Dan Carter - will we ever see his like again?

Dan Carter's place in New Zealand, and world, rugby history is assured.

Dan Carter – My Story as told to Duncan Grieve, Upstart Press

A two-time World Cup winner, the leading scorer in Test matches and the complete first five-eighths, running, kicking, passing and defending

he had it all and, after a superb final World Cup, he left an indelible reminder of his class to be forever remembered at the click of a button in this YouTube age.

Part of his story will also be remembered as a result of his publishing liaison with Duncan Grieve in 'Dan Carter – My Story'.

Grieve penned this interesting piece to talk about the book writing exercise with Carter

 This book serves as a timely reminder that no matter how gifted, how skilful, how successful a player may be in terms of rewards from the game, there is no replacement for hard work.

It is all too easy in the life of instant gratification that has now beset the world to believe that anyone of the afore-mentioned qualities would be sufficient to achieve a career of brilliance. Wrong.

 Just in case you've forgotten

It takes plenty of work and effort and that is without taking into account the vicissitudes that can be thrown in along the way like injury, self doubt and frustration that as you get older things don't recover quite so quickly.

All have been part of Carter's career and he talks about those moments in an engaging manner which nonetheless makes the point emphatically.

Too often New Zealand rugby fans expect a player possessing the ability to turn on brilliance, as Carter could do, at the drop of a hat. It has been fodder for talkback radio hosts for yonks. They asked why if he could do it in some games why couldn't he do it in others?

Oh that it were so easy.

It is a fact for every glimpse of class a player reveals, it is analysed, scrutinised, dissected, bisected and broken down to the nth degree by opposition analysts. Life becomes so much tougher.

But rugby is a game that offers ways of containing the attention of opposing defences and allowing class to flourish.

For those who had written Carter off ahead of the 2015 season, especially with rivals lining up to potentially claim his place in an All Blacks backline, his innate class enabled him to not only meet that challenge, but to raise the bar ever higher.

It is difficult to imagine a way in which a player could leave a betterimpression for rugby eternity than what Carter achieved through the play-offs stages of the 2015 World Cup. Possibly only the efforts of team-mate and skipper Richie McCaw, under his own scrutiny and pressure in the loose forwards from Australia, come close.

There is some tittle-tattle in the book, the punch-up in Johannesburg with the New Zealand Colts, the taxi ride to London with some team-mates on the 2005 northern tour and a failed business venture, but Carter is not one for generally getting too involved in this sort of carry-on and the book is more about the development and sustenance of a career that provided so much.

It is interspersed with some diary moments of strategic points through the last two years.

'Surfers' captures Kiwi lifestyle with impressive vignettes

As the name suggests, 'Surfers – A Kiwi Lifestyle', is a book that encapsulates the unique culture that is the New Zealand surfing scene.

Surfers – A Kiwi Lifestyle by Jo Caird and Paula George. Bateman Publishing. Price $39.99. Reviewed by Ben McConnell 

'Surfers - A Kiwi Lifestyle', will appeal most to those who seek to learn more about New Zealand's varied surf culture, or perhaps everyday Kiwis simply looking for a brief reflection on how the surfing scene sits as a subculture to other NZ sports, like rugby.  Moreover, the book is dedicated to detailing the mixed personalities, families, ages and sexes that help make up the rich culture that is surfing in NZ.

Noticeably, the angle of the book is from an outsider's perspective looking in, which offers a unique view sometimes lacking in books about surfers or surfing written from those that have years of surfing experience under their belts. Often authors of surf books overlook certain areas of the surf industry (see learners, first timers, even the old boys) as trying to avoid the cultural cringe that seasoned surfers often feel when seeing another coffee table surf book for sale.

A Kiwi lifestyle is about individuals, from competitive surfers through to weekend warriors, the books does well at covering a large array of different personalities who can be found in line- ups throughout New Zealand. Each interviewee offers their own perspective as to why they are so enamoured with the sport/art form that is surfing.  

As an avid surfer for the last 23 years, I can vouch that we have a rich and varied history of characters that help to make up the culture of surfing around New Zealand.

"Out there, sitting in the water, it's hard to tell the company CEO from the tradesmen". As the quote suggests, surfing in New Zealand is a unique pastime. We are a melting pot of individuals who all share a common trait, we love to surf and make the most of our wave rich coastlines. A Kiwi lifestyle paints a unique picture of all the walks of life that make up our surfing DNA. 

Surf books all too often walk a thin line of respectability and kookiness.  Inherently and rightfully so, surfers guard their passion of surfing with vigour as our culture has all too often been recycled in mass media as cringe worthy representations of how others perceive 'us' to be.

For the most part, 'Surfers-A Kiwi Lifestyle' walks this line with only a few moments of cringe (in particular, a couple of photos that shall remain unmentioned). The book's strengths lie in the strong array of surfers the authors have tracked down to interview (Matt Scorringe, Tipene family, Tony Baker among them). This gives the book an air of respectability whilst accurately capturing the spirit of New Zealand surfers.

