The NOBM Rugby Club’s 35th
Annual General Meeting
will be held
Monday 9th December at 6pm
at the Clubrooms
Nominations are now open for the following….
Patron
President
Vice Presidents
Chairman
Directors
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Napier Old Boys Marist Rugby Football Club
Presidents Report 2024
It is again my privilege to present my Presidents report for the 2024 rugby year. The club continues to be one of the strongest in Hawkes Bay, both on and off the field, which is a credit to all our members, particularly those involved in the day to day running of the club.
Once again, we fielded 4 senior teams with mixed results which will be expanded on in our rugby reports, but I guess the highlight was to reach the Maddison Trophy final in what is a very cut-throat 6 team competition. Our premier team were always going to find it tough against a very big Taradale team, unbeaten all year, but which we competed well scoring more tries than them in the final. A special mention here of “well done” to coach and player, Ellery Wilson for his role on this achievement. Our Colts team continued to develop with a big step up in results from the previous year thanks to coaches Sam Birch, Steve Smithers and Jason Evans. Our Senior Thirds continue to represent our club with a mix of experienced and new players and remain an extremely important part of our club with more wins every year. Again, a special word of thanks here to Robbie Morrison for his many years of work in this team and around the club. Our Senior Seconds were once again a top performing team, highlighting the depth within the club, especially facing the adversity of losing coach Chris Halas during the season to a serious medical event. We sincerely wish Chris and his family all the best in his long road to recovery.
Congratulations to all our prize winners this year and especially those players who were selected for further HBRFU representative teams after the club season had finished. It’s been a long time coming but congratulations to Ellery Wilson for his “Sportsman of the Year” trophy.
Off the field, as per the Club Management Report, our facilities and social side of the club continue to result in a very pleasurable place to be on a Saturday afternoon. One very memorable function during the year was the Napier Old Boys Rugby Club re-union. A great get-together of many of the old players from this important part of our club history. Thanks to Bill Heaps and his committee for bringing this together.
Our financial report shows that we continue to be financially very sound with a solid balance sheet even given the fact that funding from “pokies” has been extremely hard to secure this year.
Our junior rugby continues to be one of the strongest clubs in Hawkes Bay, due to the hard-working committee, led by chairman, Josh Wynands. Thanks, to you all. I see it and love it every Saturday morning. Thanks also to all the junior coaches and managers. Without you it would not happen and obviously with so many players making Napier rep teams it shows we have great people to make this happen.
Thanks to all the volunteers who make the club what it is. We always need coaches, managers, and people to do the many little maintenance jobs. Thanks also to our bar staff and kitchen workers and of course our very essential sponsors. Your contributions are very much appreciated.
Thanks also go out to our hard-working board of directors led by Chairman Wade in his first year in this role and supported by board members Chris Benson, Matt Robertson, Alex Nixon and Mitch Gardner and of course with Terry Gittings still in the background giving his advice and securing our sponsors.
Lastly, on a sadder note it has been a tough year for the club with the passing of several present and past members. It would be remiss of me not to mention two of these special people, as being life members of our club. Pat Benson and Joe Kelly. For what you did for our club you will never be forgotten. R.I.P.
Have a great Xmas and looking forward to seeing you all in 2025.
Regards
Mike O’Connor
President, Napier Old Boy’s Marist Rugby Football Club.
Junior Rugby Club Chairmans Report 2024
It is a privilege to report on the 2024 rugby season on behalf of the Junior Rugby Committee.
2024 was a challenging but successful season for the junior club. The year started with not only a change in leadership in the committee but the loss of a couple of our major sponsors. The club was in a good position to handle both situations with Bevan still being on hand to offer guidance and direction when needed.
This year we managed to attract close to 190 young people to the club. This number is down from the previous year and is, I believe, following a trend that we are seeing throughout all levels of rugby. The popularity of rugby is not what it once was and all clubs are struggling to keep their player numbers up.
Despite this we still managed to keep enough registered players to have a team in each age grade. We are lucky to have a great bunch of coaches who return year on year to help out the teams. This consistency is integral to keeping a core group of players together which we are then able to build around. As a committee we have discussed strategies to attract more players to the club. This year Dave and Glenn have created a touch competition which is associated with the club with the intention of keeping our players linked to the club in the off season in the hope they return for the winter.
Financially the junior club continues to be in a very good position, despite the loss of some major sponsors. This is due to the hard work and dedication of our junior committee in sourcing new willing sponsors to come on board. The support we have from our community and our amazing sponsors have ensured the continued success of our junior club. The majority of our income comes through sponsorship with subs and community funding being the other major sources. We were lucky this year to find sponsors willing to come on board to support us for the season and we appreciate what they did. Attracting new sponsors has been difficult and efforts are being made to make the junior club more appealing for them.
