A New and Exciting Vision for the Frey's

In November 2015 members of the Freyberg Old Boys Rugby Football Club (Inc) elected their new management team for the forthcoming year. The 'back story' of the individual management team members is a fascinating read and clear evidence that the Frey's are in a safe set of hands.  
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Colin Murray
President & Co-Director of Rugby
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​Since its foundation in 1961 three generations of the Murray family have aligned with the club affectionately known as the Frey’s.
Colin joined Freyberg Rugby Club after leaving Freyberg High School in the late 60's and in doing so was one of the earlier players to make the transition between the two entities.  
He played in the Junior Open Grade where he first honed his remarkable skills as a Number 7 and extraordinary ball forager. Upon progressing to the top side he played Senior A rugby for 12 years  including the Golden Era when the A’s won 2 Hankins Shields and played a style of rugby that was 20 years ahead of its time.
Colin attained higher honours notching up a more than respectable tally of appearances for the Manawatu Representative team and, helped the renaissance of Maori rugby at a time when many top players were unavailable; by turning out for the Manawatu Maori team whenever selected. 
After retiring he coached Junior Rugby, Under 21"s and Senior A’s at the Club. During this tenure he also spent time on the Club Committee.
 It is a measure of the man that when the recent SOS went out from the club that Colin was one of the very first to step up.
The last word goes to Colin “I’m enthusiastic about the future of the Club. The future is in the hands of its youth.  If they feel the enthusiasm of participation, success, belonging and comraderie, they will work hard to keep that Club culture alive well  into the future. The Management team will put the processes in place to make it happen”
​Andrew Wood
Chairman
I started playing for Freyberg straight from high school in the infamous Under 19 and a half 'Colts B' where I met a great bunch of lads, many of who have now become life long mates. 
After a couple of seasons playing for the Colts B, I moved onto playing for the Under 21 Premier side and from there played for the Senior B's before making the Freyberg Senior A squad. 
I played for 4 seasons in the Senior A's and earned my club blazer.  After 3 seasons I went overseas for a period and on my return joined up with the Senior 3rd's, which included a lot of the boys from the Colts B, and played in this grade for 4 seasons.  During that time we made two finals, won one and were in the top four every year. 
Following that, my links with the club have been filling in for the B's and the A's and working on the committee. 
Freyberg has been a great club for me and my family.  Lisa and I have always felt a part of the club and are excited to see our kids grow up in the club environment.  We have found life long friends through the club, and while we have been part of the ups and downs over the years we are excited to be involved in this phase of the clubs journey as we set about proving that Freyberg continues to be an integral part of Manawatu rugby - The Phoenix is Rising!!!
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​Shaun Wishnowsky
​Events Director 
My father was a Freyberg Man and Freyberg was my Junior Club. After Playing at PNBHS I returned in my final year of school (99) to launch a long and distinguished colts career of 5 years with the "Colts B" and then Colts before moving into the ranks of Senior reserves and the Inaugural Freyberg Firebirds.
It was a great 5 years as a Firebird with countless good nights at the clubrooms over the years with blokes who are the epitome of the Frey’s spirit. Working it out I have played a game or two for the Frey’s over the last 13 years and it’s not over yet. I’m looking forward to, as a lot of us are, to getting back into Senior B's next year, it’s payback time all round.
 
Being on the Management Team I want to see a Freyberg Club that is full of multiple generations celebrating the clubs successes and embracing the challenges on the way. Parents, Grandparents and Children enjoying everything Freyberg has to offer and having a good laugh on the way.
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​Peter Donovam
Patron
I Played in the first 1st XV game, year one and scored the first try by a forward.  Mike Allen scored the first back try for the club.
My brother-in-law Tony Stratton had previously talked me into playing as they were short of players an actively recruiting.
I played for 2 years and, as the club was growing then moved on to coach a junior team. From there it was a natural progression of managing teams. I was club captain for a few years and am currently the Freyberg Rugby Club Patron.
Standout personalities to me over the years have been Tom Murray and Eileen Westwood for the work they did for this great club.

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Phillip Meads
Management Team: Sponsorship & Grants
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I started playing rugby at Bulls until I moved to Palmerston North in 1979 and joined Freyberg as a Presidents player in about 1980 on the recommendation of a friend of mine (he said they drink plenty of piss and that suited me at the time).
 
