Former Kiwis captain

Former Kiwis league player and West Coast icon Tony Coll has died. Coll, who played 30 test for the Kiwis between 1972 and 1982, was captain of the national side at the 1977 Rugby League World Cup.

He was inducted as a New Zealand Rugby Legend in 2007, and was a former Grey District councillor.

The second-rower was Kiwi No 503 and was considered one of the last homegrown West Coast Kiwis internationals.

Close friend Tony Kokshoorn, a former Grey District mayor, said the pair were biking the Wilderness Trail near Karoro yesterday morning when Coll suffered a heart attack.

‘‘I was about 10 feet ahead of him and I heard him yell out ‘Koko’, which is my nickname. I knew something was wrong straight away,’’ Kokshoorn said.

‘‘He just slumped over and his bike diverted off the track. We worked on him, but it just wasn’t to be.’’

The pair had known each other their whole lives and had been on many adventures together.

Yesterday morning’s mountainbike ride was a regular occurrence, but the first in six weeks due to the nationwide coronavirus lockdown and the pair had been ‘‘quite excited’’, Kokshoorn said.

‘‘I’m shocked I’ve lost my best friend. He put us on alert after the first [heart attack] but he had started to prove us all wrong. He was so tough and so fit.

‘‘He went out a fighter.’’ In February 2019, Kokshoorn saved Coll’s life after his heart stopped while he was standing on Kokshoorn’s doorstep.

Kokshoorn said ironically, the pair were passing his house again yesterday when Coll had his second heart attack.

Kokshoorn performed CPR on Coll on both occasions, but this time it ‘‘just wasn’t meant to be’’.

West Coast- Tasman MP Damien O’Connor posted tribute to Coll on Twitter last night.

‘‘Today the West Coast lost a hero, community leader and wonderful bloke. RIP Tony Coll,’’ O’Connor wrote.