The French game in Huntly helped lift the ‘spirits’ of the townsfolk and the rugby league pundit conjointly, from the Market Day to the Match Day champagne breakfast at the iconic Huntly Hotel through to the after-match function at Waahi Pa.
France had graced the hallowed turf of Davies Park a couple of times before, with the infamous 1955 loss, 20–28 to a NZ Māori side in front of 5,000 spectators, as one to remember. The main drawcards for that game were the three local coal miners and Taniwharau ‘legends’ Andy Berryman, Joe Tupaea and Sammy George, who all picked up a ‘pork pie’ each. The modern-day event ran smoothly and comments were favourable (except for the humiliating loss, 24–2; the spin was that we would dine out on ‘escargot’ – yeah right!), and I had written in my Cougar report that a hearty round of thanks needed to be extended to everyone, both individually and collectively.
MERCI BEAUCOUP TOUT LE MONDE! (thank you everyone)
The Cougar juggernaut then kicked back into action. Rounds 10 to 16 were your ‘everyday’ weekends. Round 11 had two standout features though, in that (1) 1994 skipper Tukere Barlow returned to the bench after an enjoyable stint with Warrington in the north of England, and (2) Glen ‘Robocop’ Boyd was kitted up ‘against’ us, for the Wellington Dukes. Boydy was one of the ‘standouts’ for the 94 Cougars.
Round 16 saw the delayed clearance for ex-Huntly South player Trevor ‘Heathrow’ Clark (with reference to a certain airport he frequented during his professional 12-year playing career with Bradford Northern and Featherstone Rovers) finally arrive in the NZRL offices. Named on the bench for the Cougars v North Harbour clash at Davies Park, Huntly, it didn’t bode too well with Heathrow and he later withdrew from the squad. “I’m not a bench player!”
The game also had another unique set of circumstances for the Hohaia whānau. Number 1 son Tama was playing fullback; number 2 and 3 sons (Lance and Matthew) were ball boys; number 4 son (Royce) was on kicking-tee duties; and father (Rex) was Football Team Manager. Mum (Jennifer) was in the ‘cheer squad’, singing her heart out in the grandstand! Yeah right… but I digress!
Trevor Clark is now a doctor after graduating with a PhD from Massey University and is Head of Department, Sport Performance and Sport Business, based at Sydney’s Olympic Park. An example of what can be achieved for players who ‘plan’ for life after footy.
That Round 16 clash with North Harbour also saw the first red card when Harbour prop Ben McLean became annoyed with Aaron ‘Mouse’ Tucker and slammed him head-first into the turf in a spear tackle. Whilst the man-mountain Harbour lads have been our ‘bogey’ team since the inception of the LRC, they were a rather subdued mob this time round. Cougars won 22–12. Maybe the Mouse did get under their skin!
By Round 18 and in fourth place on an 11/6 win/loss ratio, it was time to go ‘up country’. Cellar dwellers, the Bay of Plenty Stags, now coached and managed by Lawrence Brydon and Alby Pouaka respectively, with Tony ‘Tank’ Gordon handling finances, had managed to ‘wangle’ a venue that sat midway between Rotorua and Huntly, and the Waharoa Domain became ‘party central’. Whilst it was a Cougar home game, I can’t recall too much about the whys and wherefores, but word on the street was that these ‘sulphur city soldiers’ were on the rise and we had better have our game day suits on.
One player who did have his game-day suit on that day for us was Hekewaru ‘Houdini’ Muru. Length-of-the-field tries are a sight to behold and, throw in a few sidesteps, change of pace and fends to the face, the new nickname becomes painfully obvious. The other aspect was the sponsorship provided by the Waharoa Tavern, who catered for the after-match function. A lone building down a dead-end street did seem to be an out-of-the-way venue. Records show a comfortable 26–16 win.
Counting down to September footy, the Cougars’ Round 21 game was played at our ‘other’ home ground – the Hopuhopu Sports Complex. A women’s game was the curtain-raiser and the Taniwharau girls came up trumps. Did you play in that game? Make a comment if you did. Chur!
The main game was against the Christchurch City Shiners and the contest rapidly developed into a 1990s version of this crazy new fad nowadays called ‘Run It Straight’; big hit after big hit – sadly ‘Nugget’ broke his arm (again!).
“Right down to the wire” is a cliché often used by many sports commentators when describing a close finish, and the last round of the 1995 Lion Red Cup was to prove inevitably so. A 21-all draw against the Wellington Dukes at the Basin Reserve in the final round gave us one more Championship point than Hutt Valley. The Warriors’ Colts, disguised as the Auckland City Vulcans, had the top spot tied up for a month or so, but the other four placings weren’t decided until after the completion of Round 22.
Counties Manukau (2), North Harbour (3), Waikato Cougars (4), Hutt Valley Fire Hawks (5) put us into the sudden-death Elimination Final, with 2 v 3 playing in the Minor Semi-final, both games to be at Ericsson Stadium in Auckland on Saturday 26 August. All teams were chock full of Kiwi stars and the tempo lifted considerably.
The team/squad that day were: T Hohaia, M Eriksen, G Bright, H Muru, P Morrison, D Beazley, A Tucker (Capt.), J Brewer, T Barlow, M Woods, C Rapira, B Tua, T Raumati. Bench: T Waikato, J Koopu, B Whitiora, S Hill. Management: Coach J Gwynne, Assist. Coach B Kells, Manager R Hohaia, Trainer W Ford, Masseuses B Kingi, K de Barry, Dr D Young. Out injured: M Thomson, D Hemopo, B Ransfield. Extended squad: T Clune, S Heslop, N York, E Whare, K Cox, F Morunga, T Clark, W Moke, K Clune.
The Hutt Hawks had beaten us both times in round-robin and were looking for a hat-trick, but the lads were ‘tuned in’ at Ericsson and a second-half blitz resulted in a 28–14 win. That sent the Hawks away on Mad Monday and the lads advanced, albeit into another sudden-death play-off game.
“Shut down Tucker and Beazley and you shut down the Cougars!” was the message from inspirational North Harbour Head Coach Graeme Norton to his troops.
Ericsson Stadium had become the new computer-aged home of New Zealand Rugby League after the historic Auckland RL venue Carlaw Park had been laid to rest over expansion issues. The stadium provided plenty for the rugby league tragic but didn’t hold the same mana as Carlaw and sadly it will always be remembered as the venue where the Mighty Cougars came to within 80 minutes of a LRC Grand Final, going down 32–16.
The 1995 Annual Awards was a low-key affair at Hopuhopu Gym. A unanimous choice saw Aaron Tucker take out Player of the Year as well as Best Back, and a cash prize from the Clendon Tavern. Other awards were: Most Improved Butch Tua, Sportsman of the Year Shane Hill, Best Forward Jody Brewer, Most Points Greg Bright, Most Tackles Ben Ransfield, Most Hit-ups Mark Woods.
…and as a token of appreciation shown by the Cougar Directors, they presented my wife Jennifer with a small ‘Gentle Annie’ plaque of thanks for laundering the football gear – mine must be still in the mail, brahaha.
…to be continued
Researched by Rex Hohaia
02 December 2025
