Gordon Hunter (rugby union)

Gordon Rowland Robert Hunter (1949 – 9 March 2002)[1] was a New Zealand rugby union player, coach and selector.

Early life and education

Hunter was raised in rural Southland, and educated at Southland Boys' High School from 1963 to 1967.[2]

Rugby career

Hunter was a member of the Southland Boys' High School rugby 1st XV in 1967. He played wing and the school magazine noted that "on his day his tackles were bone- and morale-shattering."[2]: p.31  After leaving school, Hunter moved to Dunedin and joined the Zingari-Richmond club where he came under the influence of renowned coach Eric Watson.[3] He made a couple of appearances for Otago before a workplace accident left him without his left eye. He subsequently made a career as a coach and selector, coaching Otago, the Otago Highlanders, and the Auckland Blues. He also spent four years as an All Blacks selector in the mid-1990s. He died in Dunedin of cancer in 2002 at the age of 52.[3]

Legacy

Since 2002 the Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy has been contested annually between The Auckland Blues and The Highlanders.[4] In 2020, the Highlander's coach Aaron Mauger noted the positive qualities that Hunter had demonstrated and co-captain Aaron Smith said that he "cared for his players...[and]...trusted you play your game but also was a bit of a character off the field."[5] Writing in the Spinoff in 2017, Scotty Stevenson recounted several humorous stories about Hunter outside of rugby, concluding, "in essence, he was a coach who loved the game and even more so the boys who played it for him. He was the Detective who left his own fingerprints on New Zealand’s national sport."[6]

References
  1. "Loyalty a Hunter hallmark". Evening Post. 14 March 2002. p. 7.
  2. The Southlandian 1967 (Annual school magazine). Southland Boys High School. December 1967. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  3. Rattue, Chris (16 March 2002). "Rugby: Obituary: Gordon Hunter". New Zealand Herald.
  4. "What you didn't know about the Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy". Ultimate Rugby. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  5. Hepburn, Steve (August 2020). "Highlanders moved by Hunter's legacy". Otago Daily Times. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  6. Stevenson, Scotty (6 April 2017). "Why the Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy is a special piece of New Zealand rugby silverware". The Spinoff. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
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