Hooded man storms field, punches player in schoolboy rugby game between Gisborne and Napier Boys' High
Friday's Super 8 Rugby First XV game between Napier Boys' High School and Gisborne Boys' High School was disrupted during the first half when
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NZ Herald
07-08-2025
- NZ Herald
On The Up: Napier weightlifter Raymond O'Rourke sets NZ bench press record for weight class
O'Rourke returned home from Japan with a silver medal in the under-75kg category, after he lifted a combined total of 652.5kg across the squat, bench and deadlift. He also set a New Zealand and Oceania under-75 bench press record at the comp of 162.5kg. For those of you keeping an eye on cost of living headlines that's the equivalent weight of $3250 worth of butter (at $10 per 500g), or $3040 worth of Mainland Tasty Cheddar (at $18.69 per kilo). He said competing in powerlifting is different to mainstream sports, with competitors having to squat, bench press, then deadlift large weights, with each competitor having three attempts at each station. 'Your attempts are usually structured to build a solid total, which is how you compare to your competition, with your final lifts pushing your limits,' he said. O'Rourke says the bench press is his favourite lift at the moment, but it does change. 'Between the technique, pausing and calls it's easily the most technical lift,' he said. 'Controlling a weight more than twice your body weight and being able to press it off your chest to me is really a feat of upper body strength. And seeing other athletes do that never ceases to amaze me.' O'Rourke grew up in Napier and attended Napier Boys' High School. While there he was a keen rugby player, but soon found himself on the athletics track, specialising in the 400m. 'I was attracted to the way of measuring your progress directly with a time‚' O'Rourke said. 'Over three years of running track, I learnt a lot about myself, what work effort looked like.' After high school, O'Rourke moved to Christchurch for university and was unable to continue his athletics training. However, halfway through his engineering degree, a flatmate told him he would make a great powerlifter and he should enter a competition. O'Rourke was keen and entered. Raymond O'Rourke (left) on the dais at the 2025 Asia Africa Pacific Powerlifting Championships in Himeji, Japan. He set out training without a coach and after his first competition, he knew he had found his next sport. But studying and powerlifting training simultaneously had its challenges. 'Lecturers would likely not recommend spending 15 hours a week in the gym while studying a bachelor's of mechanical engineering with honours, but it did teach me a lot about time management,' he said. O'Rourke's next goal is to compete at the Junior Powerlifting Championships next year, but until then he is training to become a marine engineer with the Navy. He says powerlifting is a great sport anyone can get into and he encourages those interested to look online at the plentiful resources there. He says his best advice for those wanting to excel is simple, though: get a coach. Raymond O'Rourke (right) and his coach James Schroder celebrate O'Rourke's success at the 2025 the Asia Africa Pacific Powerlifting Championships in Himeji, Japan. 'My coach James Schroder has coached many international lifters to world titles and medals and the experience they provide – including game-day attempt selection – is invaluable,' he said. 'Having a good coach ensures your efforts are taking you as far as possible.' Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke's Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier.
NZ Herald
31-07-2025
- NZ Herald
Nerve-racking shootout ends win drought for Gisborne at Super 8 hockey tournament
Patrick McInnes (left), Austin Fergus and Ollie Egan celebrate McInnes' penalty shootout goal that sealed the win over Napier Boys' High in the playoff for seventh and eighth at the Super 8 hockey tournament. It was the first taste of victory for senior players Fergus and Egan in their fifth Super 8 competition. Photo / Bonnie Easterbrook Ace goalscorer Egan, yet to score at this tournament, was running out of time. In the 52nd minute, a through ball found him, he ran into the circle and rifled home a reverse-stick shot. Six minutes later, he levelled the scores from a penalty corner. His first shot was blocked, but his second found the back of the goal. It sent the game into a nerve-racking penalty shootout in which goalkeeper Francois Louw became the hero of the hour as Gisborne won 4-3. Louw made several outstanding saves to deny Napier, while a cool-headed Harry Hayward scored twice, and Egan and Patrick McInnes scored the other goals. The Gisborne contingent watched in wide-eyed silence - the players linked arm-in-arm - as McInnes' victory-sealing effort rolled at a torturously slow speed into the net, sparking scenes of jubilation. Amongst it all was fourth-year coach Wade Manson, who has dedicated a huge amount of his time to the First XI, with Egan's mother Susan a pillar behind the scenes as manager. Gisborne Boys' High School striker Ollie Egan duels with a Napier Boys' High player at the Super 8 hockey tournament in Palmerston North. Egan scored both goals in a 2-2 draw, then scored in a penalty shootout that Gisborne won 4-3. Photo / Bonnie Easterbrook 'The boys loved it. It was almost like a final for us,' said Manson, who estimated the last time Gisborne won a Super 8 game was 'about 10 years ago'. It was a classic case of never giving up. Manson told the boys at the third-quarter break, when they were 2-0 behind, that more can happen in a few minutes than in the rest of the game. It was up to them to make it happen. The perennial battlers, who had unwillingly built an unwanted tradition of holding up the Super 8 table, did just that. In pool play, Gisborne lost 9-0 to Hamilton Boys' High, 6-1 to Palmerston North (Caleb Taewa the goalscorer) and 5-0 to Hastings. It put them into a pool crossover game against Rotorua, and it was agony for Gisborne as they lost 1-0 to drop into the seventh/eighth playoff once again. Hamilton beat Palmerston North 2-1 in the final. Patrick McInnes about to score the penalty shootout goal that sealed victory for Gisborne Boys' High School in the playoff for seventh and eighth at the Super 8 hockey tournament in Palmerston North. Photo / Bonnie Eastbrook Gisborne have had only a couple of days to rest before returning to action in the Poverty Bay men's club competition on Saturday. But after their memorable win, they are looking forward to their Winter Week tournament as they contest the Founders Cup in Carterton later this month. Manson has used the shaving of his luxurious beard as an extra incentive for the boys in the past. Someone might want to pack the razors for Carterton.
NZ Herald
24-07-2025
- NZ Herald
Gisborne Boys' High First XV on the road for last Super 8 clash
Gisborne Boys' High School have something to play for. At Nicholson Field on Saturday, Tauranga Boys' College will host a Mark Jefferson-coached Gisborne First XV crew keen to claim their second scalp of the Super 8 season. Gisborne go in with a 2025 record of five losses and one win
