Multi-talented Paul Martin

Ian Snook

Few Taranaki sports people would have achieved anything comparable to Paul Martin.

A Taranaki representative at rugby, cricket and golf filled the first phase of a sporting life for this remarkable athlete, who then packed his days full of educating and mentoring, with a huge involvement in rugby but also including spells in golf and softball.

There were also periods of employment in rugby both in New Zealand and overseas and other occupations with Sport Taranaki and Golf Taranaki.

His story is one of outstanding accomplishments in both playing and coaching, with support from his wife Pru.   

Born and bred in Waitara, and still there, Paul attended Waitara Central, Waitara East and Waitara High School. A natural sports player, not unlike many in this town, he was selected in the 1^st XI in year 9 and the 1^st XV in year 10.

In 1962 the 1^st XV with a huge forward pack, and under the guidance of coach John Nicholls, remained unbeaten all year, even defeating a NPBHS team made up of 1^st XV squad members.

In year 10 he was the school Intermediate Athletic Champion winning in long jump, high jump, shot put and the 100 and 200 metre races. As well as ball skills this lad had pace and explosiveness.

At this time he lived two houses down from Taranaki winger Eric Keith, a Ranfurly Shield player of repute, and he was Paul’s idol. Every Friday he would be up at Keith’s house cleaning his boots and listening to the stories. Rugby was already a huge part of his life.

Leaving school it was on to the Clifton Rugby Club and following a couple of games for the Under 21’s the senior coach Pat Montgomery rang Paul’s father, got the okay, and at age 16 he was playing senior rugby alongside the likes of Bruce Collins, Bruce Keith and Tony Skelton.

Fifteen seasons followed (1963-80), 360 games, and five championships in the 70’s, captaining the side in 1973 and 1976. Representative players sprung out of this most successful period with Paul playing alongside the likes of Gary Topping, Val Baker, Peter and Terry Wallace, Herbie Kowhai, Michael Neal, Gavin Wetton, Felix O’Carroll, Benny Greenlees, Bruce Richmond, Neil Cameron and Pat Kershaw. With Cameron at halfback and Martin at first-five this team was almost unbeatable.

During the same period he was playing in a very strong Waitara Cricket Team lead by Taranaki captain Dennis Yardley, and including Colin Barclay, O’Carroll, Chad Evans, Alan Cooper, Clive Pryme and Bob Clouston. This group won the Taranaki Championship in 68/69, 73/74 and 78/79. Waitara was leading the way in sport in Taranaki.

Paul’s success at club level led on to selection in many representative sides. This included playing in Taranaki rugby trials in Stratford, as was the norm in those days, his first hit-out being at first-five outside All Black Kevin Briscoe and inside All Black Terry O’Sullivan. Not bad for an 18 year old.  There were other years when he would be paired up with All Blacks inside and outside (Roger Urbahn & John McCullough) and he also lined up against All Blacks Ross Brown and Neil Wolfe. These were heady days for a youngster learning as much as he could and putting it in to practice.

With three All Black first-fives all available for Taranaki it wasn’t until 1970 that he ran out in the Amber and Black with the senior team. In between times there was plenty of Tribal Rugby representing Te Atiawa and Taranaki Maori for eight seasons.

There was talent galore in the Maori side including the likes of Dave Matheson, Greg Broughton, Cyril Tamati, Ivan Komene, Sandy Parata and Wally Mahura.

1970 was the beginning of a hugely successful period. There were 124 games ahead for Taranaki, the captaincy in 1974, as well as seven seasons of selection in the Southern Zone Maori team in the Prince of Wales Cup and representation for a NZ Maori XV.

The Maori XV coached by Waaka Nathan included Billy Bush, Tane Norton, Vance Stewart, Kent Lambert and Val Baker and was one of the highlights of Martin’s playing career.

By 1971 Martin was a first  pick, mainly at first-five, but also at second-five or fullback, which he would remain until retirement after the 1979 season. Highlights included marking up against some of the world’s leading players; Mike Gibson for the British Lions in 1971, Phil Bennett for the 77 Lions and Hugo Porta for Argentine in 1979.  

