The beginning of the 1996 Lion Red Cup season came with a lot more certainty than 1995, and the players responded accordingly. The Tainui Trust Board were the second-year major sponsors, although you would not have known it.
A ‘silent’ partner is the term used for a business that fronts up financially but does not wish to have its logo displayed – not on jerseys, not on shorts, not at home games, not anywhere. Nil, zilch, zero, kare kau! While the sponsorship was welcomed by all concerned, it did create an air of mystery. The TTB were involved in 1995, but this second year saw a more hands-on approach.
On the ground, though, the players were training the house down. November 1, 1995, was assembly date and, by January, an early-season trial at League Park, Ngāruawāhia, had a combined Tūrangawaewae/Ngāruawāhia team up against a ‘potential’ Cougars team, allowing more rangatahi to show off their wares. 1995 Junior Kiwi halfback Eli Petaia was one such individual. Originally with Wellington Marist, he had shifted to Cambridge and was keen to further his playing career. The rest of the team was: 1 Darryl Fisher, 2 Joseph Heremia, 3 Ryan Millane, 4 Sommie Pere, 5 Jamie Muru, 6 Tony Waikato, 7 Petaia, 8 Darren Harris, 9 Raymond Kurene, 10 Jeremy Tomuli, 11 Jonas Kaweroa, 12 Danny Soloman, 13 Kirk Clune. Replacements: George Shelford, Willie Rangi, Paul Clouston, Willie Raihe.
Also on the same weekend, the tried-and-tested Cougars team did battle with the Warriors Reserves in a night game at Ericsson Stadium as a curtain-raiser to first grade. Warriors 24, Cougars 18.
The season-opening Round 1 clash was against the Christchurch City Shiners at the home ground of the major sponsors, the old Hopuhopu Army Camp, which was fast becoming known as the Hopuhopu Sports Complex. The Round 1 team was: 1 Terry Clune, 2 Darryl Fisher, 3 Greg Bright, 4 Paul Heta, 5 Ryan Millane, 6 Darryl Beazley, 7 Aaron Tucker, 8 Ben Ransfield, 9 Shane Hill, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Jody Brewer, 12 Dwayne Wahanga, 13 Tukere Barlow (captain). Interchange: Nathan York, Brad Roberts, George Shelford, Julian David. Cougars 42, Shiners 12.
The season was only two rounds old when Rotorua resident Mark Wood decided it was time to up anchor and stay on the Bay of Plenty side of the Kaimai Ranges. I’m not too sure whether new Stags coach (and lifelong friend) Lawrence Brydon had had a word in Woody’s ear, or if ‘Kermit the Fiat’ was tired of crossing those Kaimais three times a week … brahaha!
Although not directly affecting the Lion Red Cup, the game of rugby league was front and centre of the news cycle in New Zealand for all the wrong reasons – what’s new? Rumours had been circulating for several months that the long-established Australian Rugby League (ARL) was under threat from a brand-new breakaway conglomerate called Super League (SL), which was aiming to establish dominance in the game in Sydney (not unlike the ‘brewery war’ of 1994 in NZ).
TV deals, team expansions, huge salaries and massive sign-on fees were being offered by the Rupert Murdoch-backed News Corporation to lure long-established Kerry Packer-backed ARL clubs away to this new competition, to be known simply as Super League. The New Zealand Rugby League had been hoodwinked and had aligned itself with the new kid on the block, and Super League money was being thrown in all directions.
An all-expenses-paid secondary school competition was on the agenda for 1996, with full playing strips, tracksuits and overnight bags, funded travel, national tournaments and overseas tours all part of this unbelievable sideshow.
Two separate competitions unfolded at the start of the season, with more clandestine meetings, industrial court hearings, some clubs expelled, some clubs amalgamated, forfeitures – mate, she was all on! But by September 1997, a High Court ruling basically ordered that the competition return to the status quo, returning ownership to the ARL and eventually giving birth to the NRL we are familiar with today … but I digress.
With the Lion Red Cup chugging away in Aotearoa, the Cougars were having a slow start to 1996. One win from six rounds had the team near the bottom of the ladder, and a return to Trust Bank Park Hamilton for the first time in two years was promoted as redemption time.
We had held a 100 per cent win record over the Bay of Plenty Stags since year one, but their new recruit knew all the calls and was only too happy to keep his teammates informed. We ended up sharing redemption with a 12-all draw. Experienced head coach Lawrence Brydon had the Stags running hot that day – in fact, they were above us on the points table.
Our eighth-round clash at the same venue was against new entrants the Manawatū Mustangs, who had been included when the Auckland Vulcans, aka the Warriors Colts, withdrew from the 1996 season to play in the NRL reserve grade competition in Sydney.
Coached by 1994 NZ Sevens mentor Peter Sixtus, they were fifth on the points table, but a 26–10 drubbing allowed us to climb above them. For the first time in Lion Red Cup history, the Waikato Rugby League Board – which had been resistant to co-operating in the past – allowed a premier grade fixture between Hamilton City Tigers and Hukanui to be played as a curtain-raiser. Solitaire provided after-match entertainment.
The Cougar directors (read TTB) were of the view that Trust Bank Park was the venue to promote the Lion Red Cup instead of Davies Park because of population numbers, but the reality of a $7000 ground hire fee soon began to bring logic into the equation.
By mid-season, we had leapt from 10th position to fifth on the table. A number of new players had proudly worn the “Pussycat” jersey and, naturally, nicknames abounded. Julian ‘Julz’ David, Willie ‘Jetplane’ Tapara, Dwayne ‘Toe Jam’ Wahanga (that’s the name he filed on his player profile!), Jeremy ‘Jezza’ Tomuli, Darryl ‘Flash’ Fisher, Brett ‘Lightning’ Fisher, Brad ‘Radical’ Roberts (another from his player profile), Ryan ‘Maui’ Millane, Willie ‘Arnold’ Garrick, George ‘Hori’ Shelford, Jacob ‘Herman’ Marsters, Paul ‘Whiskas’ Heta, Willie ‘Kellyville’ Rangi, Wiwi ‘Bush Ranger’ Moke, Mark ‘Mystery’ Whiteside.
Trainers: Richard ‘to-my-right’ Tumai and Richard ‘Slippery’ Marsh.
The two Fisher lads were duplicates of their father, 1980 ex-Kiwi winger Kevin. Geez, those blokes could fly.
… to be continued
Researched by Rex Hohaia, December 13, 2025.
