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Friday April 3 2015

Sport

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The Star

Hornby Panthers turn 100

If there is one word which captures the essence of the Hornby Panthers
rugby league club it is family. Andrew Voerman speaks to the latest
member of one of the dozens that have made the club what it is.
THE FAMILY tree goes like this.
Eric Lewis was a Hornby player
in the 1970s, and has been a coach
of teams of all ages and sizes in the
many decades since. His daughter, Bridget, married Tai Arona,
a forward who came down from
Auckland and was Hornbys captain in the 90s. In 1995, they had
a son Tevin, who today will start
his first full season as a member of
the clubs premier side, its youngest member at age 19.
The club has been a big part of
his life from the very beginning.
Dad would always bring me
down to his training, back when
he was playing prems, back
when I was a little baby, says Tevin.
He was my hero and I wanted
to be like him.
With Eric as his first coach,
and Tai an assistant, it was always
likely that Tevin would fall in love
with the game and he duly did,
his passion for league showing
through from an early age.
Ive always had a competitive
streak in me and whenever the
other team would score a try, I
would cry, and hold my hands to
my face and wipe my face, because
I was embarrassed of losing.
While Tais work took his family
south to Queenstown, Tevin eventually moved back to Christchurch to help with his goals of
making South Island age-group
sides. He did, and was then picked
up by the West Coast Pirates under-18 side, based in Perth, Australia. From there, he was scouted
by the Canberra Raiders under-20
team, where he has spent the last
two years, before moving back to
Christchurch, and Hornby, in order to raise his nine-month-old
son and be closer to his family.
Hes played two games for the
premiers before, but says today

GENERATIONS: Eric Lewis, his grandson Tevin Arona and his son-in-law Tai Arona have all played for the
Hornby Panthers premier side
PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN
will be a special occasion.
Its always a big game when its
a Halswell-Hornby game, but Ill
try do my best to play well. Its a
big occasion but Ive still got to
focus on my role in the team and
not get too carried away, and still
get the two points at the end of the
day.
Something that always stands
out to me is going down to Leslie
Park and watching the prems play
and watching the likes of . . . Pup,
thats Corey Lawrie, Jonny Lim-

mer, Donny, all those boys playing. I used to watch them growing
up, and now to get to play alongside them, for this game, its massive a big honour for me.
Tevin says the sense of loyalty
at the club is something that has
always stuck with him.
Its always had a culture that a
lot of clubs want, really. We only
have Hornby players you look at
the players weve got in our squad
at the moment, its just Hornby.
Theyre all from Hornby a few

from Auckland, but most are from

Hornby and you cant find that
with other clubs, its something
that we just have.
The clubs president Brent Tomlinson concurs.
Youll find lots of names when
you look at our honours board,
and they repeat, like in cycles, you
can almost tell in about 20 years
time youll see a Lewis, or a Lawrie
or an Arona. You can almost map
it out.
The connections go on forever,

THERE IS plenty planned for

Hornbys celebrations at Leslie
Park this weekend.
Before the premier grade game
against Halswell this afternoon,
the clubs minis, 18s and reserve
sides will be in action. Stalls and
activities for kids, including an
inflatable panther, will be on site
all weekend, and there is a wide
range of memorabilia for sale. The
Panthers will wear a retro strip for
todays game, reflecting the clubs
first kit from 1915, and the shirts
will be auctioned off at a gala dinner on Sunday night, for which
tickets must be pre-purchased.
Tomorrow, more junior sides
will be in action, with almost every other club in the city lined up
for a game. Those games will be
followed by a past versus present
game, around lunchtime, then a
presidents grade game.
Former Kiwi Mark Graham,
New Zealand Rugby Leagues
player of the century, has been
lined up to speak on Sunday
night; current Kiwis captain Simon Mannering has donated his
jersey from last years tri-nations
win for the auction.
Eighteen players have been selected for the Kiwis international
side while at the club, with a further nine having done so before
joining or after leaving. The most
storied of those was the late loose
forward Mel Cooke, who played
for and captained both club and
country in the 50s and 60s, and
was selected in NZRLs team of
the century in 2007, the only
Cantabrian to receive the honour.
Two of the clubs Kiwis, David
Kidwell and Wayne Wallace, will
also be speaking on Sunday night.
The club has a won a record
28 Canterbury titles. Since grand
finals were introduced in 1967,
they have taken part 21 times,
winning 15 of them; their most
recent success came in 2013,
when they beat Halswell by one
point after two periods of extra
time in a classic at Rugby Park.
Earlier this year, Hornby was
named NZRLs club of the year
for 2014.

Derby the perfect way to celebrate milestone

By Andrew Voerman
HORNBY V HALSWELL - there
couldnt be a more fitting way to
mark the formers centenary.
Representing neighbouring areas in south-west Christchurch, the
two clubs have plenty of shared
history, having met 11 times in
grand finals, with Hornby winning seven to Halswells four.
This afternoon at 3pm, they will
meet again as part of Hornbys celebrations at Leslie Park.
Hornby president Brent Tomlinson says the derbies were some
of the biggest games going in club
league.
It used to pack out the Show
Grounds on a Sunday, and if you
didnt get there for the (curtain

raiser) you wouldnt get a seat.

The whole local derby thing
adds something to it. Theyre
never a bad game. You wont find
a Hornby-Halswell clash that has
disappointed. Both sides will get
up for it.
Forward Corey Lawrie is a cocaptain of the clubs premier side,
and has delayed shoulder surgery
in order to play for them in this
campaign.
He will retire from representative football after Queens Birthday; over the years he has been a
stalwart for the Canterbury Bulls,
and has had stints with the Warriors and Doncaster in the United
Kingdom, as well as being selected
for New Zealand Residents sides.

Lawrie, 35, said that no matter where else he has played, he

has always loved coming back to
Hornby, the club he joined as a
five-year-old.
Its just a good culture, I feel.
The boys seem to all get along, nobody has ulterior motives - were
just here to play footy and have a
bit of fun.
He said his relationship with the
club was very much a family thing
his dad and brother are both involved with the premiers in management roles.
Its good to have family involved, like dads down here four
to five hours a week just watering
the ground. Its just the little thing
that go unseen.

The boys are just really thankful for what everyone does at the
club. All amateur clubs are just
run by the volunteers really. Thats
what this clubs quite lucky with;
weve got a lot of people that have
stayed here forever, and have really given back to the club after
theyve stopped playing.
He said the Panthers were determined to mark the occasion
with a win.
Its a special occasion, but that
should only last ten minutes once
your out there. The emotion of it thats 10 minutes - the footy kicks
in for the next 70 minutes and
thats what we need to focus on.
We need to polish off Halswell
and celebrate after weve downed

them really.
Panthers coach Brent Stuart,
who is beginning his fourth year
with the club, said it was an honour to be involved.
Its not every day something
like this happens. To be part of
the team thats playing for the 100
years (anniversary) is quite special.
He said that while it was very
early days, a 29th club title would
be the perfect way for the Panthers
to celebrate this momentous year.
It would very special if we
could manage that, but like you
say we dont want to go jumping
ahead of ourselves. Well worry
about Halswell on the weekend
and well just take it from there.