Page 5 - 1984 Clippings
P. 5
Grinter with OB
By Evan Pegden Grinter took up coaching while teaching
Ngaruawahia High School teacher in London for two years. He coached the
Chris Grinter this season faces two new school first XV there for both years while
challenges in his already successful rugby playing for the Osterley club.
coaching career. On returning to New Zealand in 1977 he
Coach of a winning Waikato secondary took up a teaching post at Ngaruawahia High
schools representative side for the past four and is now head of the social studies and
years and a New Zealand Secondary Schools geography department there.
selector, Grinter has taken the big step up to He started coaching the Ngaruawahia
senior club rugby this year. High first XV in 1978 and continued playing
He has done so with the reigning rugby - first for Old Boys’ senior reserves
Waikato first division champions Hamilton and then Ngaruawahia seniors - until he took
Old Boys’ in a season where radical new law on the Waikato secondary schools coaching
changes are due to come into effect. job. He joined the New Zealand secondary
schools selection panel last year.
Grinter takes over from Bill Kindley,
who successful guided Old Boys’ fortunes for Grinter will have an early start to the
two seasons before stepping down. season with Old Boys’ - games against the
visiting Eastern Districts club from Brisbane
But the rapid promotion to the reins of as well as the Air Pacific Lion Breweries
one of Waikato’s top senior club team was Sevens at Taupiri, all scheduled for the
not something Grinter had set his sights on. weekend on February 23-24 - a month
The opportunity merely presented itself at the before the club’s traditional pre-season
right time. fixtures.
“I had the Waikato secondary schools’ Old Boys’ were taking the Sevens
team for the last four years and it was always tournament quite seriously and were still
my intent to finish that last year, because I sorting out their squad of nine for the event,
think that job needs a new coach periodically Grinter said.
to keep things going,” Grinter said.
Already enjoying his step up to the
“Then Old Boys’ approached me with senior ranks , he is looking forward to the
this coaching job. The two things sort of new season which he sees as being very
coincided.” interesting and hard in the first division.
One thing Grinter was apprehensive of “The new rules are going to open
was the difference of attitudes between everything up and there will certainly be no
schoolboy players and senior club players. favourites going into the first round.
“I was a bit wary of the sort of “The team that adjusts quickest to the
dedication the older players, with other rule changes could be the one to set the early
commitments such as jobs and marriages, pace,” he said.
would have after coaching schoolboys who
will do anything for their team and coach. While Old Boys’ have lost three talented
wingers - All Blacks Bruce Smith, through
“But we’ve been underway at training injury and moving out of the area, and John
now for three weeks and I’m really impressed Enright and Warren Jennings, through job
with how keen and conscientious these senior transfers - they have gained a half-back in
players are. They are just as committed as the young Poverty Bay provincial representative
school players.” Chris Humble.
