It gets the ball rolling
Why does sport mean so much to New Zealanders? Why would rural kids walk through dark paddocks to watch it on their neighbours’ TV? Sport and the New Zealanders: A History — 316 pages plus notes and select bibliography — needs to be longer. There are athletics, horse-racing and motorsport; yachting, skiing, swimming and more to cover. But there’s nothing on Maria Folau or Noeline Taurua. No mention of Brendan McCullum, Chris Cairns, or Grant Elliott. And zilch on Richie McCaw, Conrad Smith, Wayne Smith, Steve Hansen, Sonny Bill Williams and Fiao’o Fa’amausili.
Greg Ryan and Geoff Watson have illustrious academic careers and tend to write in a dry style. But they pen some sharp observations on the mighty Colin Meads (“imbued with strong humanitarian ideals”), his coach Fred “Tiny” Allen and perspective. “A cyclical sense of crisis has gripped New Zealand rugby since at least 1905.”
Also recurring, conservative elements of the British sports press disrespecting the haka since the 1905 tour. Not that the All Blacks have always performed it appropriately — “The following half-century of shambolic haka, until Wayne Shelford restored its credibility from the late 1980s.”
Narratives around ethnic diversity in sport “take a variety of forms”, the authors write, before a middling disquisition. In my opinion, sport has contributed to a better New Zealand society, more respectful and empathetic attitudes towards Ma¯ ori and Pasifika perspectives.
The recent nadir for ignorant and unconstructive attitudes towards Ma¯ ori and Pasifika was 2004, when National leader Don Brash was popular. From 2004, after Tana Umaga was appointed skipper, the All Blacks made a significant effort to incorporate Ma¯ ori and Pasifika ideas in their team culture. The haka and the national anthem in Te Reo have probably contributed towards present record numbers of New Zealanders learning Ma¯ ori. Nga¯ ti Maniapoto’s awe-inspiring farewell for Meads last year captured the power sport has to bring us together, the mana its finest leaders have.
Sport remains a vital strand of life in Aotearoa but Sport and the New Zealanders isn’t quite the major history it’s billed as. It does raise some important questions, like: “Will a generation of New Zealanders raised in a ‘user-pays’ society continue to contribute their time and energy for free?”