Ashburton Courier: August 13, 2020

NEWS
26 Ashburton Courier, August 13, 2020
www.ashburtoncourier.co.nz
Musterers set to take on Methven B
in long­running charity rugby match
TONI.WILLIAMS
@ashburtoncourier.co.nz
Mighty musterers from the
mountains will take on the
Methven Brugby team in a
decades old charity match
nextweekend.
The RakaiaGorge
MusterersvsMethven Rugby
Club match has beenrunning
for thepast 63 years, although
acouple of games had been
cancelled due to snow.
They hadtheir50th
anniversary in 2007.
Rakaia Gorge Musterers
team managerPaul Ensor, of
Double Hill RunRoad, said it
was the longest running
charity match in the southern
hemisphere, although it had
not been played
consecutively.
Aformerplayer himself
Ensor, nowaged 43,saidthe
mind was willing butthe body
tended to suffer.
He played 12 games in his
time but said players like
Chaz Todhunter, of
Glenfalloch Station, would
have played more games, as
would legends like Jim
Morris, from Manuka Point
Station, (now retired and
living in Tarras) who used to
ride his Clydesdale horse
across the Rakaia River to get
in and outinthe 1980s.
‘‘He was likethe
Marlborough man of the
valley,’’ Ensor said.
The musterers team in past
were from up the Rakaia
Gorge butinrecent years
players have been gathered
from Rakaia andAshburton
gorges, both sides of the
Rakaia River and along the
Foothills to Mt Somers.
‘‘We have had to spread the
net out abit further these days
as there are notthe number of
shepherds and musterers
around as there used to be.
‘‘We just try andgrab
anyone whohas workedup
here over the past year andfit
enough to pull on apairof
boots ... generally they have
some sort of connection (with
mustering).’’
He was hopeful for aheapof
guys so they could have rolling
subs on the day.
‘‘Some of the guys are hill
fit, but not necessarily rugby
fit.’’
Ensor said historically at
the end of the autumn muster
there were heaps of guys
floating around and they
decided to hold arugby game.
‘‘One yearthe gorge forward
pack weighed more than the
All Black teamofthe day... it
must havebeen around the
1970s,’’ he said.
‘‘It doesn’t mean they were
better, they were just
heavier.’’
The match, held at the
Methven Rugby Club grounds
on Methven Chertsey Road, in
Methven on August 22,will
raise money for St John
ambulance.
Adonation bucket will be
passed around and acharity
auction, offeringacouple of B
and Baccommodation
packages and farm supplies,
will be up for grabs.
Ensor was hopeful this year
would see the musterers take
victory but said it was more
about the camaraderie fora
cause, than the final result.
‘‘Unfortunately we struggle
to match the Methven side. We
come together at theend of
the seasonbut they have been
playing together allseason.
We are abit of acobbled
together bunch.’’
Ensor said night games
always suited themusterers
better in the past.
‘‘We were able to slip a
couple of extra playersonin
the shadowsand that helped
us abit. We got found out one
year andthe following yearwe
didn’t play as (well) any
more.’’
The senior musterers game
kicks offat2.30pm with an
Under 9junior musterers
curtain raiser at 2pm.
Rakaia Gorge Musterers from around 1958, Rod Heard with pipe (third from right) helped get the game
going. Photo supplied.
Rakaia Gorge Musterers vs Methven rugby during the 25th anniversary game in 1982 saw local Peter
Den Baars support the game with his Packmans Palace. Photo Supplied.
LOCAL LISTENING
Peter Mac l 1pm to 6pm
2304059
MSA OUTDOOR
BOWLING CLUB
With our winter bowls
programme starting to wind
downour convertedtrophies
are being playedfor amid
somefiercebut friendly
competition.
Firstlythe Bruce Weir
Trophy wastaken out by
John Moffatt, MikeSkilling
and Trevor Pearce.
The Kennedy Trophy,
donated by the legendary
late Tom Phaup, was wonby
TonyInwood, Des
Prendergast, and Mike
Skilling.
Our finaltrophy round will
be heldon August 12 at
1.30pm.
Our return visit to
Richmond has been bought
forward aweek, now being
Sunday August 23, which will
allow members to playinthe
Sub Centres fundraising
tournamentonAugust 30.
Aworkingbee to lift the
matswillbeheldAugust 24
at atime to be confirmed.
Opening day for the
summerseasonis set down
for SaturdaySeptember12,
with new members most
welcome.
We hostour firstSkip2It
FridayTriples on
September18 at 12.30pm and
the Peters Cup OpenFours
Tournament is set for
September20 at 9am.
ASHBURTON
WRITERS’GROUP
The annual general meeting
of the AshburtonWriters’
Groupwas held recently, it
had beendelayed dueto
Covid­19. President Julie
welcomedall present. After
the minutesand financial
reportwere read, the
presidentgave her reportfor
the year 31 March 2020.
The electionofofficers
washeldand resulted as
follows–President –Julie
Fechney, Vice­President–
Stacey Broadbent,
Secretary/Treasurer–Rae
Magson. Themeeting
concludedand the monthly
meetingwas held.
Aquotation was givenby
Stacey ­“To write means
more than pretty wordsona
page, the act of writing is to
share yoursoul with the
world.”
Rae readareporton the
completed ShortStory
Competition. Therewere 83
entries, all of these were
read.
There wasdiscussionon
the timesand dates of our
meeting. As manymembers
andpotential members are
notable to attendinthe
afternoons it wasdecidedto
hold the meetingsonthe
fourth Wednesdays of the
month,commencingat7pm.
First meeting to be on 26
August.
Theassignment for the
meetingwas to writeastory
titled “ThenMyCar Broke
Down”. The instantexercise
by Deirdre was achallenge
being “Devil’s Advocate”.
Themeeting concluded with
the servingofafternoon tea.
The nextmeeting
assignmentis “letter to my
younger self”.
Visitors are welcome,
contact Rae on 308 8927.