bay needed a symbol for its supporters to rally around. Previous attempts had faded and disappeared, while other regional rugby mascots had succeeded and really caught the imagination and support of their own local public.
An apathetic response to the newspaper campaign did little to dissuade Stevenson, especially now that Wellington had been defeated. With his immeasurable and honed entrepreneurial skills to the fore, Jock rallied together a core group of local supporters and slowly, but slowly the wheels began to turn. Time was certainly of the essence though, as another date with rugby ignominy beckoned.
“One of the newspaper’s sports writers asked me if I had any bright ideas, as the articles had not brought forth any exciting suggestions. I said I’d think about it. Half an hour later I was back and said; Hawkes Bay with their black and white colours used to be known as the Magpies. Let’s make it a magpie! But a bird, twelve feet high, with a twenty foot wingspan, eighteen feet from beak to tail, and wired for sound.”
Jock Stevenson (Shield ’67)
Jock Stevenson - who would later become the secretary of the ‘Hawkes Bay Supporters Club’ - offered to help get the idea off the ground and went to a friend, a former commercial artist and shop window-dresser, Ian Leslie Mills (1928-2021).
Mills was locally renowned for his papier mache and fibreglass figures. Examples of his work can still be observed in Napier, including a three-metre dolphin (once used for a ‘Marineland’ float), a seven-metre shark and other marine replicas made for the local Hawke's Bay Aquarium.
“I want you to draw me an angry magpie”, Mills was told by Stevenson.
“With a view to what...?” replied the artist.
When further informed that it was for Hawkes Bay’s Ranfurly Shield challenge against Taranaki in just ten days and upon Stevenson’s insistence that it be sketched, built and decorated before then, Mills replied; “You’ll never do it in time!”
“That’s not what I asked you”, Stevenson retorted. Mills then grabbed the closest shoe box and in the back of his Hastings Street shoe shop, which was just around the corner from the newspaper offices, quickly pencilled Stevenson’s vague idea on the lid.
There was a good deal of urgency required for the project and Jock took the sketch to an Onekawa firm, ‘Wiig Bros. & Whyte’. Two rugby enthusiasts, Ray and Ernie Wiig had a steel shop attached to their business and after Stevenson explained what he wanted, the brothers enthusiastically set to work immediately.
Within a few hours, without any true knowledge of what they were about to create in an historical context, the giant magpie was actually taking shape. The ‘ungainly’ bird’s steel frame and bodywork was not only successfully constructed in just over a week, but also with some grand degree of diligence. The company had thrown all manpower and resources into it and welder, Les McLean, worked practically round-the clock in the steel fabricating shop to ensure that the task was completed.
"My grandfather helped build the original Hawkeye and would tow it in his white van during the Ranfurly Shield parades. I used to sit in the back and pulled the beak with a piece of string to make him talk. My other grandfather worked with Jock (Stevenson) at the Daily Telegraph. Jock was a great guy, he used to come fishing with us on my Dad's boat. Small world Napier!"
Steve Wiig (Facebook)
Meanwhile - with the mascot well underway – Jock Stevenson considered that the project also required a fervent supporters club and a meeting was called for instantly. Forty people turned up and the ‘supporters’ were immediately roped into working bees to carry out the covering, painting and the like of...‘the bird’.
Throughout the offices of the ‘Daily Telegraph’, the question of a name for ‘the bird’ was being bandied around. A staff member from the newsroom, Mr. J S Henney, suggested ‘Hawkeye’...and so it was! Stevenson quickly coined the catchphrase “I’m a Hawkeye guy”, which instantly met with a warm hearted reception. Support came from a host of business houses and Stevenson transferred his new slogan to hats and car stickers for the thousands making the journey to New Plymouth.
An early promotional campaign to promote the arrival of Hawkeye, new mascot of the Hawkes Bay rugby team and supporters. Jock Stevenson is seen kicking a rugby ball, presumably into a crowd. Napier Soundshell, circa 1965.
Nobody was looking when Southland – the (largely unheralded and) last challenger before the Bay - almost turned the apple cart on its head. Possibly, the intense physicality of the Wellington battle upfront manifested itself in posthumous lost form, but only the statutory dropped goal from Ross Brown late in the match rescued the shield for the holders, escaping with a 6-6 draw, thus thankfully keeping alive all Magpie hopes.