I was away working overseas in the early 1990’s and did not join up again until about 1996. I then ended up as treasurer, sponsorship coordinator and manager/ player of Presidents and had a couple of years on the Manawatu board of directors after the Vikings saga.
I did not go through the grades at Freyberg but I’ve maintained my connection with the club through the years. Right now, I only too happy to provide support to the Frey’s sponsorship program and work alongside what really is a talented Management Team.
​Brian Johnston
Junior Rugby Club Convenor
My name is Brian Johnston and I became involved with Freyberg old Boys Rugby Club in December 2011 after moving to Palmerston North from Auckland in June 2011.
The reason I got involved with the Club Is because my eldest son and Grandson were playing for the club. After becoming a committee member in December 2011, it was 18 months later that I became the Junior Convenor. For the past 2 years I have been the junior Convenor and in that time the Junior Club has grown from 49 players to over 120 players Freyberg Rugby Junior Section has had 2 very successful seasons, and would be one of the strongest clubs results wise in the Manawatu.
I now have 4 grandsons and 1 granddaughter playing for the club this year and my son Murphy coaches several teams.
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Janet Thompson
Commercial Director
Although I’m new to the Freyberg Management Team I’ve been a Frey’s supporter since my teens growing up in the Manawatu. 
When the SOS for Task Force help went out earlier this year I signed up and was pleased, when elected at the AGM, to stay on and help to rebuild the club. 
My ties and my involvement are really because of my brother John or Thommo as he was known back in the day.  He has pulled on the Royal Blue and Gold and continued to be a loyal Freyberg man and big Turbos supporter even though he has lived in Auckland for many years. 
I think the club has a great future.  Even though I’m a new face on the Management Team, it was obvious from the first meeting I attended that there was the energy, enthusiasm, experience and the expertise to get the Frey’s back on track.  We are already putting in place a great foundation of local community engagement and ensuring that our teams are once again fully competitive on the field. 
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Hamish McCallum
 Club Captain
 
After leaving Napier Boys High School and moving from Hawkes Bay, where I played all of my school boy rugby, to the Manawatu to attend university in 2000 I soon meet a mate who played for the Frey’s and asked me to come along and play as they were short of props in the colts premier team. I came along after they were a few games into the season, just expecting to play a handful of games, however, 16 years later I am still running around the field in the Blue and Gold!
 
Over the years I have played in most of the grades and in many different positions (tho mainly at prop or hooker and lately flanker). I started playing in colts premier, then after a few years, moved into the senior B team. After a season of Bs I moved to senior reserves, playing throughout the outstanding run the mighty Freyberg Firebirds had, as I wanted to play with my mates who were all returning to the club after stints away. Since then I have been playing for both the A's and B's sides. I have even made a few cameo appearances for the Pressies!
 
A few highlights over the years would be making the finals every year with the Firebirds, especially the year we won the comp. Also receiving my senior A blazer was a great personal rugby moment. Being selected to trial for Manawatu colts when I was playing in the colts Prem side. The nights spent up at the clubbies, especially during my earlier years with the club, were a lot of fun and the friends I have made through being involved with Freyberg are just some of the highlights for me.
 
I have also been on the committee for a number of years (I think this may be my 6th?). This is my second year as club captain. I also managed/coached/captained the B's side for a few years as well.
I have always enjoyed playing my footy at Freyberg and have met a lot of different people and made a lot of good mates through being involved with the club and playing here. I believe this is a great club and it is awesome to see a lot of people jumping in behind the scenes, putting in the effort and helping give us the jumpstart we need to return to our winning ways of the past. I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds for Freyberg and encourage as many people as possible to come down, join the club and be a part of this new and exciting journey our awesome club is on!
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Michael (Lockey) Lockwood
Senior A Captain (2015) & Hooker
 Management Team: Marketing
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My earliest memory of Freyberg Rugby is looking at the pictures on the wall at the clubhouse of Bruce Hemara, Ken Granger and Sam Doyle and being proud on the inside of their achievements for the same club I played for.
From age of 5 I started playing for Freyberg all the way to leaving for high school. After high school I came back and played U21s for three years before regretfully defecting to another club. I ventured into rugby league for two years  and learnt how to tackle which has been a big plus for my game.
I then decided to give back to the club that gave me the opportunity as a child to play rugby. Now, heading into my fourth season back, I’m proud to call myself a club man and am super excited about the future.
With the people involved now it gives me as a player a lot of confidence and as a club man, certainty for the future of Freyberg rugby. 
My best years playing rugby would have to be as a young man playing U21’s at the Freyberg club. Great times were had at the clubrooms, the friendships I forged and stories that were made up thanks mainly to a lot of amber liquid.
I look forward to 2016 and the start of a new chapter in Freyberg rugby. Bring on the RISE OF THE PHOENIX!!
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Blair Harkness
Secretary
 