No matter who, what or where you are from, we all share something in common, we all love surfing and are in it for life (except Gary McComick, he's done with it apparently).

A last chat with a top bloke

Sometimes fate conspires in the most amazing ways.

On Tuesday, December 29, Barb and I attended our niece's wedding in Wanaka. The service was beautifully done by Monsignor  Paul Mahoney.

I first knew Paul when he was a lawyer in Invercargill and I was a cadet reporter doing my court reporting experience. He was a friend of one of The Southland Times' advertising staff, the late Brian Harvey, and would often join our Friday night drinking group at the Hokonui Bar at the Kelvin Hotel. Sport was our most common interest and remained so through the years.

He also played Saturday afternoon cricket for the Marist club while I played for the Union club. Paul decided to follow his desire to take up the priesthood and I left Invercargill for greener journalistic pastures, some of them with a few prickles.

However, it was delightful to have Paul come up to me while we were waiting for the service to say hello. We chatted briefly and agreed to speak after the service.

We duly did, standing in the glorious Wanaka sunshine and caught up on the past 34 years. Paul was unchanged and the superb gentleman he always was. It was a delight to renew our acquaintance.

Sadly Paul died in his sleep that same evening. The Vicar General of the Dunedin Diocese according to his death notice, he was a fine friend and my sympathies go out to his brothers John and David, each well-known members of a significant Southland family.

Vale Father Paul Mahoney.

Almanack continues to hit the mark

Earlier as New Zealand's cricket season may be getting, especially on the international front, some things remain the same and at the forefront is the New Zealand Cricket Almanack.

The inestimable diary of New Zealand's summers, whether in the southern or northern hemisphere, is in its 68^th year and it remains as invaluable as ever in all its chronicling of the men's and women's games.

Editors Francis Payne and Ian Smith have built the Almanack to the point where it is difficult to imagine, especially as newspapers further retrench, a more ready reckoner of the game.

Websites may be fashionable but there is something to be said for picking up an almanack, consulting the contents page and going straight to the required information.

It also has the advantage of acknowledging significant milestones in the game, especially at the less resourced first-class level, while also ensuring that in most instances the deaths of players unknown to many of a younger generation are suitably acknowledged.

In a changing media world it is difficult to imagine how the game could survive without this outstanding ready reference for New Zealand.

It also acknowledges key performers in games with Trent Boult and Brendon McCullum named as players of the year while the promising players were Jacob Duffy, Will Young and Henry Nicholls, who was most recently named in New Zealand's one-day squad to play Sri Lanka.

New Zealand's World Cup performance is captured and it bears repeating again that the side produced the highest run scorer in the tournament (Martin Guptill – 547 runs) and the best bowling performance (Tim Southee – 7-33 v England).

Among some of the statistical points were noting during the year was Peter Fulton's breaking Jeremy Coney's record of 18 catches in a season for a province. Fulton took 20 for Canterbury.

It was a big year for Fulton who achieved 100 first-class appearances for Canterbury while also becoming the first player to score 7000 runs for the province. Only Bert Sutcliffe (five) and Matthew Bell (three) and Fulton (three) have passed 200 runs as many times for their provinces.

When Tom Latham scored a Test century against Pakistan it was the third occurrence of a father-son century in New Zealand Test history. Rod Latham scored a century against Zimbabwe. Walter and Richard Hadlee and Ken and Hamish Rutherford are the other combinations to have achieved the feat.

The gems continue and it is difficult to imagine how the breadth of New Zealand's involvement in cricket around the world nowadays could be better captured than in this 'must-have' tool for serious cricket fans.

Captain-in-waiting faces a big challenge

Kieran Read is undoubtedly the All Blacks captain-in-waiting now that Richie McCaw has opted for retirement.

It promises to be a challenging time for a new skipper, although Read has had plenty of exposure to the role before during periods of absence from his Crusaders and All Blacks team-mate.

A player with his own star quality, and a World Rugby Player of the Year, Read seems assured to follow in the traditional captaincy role of the All Blacks.

The 2016 team will be a rebuilding season. A solid core of experience has departed what had been a solid All Blacks camp in the wake of the 2015 Rugby World Cup success.

Signs are that the selectors have had an eye on exactly the situation they will find themselves in ahead of the tour by Wales, and the annual Rugby Championship series.

Read is a central part of the rebuild which has as its first big test the tour by the British and Irish Lions in 2017.

It is timely that as he prepares to take on that challenge that a study of his career to date offers a reminder of what has contributed to Read's make-up and readiness to assume the toughest job in the country.

Matt Elliott's 'Kieran Read – Tribute to a Great Eight' tells that story and highlights the Auckland-born Cantabrian's rise through the ranks, his choice for rugby ahead of cricket and his place in the All Blacks' great side.

It does rely heavily on comment from other sources and lacks input from Read which is probably due to the fact that he will have his own story penned sometime in the future.

But the guts of his story to date is there in well illustrated form and will help tide fans over until the rapidly arriving onset of a new rugby season.

Kieran Read – Tribute to a Great Eight by Matt Elliott. Published by Batemen. Price $39.99.