Pioneers of Rugby in Wellington 139: Pat Myers (Petone and Marist)

In the ‘post Ron Jarden era’ of the late 1950s and early 1960s several outside backs and wings emerged on the Wellington club rugby scene – and on to representative or All Black rugby – to set the competition alight and maintain a healthy following of the game and big crowds at Athletic Park and other venues.

Names such as Ralph Caulton (Pōneke), Rod Heeps (Athletic), Mick Dennehy (Eastbourne and Marist), Alan Osborne (University) and Roy Smith (Petone) were consistently on the top of the try scoring charts and on the lips of rugby followers during the working week.

One other name included in this list was that of Pat Myers, who played for both Petone and Marist Brothers Old Boys, and who represented Wellington and the Māori All Blacks over several seasons in the 1960s.

Myers won Jubilee Cups with both Wellington clubs he played for, with Petone in 1961 and Marist in 1963 and 1964.

Patrick James Albert Myers was born on 11 December 1939 and first represented the former Golden Bay-Motueka union out of the Takaka HSOB club in 1958 and 1959.

Moving to Wellington to train to become a police officer, Myers joined Petone. He was predominantly in Petone’s second XV side over the first part of 1961, but his compelling form saw him become a first team starter by season’s end.

Petone’s top two teams started 1961 on fire, the seconds scoring 114 points and conceding 17 in their first five games. On 27 May 1961 the Rugby Weekly wrote after McBain Shield afternoon at the Petone Rec that “There was the glorious try of P.J.A. Myers, to whet the appetite for more such curtain-raisers. Myers ran from behind his own goal line to breach the Hutt defence and score. It was a thrilling run.”

The following week Myers scored two tries against University for the second side, then next match he started on the left wing in the top team in their Queen’s Birthday Monday feature match at Athletic Park against Marist. Petone won 14-5 and Rugby Weekly wrote that “we liked the play of Petone wing P. Myers. He made one great dash down the grandstand touch that had the crowd on its feet.”

Myers and Petone went on to win the 1961 Jubilee Cup. Myers finished 1961 having scored nine Senior A tries, behind teammate Roy Smith with 10 and top try scorers for the season Ralph Caulton and Mick Dennehy with 14.

He played three matches for Wellington A in 1961 and another three for the Wellington B team.

In 1962 Myers made a flying start, scoring a hat-trick in Petone’s opening round 23-3 win over St Pat’s Old Boys, two the following week in a 27-3 win over Oriental, then a hat-trick again in week three’s 33-3 win over Athletic – so he scored eight tries in the first three games.

Petone then lost three matches in a row, then beat Marist 12-3 on penalties so he was kept quiet for the next month. Petone scraped into the Jubilee Cup round with an 11-8 Tilyard Shield win over Pōneke and Myers scored his ninth try of the season that day.

Petone’s title defence was effectively over when they lost 3-11 to Marist.

Following that, Myers moved into double figures with his next try in a 36-19 win over Wellington College Old Boys.

In 1962 commenced the first of four consecutive seasons representing the New Zealand Services team.

In 1963 Myers switched clubs to Marist, partnering with Mick Dennehy on the other wing. Myers didn’t forget his way to the tryline for his new team, as below.

Myers missed a handful of matches over the back half of the season but returned at the end to win the Jubilee Cup a second time, with his new club. His tally was again over 10 tries for the year.

1963 was also the first year he played for the Māori All Blacks. He would wear the New Zealand Māori jersey on 19 occasions in 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1966.

In 1963 he played for them on an internal tour of New Zealand, but in 1964 toured Fiji with the side which won all eight games and beat Fiji 26-9 in the only Test.

In 1965 he played for the Māori All Blacks in their 9-3 loss to South Africa at Athletic Park (Ralph Caulton and Alan Osborne were Wellington’s wings in their match against them) and in 1966 he played in and scored a try in their 16-14 loss to the British and Irish Lions in Auckland.

Myers was in strong club form in 1964, and on 2 May scored four of six tries in Marist Old Boys’ 26-8 win over Pōneke. Myers collected his third and final Jubilee Cup title in 1964, Marist getting up at the end of the season to share it with University. He was a try-scorer in perhaps the most memorable game of that season, Marist’s win over University on Queen’s Birthday Monday before a crowd of 9,000 at Athletic Park. Myers finished as the competition’s top-scorer in 1964 with 13.

In 1965 Myers and University wing Alan Osborne embarked on a try-scoring shootout. The pair went try for try and both had scored 17 after just 10 rounds! For Myers, this included scoring another four in one game again Pōneke, in a 31-0 win at the Basin Reserve. However, both cooled their jets almost as if in synch, and each only scored another two tries over the next several weeks to finish the season with 19 apiece. Marist were fifth behind winners Athletic.

Between 1963 and 1965 Myers played a handful of representative games for Wellington – but all were in Wellington B/Wellington XV teams. In 1965 he played in and scored a hat-trick in a 47-0 win over his former Golden Bay Motueka team, four tries in a 51-0 win over Bush and one try in a 19-16 win over Marlborough.

In 1966 he scored eight tries for Marist as they finished fifth again, behind winners University.

He also played on the wing for Wellington in their 20-6 win over the British and Irish Lions – following on from Wellington’s win the previous year against the Springboks.

Myers became a regular player in Wellington A teams in 1966, making 16 appearances, and he scored a hat-trick in their 17-0 win over Otago in Dunedin on 20 August.

In 1967, Myers opened the season with a  double in a 19-16 win over WCOB and he was back into double figures on the try scoring charts for the season as Marist and all other teams trailed Petone.

He returned to play another 14 matches for the Wellington As in their representative programme in 1967, finishing his A team first-class career with 20 tries in 33 games played.

He scored two tries against Auckland in a 19-6 win on 29 July, four against Whanganui in a 35-6 win on 9 August, two against South Canterbury in a 23-3 win on 12 August and a hat-trick against Southland in a 22-12 win on 30 August.

His last match for Wellington was playing in a 12-12 Ranfurly Shield challenge match against Hawke’s Bay on 30 September 1967. Blair Furlong, who had also played in Wellington for Marist with Myers the previous year.

Myers was also played in two Ne Zealand trial matches in 1966 and 1967 and in 1966 played for the North Island and for a rest of New Zealand side.

His overall first-class record was 91 games played and 58 tries scored.

Myers’ brother in law was Max Jones who was also a policeman and played for Hawke’s Bay in 1966 and was later Hawke’s Bay’s sole selector in 1982 and 1983.

References

• Akers, Clive. New Zealand Rugby Register 1870-2015. New Zealand Rugby Museum, 2016.
• Donoghue, Tim. C’mon Red! A Celebration of Marist St Pat’s Rugby. Tim Dongohue Publications, Raetihi, 2020.
• Dominion newspaper – various clippings throughout the 1960s.
• Griffin, Don and Gallagher, Peter. True blue” : the first 100 years of the Petone Rugby Football Club Incorporated, 1885-1985 [Petone, N.Z. : The Club, 1985]
• Rugby Weekly various editions 1961-67.
• Veysey, Alex and Fox, Bob. Wellington’s Rugby History 1951-1979, Part 2. Tolan Printing Co, 1979.