In provincial rugby there were All Blacks to pit his talents against. Mac Herewini (Auckland), Bob Burgess (Manawatu), John Dougan (Wellington), Doug Bruce (Canterbury) and Steven Pokere (Southland) were a handful that he matched up with.

During his time Taranaki had victories against England, New South Wales and Western Samoa and close losses to Australia, the British Lions, Argentine and Japan. The Ranfurly Shield also remained elusive losing to North Auckland and Manawatu. The Manawatu game was a bitterly fought 3-6 result.

With the creation of the National Provincial Championship in 1976, Taranaki were placed in the second division and had an unbeaten season defeating Waikato in the crucial ‘winner-takes-all’ game to go up to the top division. There were also wins against first division sides Wellington and Manawatu, the then Ranfurly Shield holders and First Division champions, plus Western Samoa.

This was the beginning of a run of 21 unbeaten provincial games which included victories against Wellington, Marlborough, Hawkes Bay, Auckland, and Bay of Plenty in Division 1. Coached by the shrewd Leo Walsh the team included All Black captain Graham Mourie and other All Blacks Ian Eliason, Dave Loveridge, John McEldowney and Ross Fraser.

The most memorable game as far as Paul is concerned was the victory against Canterbury (26-10) in 1978 at Rugby Park with Murray Watts scoring twice, Dave Loveridge once and Stratford ace Stephen Davidson kicking a conversion and four penalties. It was always a brutal encounter against a team that brimmed with physicality from Alex Wylie leading the pack through to Fergie McCormick at fullback, so there were plenty of smiles that day.

Taranaki made an overseas tour through England, Wales, France, Japan and Hong Kong in 1979, with finances raised by the players during the preceding summer. With six weeks away this was a special time for the squad playing against a few of the best sides in Europe at the time and being exposed to different cultures. With two of the world’s best known All Blacks on board (Graham Mourie & Dave Loveridge) the squad were treated with much respect.

There were victories against London Welsh (12-6), Pontypridd (16-14), Treorchy (3-0), London NZ (34-0), Japan U23 (36-34) and Japan (66-20), with losses against Llanelli (7-9), Gloucester (6-18), Paris Universities (13-16) and Cote de Basque (9-13) where a young Serge Blanco scored twice for the locals in the final four minutes.

The Treorchy game was organized at late notice following a ‘deal’ by coach Walsh who promised the team would turn up to play so long as the famous Treorchy Choir sang for them – and sing they did! It was amazing. Treorchy were a lower division Welsh side but the 2cm of water covering the whole pitch evened things out. Luckily, captain of the day Joe Carey scored from a charge down.

The Paris Universities game also highlighted a significant difference in game day attitudes. The squad had lunch with the opposition prior to the late afternoon kick off and watched on as the opposition downed a few red wines. It must have done the trick as on another muddy field and led by invited internationals Claude Spanghero and Andy Ripley the locals won against a Taranaki team not at their best.

At the completion of the 79 season Paul retired from playing as he and Pru had purchased the Hillcrest Dairy and time was needed in the shop.

In the early 70’s he was also selected in the Taranaki cricket team for whom he played 11 games before he made himself unavailable. This was due to the fact that Taranaki had pulled out of the Hawke Cup challenge in Southland because of the cost, and the current chairman stating there was no chance of a win. Having won the right to challenge with some good performances this was a knock back for this group and Paul was not alone in never playing rep cricket again.

During his short stint he had a top score of 59, best bowling figures of three wickets for two runs and a bowling average of 8.33 with his clever in-swingers. A long career could well have been in front of him.

In 1980 he took up golf. During the quieter times in the dairy he was able to hit hundreds of practice balls so he soon progressed through penant golf for Waitara, Taranaki trials, reducing his handicap to zero, to find himself in the Taranaki team.