As a club we encourage our kids to be competitive and each team runs onto the field each Saturday morning with the intention of winning, but this is not how we measure our success. Success for us is seeing the kids learn to play the game of rugby and improve each week. Seeing them play good rugby fairly and enjoying each other’s success is key to making us a great club. Learning not only how to be part of a team but being a good team mate is an important message we encourage.
Loyalty is another measure of our success. Loyalty not only to their team but to the club in general. This year a number of out under 13 players were recognised for their loyalty for having played at our club since kindy ripper age level. It is also great to see a number of our rugby players playing junior cricket in the off season. This sort of culture is what we really need to encourage because as a lot of us know it inevitably leads to a life long affinity to the green machine
I can report that our club was well represented at a number of tournaments throughout the season. We had teams travel to Taupo for a pre-season Marist tournament with other Marist clubs in the Central region. We also had a good contingent of teams enter the Rugby Festival held mid season. I was privileged enough to be at both of these tournaments and was proud to see the manner in which these kids displayed our values. I also would like to recognise the huge effort of the players, coaches and parents of our under 13 team that managed to get themselves to Australia for their rugby trip. It was great to see the hard work put in both on and off the field be rewarded in such a deserved way.
A number of our players were also rewarded for their hard work earning selection in Wakely and Ross Shield teams. THe players selected for Ross Shield from our club were Liam O’Neill, Tom Tasi, Ollie Mckie-Guild, Aidan Fommherz and Noah Walls.
As well as those honours, below are the names of the recipients and the reasons why they were recognised with this year’s club awards.
Brent Clements Best Club Spirited Player:
The Club spirit award is awarded to a player who understands what it takes to be part of a team. Who, no matter what, puts the team first. This years recipient has shown this trait in spades. After an unfortunate start to the season being ruled out for many weeks with a serious injury, , this player still turned up to every training and every game, showing their commitment to the team. Finally after the doctors clearance, they pulled on their NOBM jersey and played their first game for the season. Not only did they play, but managed a Player of the day performance as if they had been playing all season. ! true legend. This player is also a Centurion Marist player playing over 100 games for NOBM. The 2024 recipient of the – Brent Clements Best Club Spirited Player Maia Nelson
O’Connor Family Junior Sports Person of the year:
This award has been given to this player for his absolute talent on the footy field. He not only has a natural gift with the ball in hand but has worked hard to improve his skills across the field this year. He’s not an outspoken lad, more of the silent assassin and resembles a young Christian Cullen when he runs with the ball. He is elusive and strong on the field but his most admirable trait is he is gracious and thankful for everything and to everyone. It’s been an absolute pleasure to coach him and watch him carve up the footy field. The 2024 recipient of the – O’Connor Family Junior Sports Person of the year Tolani Penitito
NOBM Most Promising Junior Player:
This award was a bit tougher to decide, as we had a few worthy nominees for it.However, we are super proud of this player’s contribution to NOBM over the years, and along with Maia Nelson, this player is also a centurion with over 100 games for NOBM. I have had this player since he was 3/4 years old and seen him grow into this great game of Rugby. Not only is he one of the youngest in our team, but he has developed his game with an attitude far beyond his years. His skill development and game knowledge is truly astounding for someone of his age. I truly believe we will see this young man’s name in higher honours in the future. – The 2024 recipient of the NOBM most promising player is Aiden Frommherz.
All in all NOBM junior rugby is doing well and preparations for another successful season in 2025 have already begun.
Josh Wynands
Junior Rugby Club Chairman
Club Management Report 2024
A very successful year across the board, with all teams making the finals, while not quite going all the way, still a result to be proud of and worth a formal congratulation to all our teams, the performance both on and off the field to be commended.
Our team’s performances were again backed up by the team managing our club and facilities and in the clubrooms by our members. As a Club we have created an environment and culture that is envied by other clubs around the province and country. For this we thank all members (playing and non-playing) who use our clubrooms every week which is reflected by the number in the bar, while not as fruitful as prior years, with overhead costs rising in many areas the patronage by our winter sports affiliates, Marist Football and Ex High Marist Netball, continue to add atmosphere too and all contributes to create this fantastic club environment throughout the winter months. This patronage continues with our summer affiliates Napier Old Boys Marist Cricket and Napier Old Boys Marist Rugby Cricket who use the club’s facilities during the summer.
We have again hosted numerous events from the NOBM Invitational Sevens Tournament, HB Club 7s Tournament, meetings, fundraising events and prizegiving’s. We had our clubrooms used by other sporting, community and Business groups: Intercity Junior Rugby, Hawke’s Bay Rugby Development, Hawke’s Bay Magpies, Hawkes Bay Sevens, Poverty Bay RFU, Wanganui RFU, Central Football, NZ Police, NZ Corrections Service, Napier City Council, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, EIT, Pan Pac, TW Civil and Higgins events.
