President's Monday Musings

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

My 'One Club' Saturday

After a very busy week that saw the new temporary lighting go up on Evans Bay Park, the start of the Gym interior repainting project and a huge amount of work go in to planning for the big Club Day this weekend, I was starting to think how positively things were progressing for the Red Machine - and then came the weekend.

The trip out to the Hutt Valley by our Premiers, Premier 2 and Colts teams to play Hutt Old Boys Marist did not go as planned - giving us a bit of a reality check and demonstrating that although we are on the right track, we are not quite the finished article just yet. I think we knew that anyway, but that reality was hit home by a very impressive Club performance from HOBM.

It is always a tough assignment when we battle our Hutt cousins – but this weekend was particularly significant for both Clubs – with the Colts teams playing for the McGuinness Shield – which was played in honour of the memory of Peter McGuinness who passed away late last year. Peter was an amazing man who made a significant contribution to the development of both clubs, and I want to congratulate the Hutt boys for getting their name on Pete’s shield first.

My week 5 experience was a bit different from past weeks – I didn’t travel to the Hutt and support the “big boys”.

It all started with me thinking about our “One Club” mantra – as I tried to figure out what these words really mean – especially for the members of the Presidents, Under 85s and the Reserve Internationals rugby teams who get drawn to play at parks all over the city and whose itinerary is in no way linked to that of the three senior teams.

Ultimately, my weekend's plans were dictated by my emerging idea of what “One Club” looks like in action.

Week 5 for me was all about delivering upon the “One Club” philosophy and with Tony Duffin deputizing for me in the Club President’s role at Hutt Old Boys Marist, I was free to support the Internationals.

This week, four of our six senior club rugby teams were drawn to play in the Hutt and I was supremely confident that they would all enjoy the hospitality of the wonderful folk at Hutt Old Boys Marist. As a consequence of that hospitality, I was equally certain that none of those who attended the Hutt games would venture up to our Clubrooms on Saturday evening.

A quick look at the draw showed me that the Presidents team had another “rest week” – and this second bye in a row meant that they were not likely to be heading anywhere near the Clubrooms this weekend – I imagine most were looking to bank a few domestic credits ahead of their active and prolonged participation in the big Club Day we have scheduled for this coming weekend down at Evans Bay and up at the Clubrooms afterwards.

That narrowed it to the Reserve Internationals – the lone Marist St Pats rugby team drawn to play in town. A quick email confirmed their desire to host their Wests opponents in the Clubrooms, as the Wests lads always host them when they play at theirs.

After the buzz of the past three home games and the big crowds that have enjoyed the Clubrooms hospitality, I did not want anyone who made the effort to come up to the Clubrooms and support the Club to walk into an empty, soulless hall – void of atmosphere and pork buns.

So, my week 5 was all about supporting the Internationals.

I prepared a straightforward BBQ feed for the lads and between Richard, Toby and I we made sure that everyone was warmly greeted into our Club and made to feel welcome at our home.

It was great to be able to congratulate the Internationals on their hard-earned victory and listen to the Wests lads explain just how MSP managed to “steal” the win.

It was a privilege to be a fly on the wall in the Clubrooms and witness the pride that the Internationals have in the Club.

This is a team steeped in tradition and it was great to see what the mighty J6’s of the eighties had evolved into.

The Internationals are an important part of the Red Machine and it was great to catch up with these lads in this environment – I was very proud to see that many of the Internationals have a 20+ year playing history with Marist St Pats and that these stalwarts do a great job of inducting the new lads into the team and Club.

On a side note, their speeches and the player of the day ceremony were humorous and strange and wonderful – and it was great to see all the traditions of the past on full display.

In all we hosted about sixty players and their management and supporters and it was a thoroughly enjoyable night for me. I hope the Internationals enjoyed it as much as I did.

So, it was a different type of Saturday night in the Clubrooms but in many ways it was an excellent warm-up for the Club Day this weekend.

Previous editions of the President's Monday Musings

This weekend's action - 11 May 2024 - Club Day

Grade	Opposition	Location
Premier Men	Wellington	Evans Bay Park at 2.45pm
Premier 2 Men	Wellington	Kilbirnie Park 3 at 1pm
Colts	Wellington	Evans Bay Park at 1pm
Reserve 'Internationals'	OBU '69ers'	Hataitai Park at 2.45pm
Under 85kg Red	Wellington	Kilbirnie Park 3 at 2.45pm
Presidents 'MH Law Classics'	Hutt Old Boys Marist	Polo Ground 2 at 2.45pm
Netball 1	Marsden 2	Akau Tangi Sports Centre at 11.15am
Netball 2	Vic 8	Akau Tangi Sports Centre at 1.25pm

Marist St Pats

Rugby