Author looks to get event context right

Ron Palenski met Keith Murdoch just once, on the stairs of a hotel, and the two men of different statures decided to scurry in different directions.

For his part, Palenski was mindful of the Murdoch reputation, that this famously strong man might not be averse to holding a journalist under a shower.

“He had a devilish look in his eye,” recalls author Palenski.

These two Otago men had no way of knowing how their paths would come together, decades down the line. More than 45 years later, Palenski is the man presenting the infamous Murdoch — who passed away this year — in a more rounded light.

As media internet numbers show, there is still a fascination with the Murdoch story. Palenski’s latest book, Murdoch: The All Black Who

Never Returned, returns to that moment in New Zealand sport which created the most mysterious of legends.

Prop Murdoch, having been sent home for clouting a security guard in Wales on the 1972/73 All Black tour, instantly found places in the Australian shadows and New Zealand spotlight. Palenski’s aims included putting events into context, revealing a bigger picture, while treating Murdoch as a man rather than a thug-like caricature.

A publisher instigated the book, but renowned and veteran sports journalist Palenski said he quickly came to treasure the project, on a subject he had visited in print before.

There has been too much “innuendo, gossip and unsubstantiated rumours” around Murdoch, according to Palenski, who believes the internet age has the unfortunate habit of writing too many falsehoods into easily-read stone.

Palenski himself is proof — there is still a BBC report available which incorrectly states he covered the 1972/73 tour. A new recruit at the New Zealand Press Association at the time, Palenski was nowhere near the scene of the crime.

The most surprising find? Just how “vehement” the Four Nations rugby bosses were in having Murdoch sent home. And if there is a tenet to Palenski’s summary, it is that whatever the rights and wrongs over what occurred, and the fallibility of recall, Murdoch was without doubt denied a fair hearing.

“It turned out to be a better story than I thought it would be,” says Palenski, who also writes about New Zealand history and whose many sporting posts include seven years as Otago rugby chairman.

“Someone had to produce a balanced story about Keith Murdoch . . . somehow it fell to me and I found it very rewarding.”