We have also hosted various birthdays, engagements, weddings, funeral services and reunions throughout the year for both members and non-members. All these events have helped us to expose ourselves to the wider community and potential players and members of the future as well as providing other valuable income streams.
I must thank the other members of the Board for helping to run a successful and enjoyable Club. Wade, Matt, Chris, Alex and Club President Mike do a wonderful job behind the scenes to keep this club running. As many know with Wade’s 1st year as Chair, we have not lost any of the momentum made by prior management or governance teams.
We must also acknowledge and extend our special thanks to our bar staff who again have done a great Job. Anna, Dee, Tina, Peyton, Desire, and Danielle do a wonderful job week in week out and the comments I get from different people regarding their hard work is really pleasing. Thanks also to our caterer Ashley, again with her wonderful food on Saturday’s and Thursday night Roasts.
Bill Reilly & Peter Bainbridge have again made huge contributions throughout the past year around the clubrooms to keep our grounds & facilities repaired and tidy.
Don’t forget we are open Saturdays during the summer from 4.30 pm and also Thursday Nights from 5.30 with Summer Touch, so feel free to call down for a drink and catch up.
Finally, I would like to wish all members and their families a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.
Mitch Gardiner
Director of Club Management
Directors of Rugby Report 2024
2024 was a successful season for the NOBM Rugby Club. All four teams made their respective semi-finals again. Off the field, the teams are grateful for their sponsors, whose continued support is appreciated.
The Premier team has not missed a semi-final since 2011, and the 2024 NOBM Benson Property Premiers again carried that mantel in reaching the top four of the Maddison Trophy competition. During the season, there were many on-field highlights—memorable away wins vs Hastings Rugby and Sports and Pirates came at critical points in the season. The Breast Cancer Awareness game, organised by the late Pat Benson, drew a large crowd, which was followed late in the evening with the auctioning of the player’s jerseys. After finishing the round robin in qualifying for second place, the club was confident they could break through to the final against a much-improved Pirates side after narrow semi-final defeats in previous seasons.
It went right down to the wire, and a golden point extra time drop goal from Ellery Wilson secured the win sending us into the Maddison Trophy Final vs a strong Taradale side who were unbeaten all season and were rarely challenged. Unfortunately, Taradale proved too strong, and while we were valiant in defeat, we eventually went down 26-15. If it weren’t for the boot of the Taradale first five, then perhaps the outcome may have favoured us. Congratulations to the players selected for the Hawke’s Bay Magpies in 2024: Josh Gimblett, Kere Penetito, Dylan Homan and Kade Manuel, who made the Hurricanes U20s.
The Richard Kepka Premier Reserves team had another strong season. The side was travelling well and was unlucky not to win a couple of close games. Midway through the season coach Chris Halas suffered a serious medical event and was left with no choice but to withdraw from coaching and concentrate on his health. The team stuck together, including fundraising for the Halas family. After a long season, the Premier Reserves went down to play a formidable Otane who had previously beaten NOBM at Park Island earlier in the season. After a good start, the Otane depth of the squad began to show through as they eventually got over the top of us, winning 16-10. A special thanks to the coach and management team of Chris Halas, Ross Clements and Chris O’Connor, who won’t be returning next season. Their commitment to the team over several seasons in winning multiple trophies has been appreciated by the rugby club.
The Sideline Bar Senior Thirds team continue to improve, and this year saw them build on the performances of last season, where they made a run to the final in the second half of their division. They are well-run, with a good group of men in their squad. During the season, they had good numbers at training, resulting in meaningful training sessions that transferred onto the field. While they went down to Tamatea in the final, they should be proud of their efforts in 2023. Special mention to their management team of John Delatour, Robbie Morrison, and Bryan McGreevy, who continue to raise the performance of this team.
The Napier Collision Repair Centre Colts continue to grow under coaches Sam Birch, Jason Evans and Steve Smithers. Numbers continue to grow, and this season, they began well playing a good brand of rugby. Despite the odd loss, they did enough to make it into the semi-finals, and while they couldn’t go one further, again, it is another step from last year and with an experienced group returning next season along with a number of school leavers, this team should continue to go from strength to strength.
On behalf of the Board, we would like to thank all the coaching and management personnel of the four teams who gave up their time to steer the players in the right direction during the season. Your contribution to the club doesn’t go unnoticed.
To all our NOBM members, have an enjoyable Christmas and a safe holiday.
Matt Robertson & Alex Nixon