This was five years of fun and enjoyment, playing alongside brothers Tony and Murray, Jack Kurta, Robert Rookes, Paul Street, Tony Cawley, Grant Moorehead, Howard Kendall and Shane Grylls to name a few. There was an inter-provincial championship and a Shand Cup (Taranaki, Wellington, Manawatu, Whanganui) along the way. Following the playing years there were a couple more as selector-coach.

Today Paul can still be located on the golf course and along with Dale Atkins coaches the NPBHS players.

Asked to name teams of quality players who he would like to play with, Martin came up with the following:
RUGBY – John McEldowney, Felix O’Carroll, Brian Muller, Alan Smith, Ian Eliason, Ross Fraser, Graham Mourie, Roger Feather, Dave Loveridge, Paul Martin, Murray Watts, Trevor Smith, Paul Wharehoka, Dave Vesty, Kerry Hurley.
CRICKET – Terry Dravitski (wk), Barry Roberts, Ian Snook, Ross Ormiston, Geoff Taylor, Paul Martin, Trevor O’Byrne, Dennis Yardley, Colin Barclay, Alistar Jordan, Ron Sutton.
GOLF – Murray Martin, Tony Martin, Paul Martin, Grant Moorehead.

In 1984 began 33 years of coaching, selecting and mentoring. His deep tactical and technical understanding of ball games, his ability to relate to individuals who were seeking to improve, and his desire to keep learning and becoming better, made him a sought after commodity.

The resume reads like this:
1984/86: Waitara Softball Coach. Assistance with the Taranaki Softball team.
1984/86: NZR Southern Maori Team selector & assistant coach.
1986/87: Taranaki ‘B’ backs coach.
1986/87: Taranaki golf selector and coach.
1988/89: Clifton Seniors Head Coach.
1989/91: Ayr (Scotland) Head Coach & Director of Coaching.
1993/94: Taranaki Under 19’s selector & backs coach.
1994:        Clifton Seniors Head Coach
1995/96: Taranaki Colts Head Coach.
1996/97: Morley Rugby Club (England) – Advisory capacity.
1999/2000: Spotswood College 1^st XV Head Coach.
2000/01: Taranaki Secondary Schools Head Coach.
2001/02: Sport Taranaki Coachforce Manager.
2003/04: Hurricanes Secondary Schools Head Coach.
2004/06: NZ Under 19’s selector.
2005/08: NZ Secondary Schools selector & backs coach.
2005/07: Manawatu Rugby Academy Manager.
2005/07: Manawatu ‘B’ backs coach.
2007/10: Taranaki Rugby Union development coach.
2011/13: CUS Genova (Italy) Head Coach & Director of Coaching.
2014: Taranaki Golf – Golf in Schools (Coach)
2015: Clifton Seniors assistant coach.
2016/18: NPBHS U15 assistant coach.
2019: NPBHS 1^st XV Head Coach.
2020/21: NPBHS golf coach.

This journey included earning the NZR Level 3 certificate, Coaching NZ Level 1, being a motivational speaker for Taranaki cricket, Taranaki softball and Taranaki netball; lecturing at the Taranaki Polytech Sport & Recreation course; being part of the TRU Coaching group from 1986 to 89 coaching in schools, clubs and at courses; mentoring young coaches and players; and acting as a consultant to many sporting clubs in Taranaki and Manawatu.

The highlights package is full up.

There were three seasons in Ayr in Scotland where he was also the regional coach for Ayrshire. A Scottish top division side, still in amateur mode at the time, much was done in the schools and encouraging families to become involved, including the mums who had started their own touch rugby competition by the time he departed. Such was the interest created in the region that at one of the coaching days over 300 children turned up.

The senior team were playing well and the friendships so strong that he is still in touch with several of the players. This, after all, is what rugby is really about.

There were also two seasons in Genova (Italy) coaching CUS Genova (University club in Genova) in Serie ‘B’. This was the main rugby club in a city of 800,000 which had recently transformed the gravel playing field in to an all-weather field. Money was sparse but the energy and commitment of the players was plentiful, and the team made the playoffs both seasons to gain a spot in Serie ‘A’. Unfortunately this was just out of reach, but the many victories along the way and the expansive style that Paul had the team executing, left behind countless fond memories.