I first donned the Royal Blue and Gold of Freyberg in the under 12s having switched from soccer that year. My first memory of Frey’s though is crawling around the clubrooms floor looking for money that some old fella would have dropped, so I could buy some chips and fizzy.
I went to Freyberg, despite living in Ashhurst, as the old man was an old boy of the club. Along with a few mates, we thought it would be good to try a club other than Ashhurst.
I returned to Frey’s following high school and played a few seasons of under 19s and Colts before moving down to Wellington for work. In Wellington I played a few seasons of the under 85kg grade before commuting back to Palmy to play a couple of seasons of Senior 3rds for Frey’s when our old Colts team entered a team in that grade.
From there I was overseas for a bit, then back in Wellington before finally settling back in Palmerston North again in 2010. Once back in Palmy I played Senior B's and joined the committee in 2011 where I've been ever since.
For me, the best thing about Frey’s is the atmosphere. Our history is hanging on the walls for all to see and, it's a place that welcomes anyone and everyone. There are no egos! If you want a place to enjoy your rugby, both on and off the field, then Freyberg is that place.
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John Pippos
Marketing Director
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​I first arrived at Freyberg in 1971 when I heard that the U21 B team was looking for a hooker. Not being of a rugby background, I thought “how easy can this be?. Turned out the U21 Grade was on fire and we’d have to front up against the likes of Varsity E and PNBH 1st XV but, the best games were playing our own Frey’s U21 A side. Oh yeah!.
The following season we formed a U21’s Social team and to this day, I have no idea how, I was selected for the Manawatu Colts and the Manawatu Maori Colts. In 73 I laced up for the B’s and made the Maori A side from there.
After drinking with Gringo one night in the Fitz I was full of enough bravado to front up for one of Doolies' famous pre-season training sessions. The warm-up was a 5 mile run around James Line and if you survived, then the torture would start. Anyway, there I was with my old school mate Ronnie Higginson sniffing out the hookers spot and training my backside off with club legends Gringo, Mahars, Trolly and Colin Murray.
I wasn’t much cop as a player but I could hook a ball better than most and flog any tighthead I wanted from the more fancied mugs going around.  I made a Manawatu XV, essentially a B side and got a season of runs for the Evergreens which was a Ba Baas style invitation side in those days. But I made the mistake of souveniring a full No 2 strip. Never got invited back! To top it off the whole strip got nicked off my clothesline 24 hours later, there's a moral in there somewhere. My last game for the Frey’s was in 79 at Kiapaloni Park in Honolulu. Events of that tour have a 100 year embargo. After moving to Auckland I played for University, Glenfield and Silverdale but it was never the Frey’s. None of them had that vital ingredient, that old suck the kumara sense of club spirit.  
Little did I know it at the time but, what I learnt at the Frey’s and how it shaped me, would pay off a 100 times over. So when the SOS went out earlier this year for me, it was payback time.
In recent years I suspect that quite a few who have pulled on the Royal Blue and Gold haven’t respected the jersey enough. Cheating yourself as a player is one thing, masquerading as a player whilst wearing the Royal Blue and Gold though is disgraceful! 
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Greg Donovan
Honorary Member at 1 year old.
Early memories of following whichever team my father Peter Donovan was involved with up until the end of my High School years. A particular game of interest was watching Freyberg beat HSOB (they had five All Blacks in their team!!)
Volunteered helping Rhys Davies setting up and packing up halls for after match functions every week as we had no Club Rooms then. Helped with the bar after a few years when we eventually got into our current Club Rooms in 1982.
Had a small stint as Manager and Coach of a Colts team. This team went through to win the competition that year.
After a few years away from rugby, I returned and became Club Manager for Freyberg, a position I held for 20 years as well as being a CPSA delegate. I am still a CPSA delegate today.
I am a Life Member of the Club and a few years ago was presented a blazer for “Services to the Club” by Patron Peter Donovan.
Freyberg is and always has been a big part of my life. I still watch games, I just wish I could see more wins!!