President's Monday Musings

From the pen of Club President, John Spillane...

Week 4 – and things seem to be going along pretty well for the Red Machine.

It was a home ground advantage (playing at Evans Bay and Kilbirnie Park) for the four rugby teams playing this weekend and we were blessed with amazing weather.

Our Premiers got up again, to make it the perfect 4 from 4 start to the season, and the other three teams recorded great wins (noting, the Presidents and the U85s both had byes this week). Our two Netball teams also got underway on Saturdays and also had good wins!

So, it was a busy, happy, and vibrant Clubrooms after the match – with the Wainuiomata players, management, and supporters up there in considerable numbers. Wainui, thank you sincerely for making the journey up the hill to share a meal with us after the game – your presence was appreciated.

And it was so good to have John Morrisey and his family in the Clubrooms - and for John to congratulate the MSP Premier Captain for retaining the Rona-Morrisey Cup, which we were delighted to reinstate in the trophy cabinet until the next clash.

The highlight of the night was the presentation by John McBeth of his war medals. It was a fabulous gesture and one that was particularly poignant given it was ANZAC weekend. It is an honour for the Club to be the custodian of these precious medals going forward (read more on this here).

So, how does my opening statement about how we are progressing in 2024 - saying we were going along pretty well - sit with all the positives I have just shared?

The fact is, we, as a Club, are doing pretty well – but we could be doing better in some areas – and we are not shying away from these tricky assignments or allowing a few good wins to paper over the cracks.

So clearly, I am not referring to the rugby results – these are great, and we have a huge team working on this aspect of the Club. I am actually referring to the re-engagement with our big supporter base – we have work to do here, and I want that work to start on Saturday 11 May.

They say it takes a village to raise a child – well it takes a complete Club to support the development of the 2024 cohort and provide them with the full Club experience that we all enjoyed as players. We need our diverse range of supporters back on the sideline and in the Clubrooms to complete the Club experience for the wonderful group of players we have gathered together this season.

On Saturday 11 May we are celebrating what people of my age refer to as “Old Timers’ Day”, which was rebranded to “Past Players and Supporters’ Day” and has now morphed into “MSP Club Day”.

This is a day that we have targeted to reconnect with as many of our supporter base as possible.

The day's events are on the web site – but the focus is simple, Evans Bay Park – starting at 11.00am with the juniors and continuing till the conclusion of the Premier game and then on to the Clubrooms for more fun and festivities.

This is a date to lock into your diary now – please.

Reconnecting with Marist St Pats in 2024 is not difficult – just make the call to get to Evans Bay Park on Saturday 11 May to enjoy some good rugby, great banter, a coffee cart, BBQ feed (thank you Higgins Concrete) and then continue up to the Clubrooms.

I can assure everyone that the 2024 players are a wonderful mix of personalities, backgrounds, cultures, and countries of origin and that the energy up there is infectious.

Nothing much has changed since your day – with “Doctor Death” (presumably not his real name – nor profession for that matter) taking home the Player of the Day award for the mighty Internationals on Saturday and the most highly prized Player of the Day award seemingly being the chocolate fish – despite there being cash and Pak N Save vouchers to be won.

I hope to see you all on the 11th.

Please note, we are playing HOBM this weekend so the Clubrooms will only be open for three hours (from 4pm– 7pm), as four of our teams will be hosted by our Hutt cousins after their matches in the Hutt and the Presidents have another “rest week” – meaning that we only have the one team playing in town.

Previous editions of the President's Monday Musings


This weekend's action - 4 May 2024

Grade Opposition Location
Premier Men
Hutt Old Boys Marist
Hutt Rec at 2.45pm
Premier 2 Men
Hutt Old Boys Marist
Hutt Rec 2 at 1pm
Colts
Hutt Old Boys Marist
Hutt Rec at 1pm
Reserve 'Internationals'
Western Suburbs
Kilbirnie Park 3 at 2.45pm
Under 85kg Red
Hutt Old Boys Marist
Hutt Rec 2 at 2.45pm
Presidents 'MH Law Classics'
BYE

Netball 1
Wellington Girls 4
Akau Tangi Sports Centre at 1.25pm
Netball 2
Nga Mokopuna 2
Akau Tangi Sports Centre at 2.30pm
MoST Content Management V3.0.8886