Rugby Heroes, 1914-18

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 193, 16 August 1941, Page 16

Rugby Heroes, 1914-18

A PPROXIMATELY 200 miles east ■ f " v of where those gallant lads "of ours put up such a wonderful stand, lie two of the greatest forwards New Zealand has ever produced, "Norky" Dewar and Dolan Downing, and there is never an August comes but it brings back memories of these two players, who seemed destined to figure in big football for years to come, but they passed on in the van of a greater game, never to return, writes J.H. Ranui. Both players had represented New Zealand on the Californian tour in 1913. Dewar, one of the greatest forwards Taranaki has ever produced, will long be remembered by Auckland fans of that year in a Tara-naki-Auckland Ranfurly Shield match for scoring one of the most brilliant and important tries in the annals of Auckland Rugby history. Need I recall it, for it seems like yesterday? Gathering in a split second an infield pass (while going at top speed) from Dick Roberts, who had opened up from the loose, he cut through our defence like a knife and grounded the ball between the posts. This try was important for, apart from producing the winning points, it knocked the offensive completely out of our team, for they were badly worn out defending their line against the continuous swinging attacks of the Taranaki team, and the Ranfurly Shield went south, not to return for over a decade. This same shield, old-timers, the famous "Scotty" Bonalla had proudly carried through the streets of Taumarunui on his way back home after we had first wrested it from Wellington in 1901. Dolan Downing, a player of the Maurice Brownlie type, who rose to superb heights in the hardest

matches, needs no introduction to Auckland. And that is how he fell, believe me. as one of the very few who knows. Already wounded, and the battalion literally cut to pieces -*

and hanging on, he refused to go back, and, like the lion he was. plunged back into the fray. The wonderful sunsets may continue over Thrace eternally, but that night we climbed the iron sides of the troopships to join our Gurkha friends, leaving Gallipoli for ever, we left behind two of the best. May they rest in peace.