Back in Napier, all the media and publicity surrounding ‘the bird’ had certainly created a stir. With planning completed and implemented, ‘Hawkeye’ led the supporter invasion that was heading to the Taranaki for the game and the public turned out in mass to see the new mascot for themselves and to witness first hand, just what all the fuss was about.
Carefully settled on the back of a truck, ‘Hawkeye’ was transported through various regional centres of Hawkes Bay, drawing people in their thousands out to their gates and doorsteps, or lining the streets of their townships to get a glimpse of the worst keep secret in the region...the giant magpie.
‘Hawkeye’ made his first venture across a foreign border and into the Manawatu, where very quickly he was in a spot of bother. A fresh breeze that had blown up in the Manawatu Gorge threatened to lift the Mascot clean off the back of the truck and toward what would have become ‘an ignominious fate on the rocks below’. But all was well in the end and ‘Hawkeye’ eventually led a black and white procession through New Plymouth on the morning of the match.
Unfortunately, the shield was not rested from the grip of Taranaki, the Bay going down in a pulsating, seven-try feast by 17-21. It was, in fact, the first time the two unions had met since 1959, but with the Bay regarded as possibly the best provincial outfit in New Zealand - based on 1964 results - they were at last starting to attract again the required ‘bigger’ fixtures more regularly.
The weekend following the Taranaki challenge, Hawkeye made his home debut during the parade on the morning of the match between Hawkes Bay and South Africa.
"Hawkeye was stored down at our yard (Barry Bros) in Ahuriri and was often towed by our tractor. I loved going with dad on the many frosty mornings when we towed Hawkeye out for the parade. Exciting times!"
Liz Barry (Facebook)
"Jock Stevenson was my father-in-law, he was public relations officer in Napier and reporter at the Daily Telegraph for many years. He was the creator of the Coruba Shark Hunt and Hawkeye."
Mervyn Rigby (Facebook)
"Jock Stevenson also named the Dolphin Pool 'Marineland' in 1967."
Regan Beckett (Facebook)
"Hawkeye was the brain child of Jock Stevenson and was designed by Ian Mills. It was constructed by my dads team at the steel shop of Wiig Bros & Whyte, Leyland St, Onekawa. Initially it was taken around on the back of a truck or towed by a tractor. In later years it's own trailer was built to make it more transportable."
Chris Wiig (Facebook)
"My dad's (Warren Stevens) car used to have the Magpie on top during the parades. Dad managed one of the banks on Emerson St. Hawkes Bay and something else Savings Bank.. Car was a Morris Oxford."
Felicity Jones Collet (Facebook)
"Whoever drove the car and trailer back in the day, with the Magpie on it, used to pick someone up in Maadi Rd and would always let the song rip as they came up the road…"
Sharon Ramsay (Facebook)
"I remember riding around inside the magpie before a rugby game at McLean Park - the music was SO loud!! "There's something about a magpie, there's something about a magpie …"
Wanda Douglas (Facebook)
"Oh there's something about a Magpie that's so fine, fine, fine." (Forgive me if I remember my Dad's singing slightly wrong)"
Melissa Whitehead (Facebook)
"At the time your Dad (Robert Houston) recorded this, he was a valued member of the Napier Friv's. The organ player in this tune was Ron MacKay, who was the Organist at St Pauls. Valued memories of a once memorable time in the city. It still stirs me inside when I see pictures of the rugby success HB had during the heydays of the 1960s', when we belted all the 'big teams' from the main provinces. Memories are wonderful…"
Ronald Scott (Facebook)
Click on Hawkeye to view a gallery of photographs from folk who were there...
"I used to love the pre-match parades in the ‘60s. Saturday morning parades must have been a hell of a boost to Kel & the boys (not that they needed it) & intimidated the daylights out of the opposition…if they weren't already intimidated!! I Saw every match of that shield era including when we won it off Waikato."
Roger Percy (Facebook)
"I was in a marching team called 'Weathermaster Robinettes' that marched in the Hawkeye parades."
Patty Tanzer (Facebook)
"I remember being in those parades. Playing for Tech. The parade would make its way to McLean Park and all the kids sat on the corner where the Ref's rooms are now and had a Tiptop mini sundae."
