IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO
Adam Julian gets to the essence of one of the great club rivalries on the West Coast.
G reymouth is a two-club town these days. It’s either Blaketown or Marist. Established clubs like Cobden, winners of seven Wallsend-taylorville Estates Cups (last win 1956), and combined powerhouse Star United (an amalgamation of Star RFC and United RFC), have come and gone.
Blaketown and Marist have stood the test of time on the transient West Coast – one of New Zealand’s smaller unions.
Generally, Blaketown has enjoyed the better of its rivalry with Marist. Since its founding in a school gymnasium in March 1923, Blaketown has won the Cup 25 times. Marist has had nine championships since it was conceived in 1934.
Things can change; sometimes shockingly quickly. In 2021, Marist upset Blaketown 30-29 at John Sturgeon Park after losing the 2020 fixture 64-7. The Catholics hadn’t won any game for two years. Marist forward Gabriel Waipouri scored the winning try. All week he was the toast of the freezing works.
Mark Costello (Marist) and Winston Monk (Blaketown) are synonymous with West Coast rugby.
Costello played 56 matches for West Coast at halfback between 1983 and 1994. Manager, administrator, referee, coach and stalwart, Costello is a Marist club and West Coast union life member.
Monk, a rugged lock or flanker, has served with similar distinction. He played 57 games for West Coast between 1979 and 1993. His brother Bernie (MNZM) and nephews Michael and Alan also played representative rugby. The Monk family owns and operates the iconic Paroa Hotel on Main South Road.
The ‘Catholic, Protestant thing’ might have been a source of antagonism in the early days but the essence of the Blaketown-marist rivalry has always been a hearty battle for bragging rights between families, neighbours, schoolmates and work colleagues.
On August 14, 1993, Blaketown faced Marist in the Wallsend-taylorville Estates Cup final. Monk was captain of West Coast, Costello his deputy.
The atmosphere at Rugby Park (now John Sturgeon Park) was feverish. Marist had won the premier reserve final curtainraiser. Blaketown wasn’t giving a quarter in the main event.
“I was cited for overzealous rucking,” Monk ruefully reveals.
“Rucking was par for the course in those days. If you didn’t drive over or get out of the way you got spat out.
“I got suspended for months. That was ridiculous in the days of Graham Purvis and Richard Loe.” How bad was it? “I guess it depends on who you asked in the pub.”
“Well, Winston was a fairly robust player,” Costello laughs.
“There’s no doubt something happened. I’m a cheeky halfback. I pointed out to the ref.”
Unfortunately for Costello, his virtue didn’t help the cause.
“we smashed ‘em,” Monk delights in saying.
Costello lost a handful of finals. He had to wait until his last season in 1994 to win an elusive championship.
“The whole week leading up to a blaketown game was wonderful. Local shops would decorate their windows with club colours; beers and banter flowed freely and the game itself was always tough and honest. What goes on the field, stays on the field,” Costello reminisces.
“blaketown celebrated its centenary last year. They invited me to speak, which was a huge honour. we helped them with some of the organisation and logistics; they’ll do the same for us this year when we have our 90th.”
Ironically, Monk started at Marist. when he was growing up, the Catholics were the match of blaketown. between 1961 and 1971, each club won four championships.
“I was brought up in the hotel 8km out of greymouth, which in those days was a mile, basically a rural upbringing. you could steam train to school and walk home if you were too late,” Monk says.
“I didn’t quite understand the whole blaketown-marist thing but it was there, and it was important.”
When Marist won its first WallsendTaylorville estates Cup in 1961, teenager Ian Macrae played himself into the west Coast team. Two years later the midfield back was a Hawke’s bay All black.
boarding school at st Patrick’s College, silverstream, in wellington had a profound impact on Monk. A first five in the west Coast primary school reps, he was converted into a lock by astute and demanding priests. He made the First XV in 1974 and 1975, where his coach was Father Peter ‘Snake’ Blake, who won 201 out of 279 matches in a legendary three-decade career. The Blue & White 1975 annual noted:
“Although lacking pace, (Monk) made up for this with many vigorous displays. Proved of good value in the lineouts and consistent effort won him selection in the combined colleges team.”
In 1976, Monk followed “a couple of friends” into Blaketown. He arrived back in greymouth with a dose of city drive, confidence and worldliness.
“My brother bernie and I got a bit of a reputation for being hard-arses. nothing was ever good enough at practice. we always demanded more. boy, those brothers at silverstream were tough, but the lessons were enduring,” Monk says.
From 1977 to 1990, it was tough to knock either Star United or St Mary’s off their perch. Combined, those clubs won 11 championships, but blaketown did break through and win four on the trot from 1984-87.
The Dooleys suffered a 23-year title drought but contests with Marist remained a “ding-dong”.
Mclean Park is blaketown’s home ground, noel Mcmillan Park is Marist’s. Marist never had an official home ground it could play senior matches on until it managed to lengthen the pitch in 2012. when the Catholics did that, they named the paddock after noel, a fourtime Marist championship player and west Coast (26 games) representative who became a life member for his administrative service. He died in 2019.
blaketown hasn’t produced an All black, but halfback Paul Griffen played 42 Tests for Italy from 2004-09. Alan Mcenaney was the new Zealand Colts’ top tryscorer on their famous tour of Australia and Ceylon (sri Lanka) in 1955. sir Colin Meads and sir wilson whineray were on the same tour.
There were some hazy memories shared by Monk and Costello of lippy spectators, a scrap behind the grandstand, embellished tryscoring exploits and plenty of pints.
It took a tragedy for both clubs to realise that something was missing from their keen and enduring rivalry – a trophy. In 2009, young Mathew Hodgson unexpectedly passed. Hodgson was a naturally gifted sportsman and affable personality who thrived in athletics, softball and rugby, representing both clubs in lower grades.
Adam Williams was Hodgson’s good mate. He proposed a Marist-blaketown trophy be named in Hodgson’s honour. The committee meeting took about as long as it does to pour a beer. The ‘Hodgy’ has been contested annually since 2010.
Proverbs 27:17 – “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”