Running the whole club from juniors upwards kept him busy with planning, skill sessions, starting an academy, coaching the coaches in Genova, working in the schools, reviewing video footage and meetings with players and club members, but this was an enjoyable time. Living in the coastal town of Bogliasco was a delight in itself.

Paul also spent time in Morley (England) as an advisor for players, coaches and administrators; spending a month there in each of 1996 & 97. A review was carried out on the club itself in all aspects and much coaching was carried out in the local schools as well as the club.

In 2000 whilst teaching at Spotswood College Paul led the 1^st XV to the A2 secondary school championship, an achievement which gave everyone involved a lot of satisfaction. This led on to coaching the Taranaki Secondary schools for three seasons, teams including Jimmy Gopperth, Brett Goodin, Chris McLean and Brendon Hart; the Hurricanes Secondary Schools for two seasons, with Gareth Goodin, Victor Vito, Dane Coles, George Whitelock and Hikawera Elliot a few who were involved, being the NZ Champions in 2004; and ultimately being involved as a selector-coach for the prestigious NZ Secondary Schools for four seasons.

This immersed him with future All Blacks Sam Whitelock, Luke Braid, Ryan Crotty, Zac Guildford, Owen Franks, Elliot Dixon, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Julian Savea, and Charlie Ngatai. The2007 side had three Francis Douglas Memorial College players in the squad; Kane Barrett, who was captain in 2008, Rick McKenna and Todd Curtis. Another from the school, Shane Cleaver, lined up in 2009.

During this period Paul was also a selector for NZ Under 19’s for three seasons and was employed by the Manawatu Rugby Union as the Academy Manager. This was a hugely busy and satisfying phase with long days and much learned.

Dave Rennie, the then Manawatu Coach, worked alongside Paul which enlightened him in many aspects of the game and off-field aspects. He attended every coaching clinic at the Institute of which there were many, worked with all the clubs and high schools, mentoring players and coaches, and helped out in Horowhenua as well.

Then it was back to Taranaki as the TRU TET (Taranaki Electricity Trust) Development Coach. Every school in the TET area was visited with an emphasis on Waitara, Inglewood and Stratford High Schools. There were skill sessions organized, coaches were tutored, level 1 & 2 coaching courses were conducted, and promising players received skill tuition and mental preparation.

There had been several periods spent coaching the Clifton Seniors and in 2015 Martin as the assistant took the team to the Taranaki final and a close loss to Southern. It had been a rewarding year though.

Since then there has been assistance with the Under 15’s at NPBHS and in 2019 a season with the 1^st XV.

Previously, in 1994, following two seasons with the Taranaki Under 19’s, Paul took over the Taranaki Colts. In 1996, the Ranfurly Shield year, they only lost one game. This was against Auckland when future All Black Doug Howlett raced off and scored the winning try. It was a successful three year period (1994/96) with some real talent coming through. Mark Urwin, Ryan Tuuta, Brendan Haami, Greg Feek, Phil Mitchell, Quinton Oakes and Campbell Feather were just a few of the goodies.

33 years of rugby coaching and 30 years of playing adds up to numerous hours in the quest of being as good as he could possibly be.

As a player Paul was one of the finest. A huge and clever boot, a great tactical appreciation, the pace and an eye for a gap, the ability to organize those around him and make them feel confident, he was a powerful team mate to have.

As a coach he possessed an ability to understand people and understand what was required to make them better. Tactically he wanted his teams to play rugby with continuity, and hence there were many exhibitions of the running and passing game.

This has been a magical ride, both for Paul and the many sports people who have enjoyed and benefitted from their association with him. In summing up he stated, “I enjoyed every moment with a lot of great people”.

Kia ora Paul and Pru Martin.

Ian Snook is a former Central Districts and Taranaki cricketer and played rugby for Taranaki.