Wayne Lawson (Facebook)
"I Took part in the parades when I was about 8 or 9, about 1968. My sister, the family dog and myself, all wearing black and white. I can remember walking down Emerson St. Then the game at McLean Park with the accompanying Gilberd’s fruit cocktail mixed with the small tubs of vanilla ice cream to make spiders. Yummy!"
Jeannette Board (Facebook)
"We used to have ballet lessons on Saturday morning at the hall in Memorial/Clive Square (Betty Grey’s Ballet Studio) and then walk across the road to watch the Ranfurly Shield parade. We used to stand on the 'sunny side' of Emerson St near the UFS Dispensary! "
Kim White (Facebook)
"I remember walking the streets of Napier during the Ranfurly Shield parades, selling programmes for 20 cents, gradually making my way to McLean Park as game time approached and being let in to watch the games for free because I was a programme seller - we did it as fundraising for the Boys Brigade."
Fraser Duncan (Facebook)
"I lined up for tickets every game. My mum would go early, then I would go after school. Dad would come after work, that was outside Nelson Park. I even gave up going to a Young Farmers Ball to go to the game against Wellington when Blair Furlong kicked the dropped goal to hold the Shield."
Trish Ngataierua (Facebook)
"One of the most important Ranfurly Shield challenges against Wellington clashed with my wedding; 30th September 1967. Many of my relations were not happy! My old uncle brought a transistor radio along to the reception and was secretly listening. My Dad was up giving his speech when the field goal was kicked resulting in a draw and old Uncle Les forgot where he was and shouted at the top of his voice; "It's a draw!”
Jan Watson (Facebook)
"When Furlong dropped that goal , I was right behind the posts ! Amazing feeling."
Trevor Ewart (Facebook)
"I was performing in Napier that night at the Municipal Theatre with the Hastings Musical Comedy Company's production of 'Can Can'. In one of the scenes, a court official reads out the names of those who have been caught in a illicit dance venue and that night he added the name 'Blair Furlong' to the end of the list. The audience went crazy - cheering and clapping and the cast all cracked up!"
Bob Smith (Facebook)
"I used to work with Ian McRae at Robert Holts. He used to bring fish and chips in for MORNING TEA after early morning training. My mate, Moose Mercer, had a flat next to the entrance to the park. We used to wait until the game had started and when there was a bit of excitement, to attract the security guys, we would jump the fence and sprint into the crowd."
Hugh Welch (Facebook)
"I used to take part in the parades with the Napier City Brass band. We led the parade for many years. We also played at McLean Park, with Hawkeye running around."
Ivan Bush (Facebook)
"My father. Doug Scoble. was the score keeper on the big clock . We were allowed to go up and watch the games. Amazing memories!"
Geraldine Hoek (Facebook)
"The Criterion Hotel was The Magpies home Hotel and I can remember being pinched on the backside by one of the players (never did find out which one!) when I was a waitress there 1967/8. Irene and John Watson were the proprietors then."
Dianne Thompson (Facebook)
HAWKES BAY PHOTO NEWS
MARCH 1967
Members are, from left back; Bob Keogh (drums), Kevin Keogh (trumpet), Ross Culver (bass), Tom Kerr (trombone).
Front; Kevin Morris (clarinet and tenor sax), Ernie Rouse (piano) and John Clarke (banjo).
The band had an extremely tight schedule this Easter; they played at Rotorua’s renowned War Memorial Dance on Saturday night and then at Tauranga’s N.Z. Jazz Festival on Easter Sunday night.
The Ernie Rouse Trad Band was one of the most successful bands from Hawke’s Bay, They recorded, starred on television, were regulars on radio, made the hit charts, supported acts such as The Seekers, delighted thousands of people through the years and influenced many an aspiring young musician.
The band’s prowess under Mr. Rouse was such that reviews of their opening for The Seekers in front of 15,000 people in 1968 spoke of how they “nearly stole the show”. At their musical peak, the Trad Band toured the country extensively and played on cruise ships.
All that aside fronting at Hawkeye parades!!
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PART(L)Y TRAD (c) 1968, Polydor Records
Fans fists flew to save Hawkeye
...compiled from an article for Hawkes Bay Today by Roger Moroney, 2009
When Hawkes Bay won the Ranfurly Shield from Waikato in 1966, the mighty magpie fledgling was lucky to make it back to Napier in one piece!
