Collector Coles – Steve Coles on his NZ Rugby & Rugby League Collection

• By Adam Julian

A Rugby World Cup-winning son is a reason alone to have a vast collection of rugby memorabilia.

But for Steve Coles, blazers, jerseys, pictures, trophies, programmes, and videos capturing Dane Coles’ illustrious career are only a small part of his burgeoning Rugby & Rugby League Collection.

Since 2022, Coles has hosted a self-funded programme on Facebook interviewing rugby and rugby league legends while increasing an impressive collection of relics he started accumulating as a child.

His programmes have profiled luminaries like Sir Bryan Williams, Ian Kirkpatrick, Kurt Soronsen, and Mark Graham.

They are recorded live in his home garage, transformed into a free sports museum, soon to expand to accommodate more memorabilia.

The interviews last no longer than half an hour and have no prescribed questions. Coles instead uses bullet points to maintain some order but allows organic conversation to flow. He laughs that technology isn’t a strong suit: “I can’t bloody edit, I argue with the TV remote,” he says.

The Rugby & Rugby League Collection NZ Facebook page has close to seven thousand followers.

“The original idea was from the Mad Butcher. I followed his interviews with former Kiwis and loved them. When I started doing the same thing, I got invited to a Kiwis reunion, and it took off from there,” Coles said.

“My intense interest in rugby started when I was eight years old. I was captivated by the 1970 All Blacks tour to South Africa. The way they looked, the way they played, the mystic of the Springboks. It was just awesome.

“I can remember getting up in the middle of the night to listen to Bob Irvine’s commentaries on the radio. Bryan Williams was my favourite player. I remember Mum would wrap strapping around my legs the way that BG had it.

“When I interviewed BG, I was in total awe. He’s one of my favorites. Kirky, Jazz Muller, Murray Pearce, Colin Farrell – they’re all good.”

Rugby League was the game Coles spent the most time playing. A stalwart of the Kāpiti Bears, he played a dozen years in the seniors as a second rower, founded the masters team, and rose to club president of an outfit that produced Kiwis legend and NRL Premiership winner Stephen Kearney.

“League is struggling up here on the Coast with the Masters team the only team left at our club,” Coles said.

“Still, I love the game and will continue to support it. The competition could be brutal back in the day, but some characters became great mates.

“The best Kiwis team I saw in person was in 1985. They beat Australia 18-0 at Carlaw Park. The greatest team is the ’71 Kiwis, I reckon. They beat Australia 24-3 at Carlaw Park. John Whittaker, Mark Graham, Kurt Soronsen. Man, there’ve been some great footy players.”

Coles’ museum captures the feats of the 1971 Kiwis, who also won a Test series in Great Britain and France. He interviewed the oldest living Kiwi, Ray Cranch (MNZM), when Cranch was 96. Cranch played eight games for the Kiwis in 1951-52 and passed away aged 98 on October 13, 2021.*

Coles’ rugby collection includes every Test jersey swapped by late All Blacks prop Jazz Muller. The cheerful Taranaki recluse played 34 matches for New Zealand, including 14 tests.

Muller was part of the legendary 1967 All Blacks tour of the UK, France and North America. He later turned his house into a rugby shrine. When he died in 2019, Coles received a call from a member of the Muller family asking if he would preserve part of the Muller collection. Muller and Dane Coles had been exchanging letters.

The most valued items in his son’s collection include a 2015 Rugby World Cup final-winning jersey and the Tom French Cup won by the 2016 Maori Player of the Year.

Coles loves his job as a manager for Higgins Civil Construction services but would prefer to go full-time with his hobby, which is keenly supported by his wife, Sonya.

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Any visitors are welcome to the Paraparaumu Museum. There is no charge, just call 0278787039 to book a date and time.

Rugby & Rugby League Collection NZ: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064336652481

*Perhaps the most noteworthy achievement Ray Cranch (Kiwi #341) made for New Zealand was falsifying his age so he could join the Army in World War II. The legal age required to serve was 18. Cranch was 16 in 1939, yet he served in Egypt and Italy. He received a Year of the Veteran Certificate of Appreciation for his Service from Prime Minister Helen Clark during the fifth Labour Government.

Watch a couple of his recent interviews with Murray Pierce and Brian Cederwall embedded below, after some messages from our supporters.