Brendan and Porky awarded Life Membership
At Marist St Pats' 54th Annual General Meeting, two club legends were awarded Life Membership: Brendan Reidy and Stephen 'Porky' Jensen.
The nominations for each are outlined below.
Stephen 'Porky' Jensen - nominated by Michael 'Soody' Sood
Porky joined Marist St Pats in 1985. He started with the U18s as a very promising Flanker. The following couple of seasons he played U19s – U21s. He was a member of the legendary Rheineck Cup Colts for several seasons, going from a robust Flanker to a solid Prop, it’s fair to say Porky found Lion Brown to his liking.
In 1988 he was selected for the NZ Marist Colts and went on tour with them. His jersey is hanging in the Clubrooms.
In 1989 he was in the Seniors / Prems and played a handful of games in the 1990s when Lion Brown had taken over. He decided social rugby was the way to go and played many seasons with the infamous J6s, captaining them for a while. He was Captain in their unbeaten season in 1996.
He was also selected as ‘The Pope’ for the last ever Jubilee Cup final to be held at Athletic Park.
After his rugby (playing) days were over in 2006 I asked him to join me in the Prems Management, he has been there ever since. He has been part of 3 Jubilee Cup wins (2008, 2009, 2012) and several finals.
In 2009, he won the John Rennie Memorial Cup – For Outstanding Contribution by a Non-Office Bearing Member and in 2019 he won NZ Marist Personality of the Year.
Next year will be his 40th year at MSP. He has been a great club servant for all of those years and is a true loyal MSP man.
It is my honour to nominate Stephen Paul Jensen for Life Member.
Brendan Reidy - nominated by Matt Calvert
It is my honour on behalf of the MSP Management Committee to recommend to Club Member's that Brendan Reidy be appointed as a Life Member of the club.
Life Members are appointed from time to time in appreciation of outstanding service and commitment over time. In the case of Brendan, this has spanned some 30 plus years as a player, coach, and club member in various capacities.
I first played rugby with Brendan in the early 1980s when we were representing what was known then as the central region secondary schools, so I have known Brendan as a teammate and a friend for over 40 years.
Firstly, I would like to thank the late Anastasia Reidy (Brendan’s mum), for rescuing Brendan from the clutches of the Western Suburbs Rugby Club, a mere 100 metres from the family home. Ants Reidy has told the story that Anastasia put her foot down when there was a suggestion that the boys might play at Wests.
Peter, I think you made a good decision in agreeing with your wife, and not just on that occasion!
Peter and Anastasia have been great supporters of MSP and we are grateful to them both.
On reflection of that great decision to come to MSP, I think Grats taught you everything you needed to know the dark art of the front row.
Brendan began his career at MSP in 1988 in the top U21 Colts team and continued through the ranks to Premier Player including Captaining the team in the early 1990s. Brendan’s outstanding form as a leading front row prop saw him recognised for higher honours with Wellington and Manu Samoa – where he played in two Rugby World Cups (1995 and 1999). I was surprised to learn last year that Brendan had played 98 premier games for MSP and was just 2 short of 100, mainly due to his representative honours outside club rugby. Brendan was also elected in the 50 year anniversary team alongside other MSP greats.
Other Rugby stints in the late 1990s and early 2000s included playing professionally overseas, in the UK and France where he played for the clubs Saracens and Montferrand.
Furthermore, among his other impressive commitments to rugby and MSP family, Brendan has coached the St Pats College First XV, NZ Marist NZ and the Premier team alongside Ross Bond for several years 2013 - 2016. As a resource coach Brendan has been a valuable specialist over recent years assisting coaches across the grades including this season where he assisted with re-building the rugby systems. It is no surprise that he has again put his hand up to assist incoming Premier Coach Bubbles Adamson with the team for the 2025 season.
To Paula, I know that without your love and support, Brendan could not have made the commitment and sacrifices to his love of the MSP club and rugby, and we thank you for that. To you all attending tonight. Please join me in congratulating Brendan on the recommendation he is appointed as a Life Member.
Brendan, along with our other life members, you are now free to have as many of Tony’s curried eggs as you like at this and all future MSP functions!
MSP Supporters
Shamrock Club