Roger Moroney interviewed Rex Harwood for an article for Hawkes Bay Today in 2009, where the English ex-pat (and Southampton football supporter) accompanied the legendary Jock Stevenson on the eventful trip to Hamilton.
Rex firstly pointed out that the trip would not have had to have been undertaken had the Bay done the job against Taranaki the previous winter.
En route to New Plymouth, Rex discovered that the province was well and truly gripped with shield fever.
"There were dead magpies hanging off the fences from Patea into New Plymouth. Mind you, we should have taken the shield home. (Keith) Murdoch. He just couldn’t keep his fists to himself. We were winning with two minutes to go and he had a go at one of their props.’’
Taranaki kicked the penalty and retained the shield.
A year on and Rex and Jock were preparing to take the big bird on another sojourn, this time to Hamilton to challenge the Waikato. It was the Mooloo's first defence since snatching the trophy from Auckland the previous month.
Hawkeye was not only an aero-dynamic challenge to transport around the district, the Napier-Taupo road at the time was winding and equally exigent, especially with 'an ageing trailer' doing all the donkey work.
‘‘We did a wheel bearing. It was getting dark and we weren’t sure how they were going to attack the problem ... until a car pulled up. This bloke got out. He was huge — must have been six foot six. He said we’d have to get the wheel off but we told him we didn’t have a jack. But he was so strong, he lifted the whole frame up on one side so we could put blocks under it to get the wheel off. It was Rod Abel, who was driving with his wife to the game, rather than in the team bus. He grabbed the wheel and drove off to get it sorted. About 90 minutes later, he returned with a repaired wheel. He never told us where he got it done.’’
Rex and Jock pressed on to stay at Wairakei for the Friday night. The road from Taupo to the steamy village back then was the old Huka back road, a treacherous and narrow stretch at the best of times. The following day, they rocked in to Hamilton, to discover the atmosphere was thick and heated enough to cut with a knife. Another fiercely proud North Island province gripped in the midst of shield fever.
After all their efforts thus far, Jock and Rex were dismayed when they were told that Hawkeye wouldn't be allowed to go in the pre-match parade. It was only after some mayoral intervention that permission was granted to let the Bay mascot join the procession. Hamilton was saturated with supporters in black and white, with one report likening the invasion to the Spanish Armada.
The history books tell us that the Bay were successful, winning the match by 6-0. But Rex says that at the final whistle, it was clear that the broken hearts of the most passionate Waikato supporters, now wanted to see some broken magpie wings. Hawkeye, which had been positioned to the left of the scoreboard during the match, now appeared to be taunting them.
‘‘They’d really taken it to heart, the Waikato boys and they came roaring across towards us. Jock had wandered off somewhere and it was just me and a mate defending the bird. Then we saw them. The Hawke’s Bay supporters all came charging over and fists were flying. We got the bird off the bank and on to the road as soon as we could. You could see that people were definitely not happy, so we took off. The lads got a fright when told by some other fleeing supporters that four car-loads of seething Waikato fans were chasing them south. Apparently they gave up the chase at Putaruru, but we weren’t taking any chances. We got to Wairakei and hid the bird in the trees where we stayed.’’
To their relief, the sunrise revealed a safe bird. But the adventure wasn’t quite over because the boys had to get Hawkeye to the Sound Shell in Napier by 2pm on the Sunday for a big public celebration.
‘‘That was no mean feat, given the road in those days, and I got a bit carried away. I wasn’t using the brakes at all and Jock was yelling "slow down, slow down!" How we never lost her I’ll never know. We should have tipped it over a bank.’’
They made it with a few minutes to spare.
’
Rod Abel wins the 'sew up a frock for a girl from the carnival' competition at the Grey Street Fair in Gisborne, August 1967. Neil Thimbleby and Tom Johnson look on bemused, with Poverty Bay captain, Garry Thompson (4th left), and two team mates, Buster Taylor and Murray Hollis (6th and 7th left).
Back in Napier following the shield grab, Jock Stevenson looks a tired contrast of emotions. Delighted, rung out, still very much processing it all. But his entrepreneurial skills and efforts had helped create a giant magpie, Hawkeye, which would become the symbol of Hawkes Bay rugby forevermore!
