One Last Tour...

When I was 20 I attended an open tryout in St. Stephen for the New Brunswick Senior Men's Rugby team - One of my rugby mentors George Walls hauled me asisde that day to tell me "today you're playing against a Rugby Legend" (Tommy Knox), he was telling me the truth, what he didn't tell me was that 16 years later I would have played alongside so many more

Rugby has always been a very personal thing to me, close to my heart, tied to it with family, friends and love- So much so, that it is just as much a lifestyle to me as it is ever was a sport.The same was true for playing for my Province - I was honoured to put on the Blue and Yellow(1991- 1992), the Green and Maroon(1993-1997), and the White and Black (1998 - last Sunday) - we've had lots of jersey changes, but it is always a special thing to pull one on, no matter the colour or design

Back when I was 20 - I wasn't the player, nor the person I have become today, - I was full of selfish ambition - I wanted to play for Canada, I set my sights high, and aimed to play every game as though I was playing for Canada, they just didn't know it yet - I remember my first Tier II Championship in Saint John - playing alongside Jon Gould, with the Ageless Ronnie Barry - we beat Manitoba 31-21 and lost to Quebec by 4 points in the final - It was a Trojan dominated team with a new Scottish head coach - Keith McAlpine - There was three Moncton Players (The Alien, Scharnberg and Mouland), two UNB players (Guest and Johnstone) two Wildmen from Woodstock (Harpers) and one young Loyalist. There was a big contingent of Trojans (Gabes, Ronnie Vair, Sean MacDonald, Chuck Landers, Aiden, Ian Wilson, Barry, Gould, Cassidy etc...) That summer cemented itself in my memory - we were a good team, with alot of possibility (of potential greatness)- This has always been the story for New Brunswick Rugby it seems.

The Black Spruce has always been very personal to me – as I was there when the name was conceived Christmas Eve 1997 at Jay McKay’s house over beer in the dance hall, I designed the Logo and most of the Jerseys over the years, My father was the first Coach/ Manager/ Financier of the Spruce – he wanted a place where his boys would have the opportunity to play Rugby at a level that they deserved to be playing at. I have also played alongside many fine men over the past 10 years – Players like Aaen, Jackman, Simon, Hunter, Jonesy, Cougle, Murch, JB, Slippy, Stewie, Calvin Nash, Malcolm Reeves, Fudge, MJ, Lika, Wally Walcott, Chuck, Johnny W, Sonny, Fitzy, Jake Smith, Eagars, Steve Aaen, Chuck Bulloch, Jesse The Body, Wade Yeo, The Scharnberg’s, The Henry’s and so many more.

I hate when things end…

This past weekend I had the honour and pleasure of taking the field for one last game with the Black Spruce - I knew it was my last game going in, I would have shared this fact with my team mates, I was brimming with emotion all day, but we needed focus and as much as the 20 year old version of myself thought firstly about himself, the 36 year old version places the team first - we were playing the two time National Champions and we needed all our attention to be focused on them. This time we were coached by an older Scottish coach (McAlpine) and a Rugby institution (Beckingham) - The provincial team has shifted since the early 1990's we are now a Loyalist heavy team - with four UNB Players (Cass, Weaver , Cameo and Hugh), Two Trojans (Stewie and Justin), two Rovers (Chauncey and Angus) one Moncton Black Tide (Ali) and a good crew of Loyalists (JB, Hunter, Blake, Jebbidiah, Farm Dideley,Chizz-Bizz, Rowney, Pacey, Greeley, Dunu, Furlong, RJ and Myself. We lost the game, but fought valiantly in defeat – 6-0 Spruce after 20 minutes, we had the old Newfies at the bar concerned as they admitted later on that evening. I was glad to be able to finish off my provincial career (70 games as far as I can count on my fingers) surrounded by my lovely wife, my best friend, a bunch of really great players, a great management team and the next generation of great players (The Nasonworth Mafia and Chintzy I’m looking at you) that will grace rugby pitches, both Provincially, Nationally and most likely internationally in a couple cases for many years.

I feel/know that I can still play at this level, and to be truthful somewhere in the far back reaches of my mind, nestled deep in my wildest dreams - I’m still waiting for a last minute call from Sluggo (National Team Coach) letting me know that there was an injury and they needed me to play for Canada. I will enjoy watching next year’s version of the Spruce challenge the conventional powerhouses of our sport, and delight in the fact that on a good day we can even make the national champions concerned. I will take my leave with the team in great hands and under the supervision of Keith, Grant, Scott, Jodi and Allison who enable the players to concentrate on the game and having as much fun as humanly possible.

It was a great weekend…Thank You!