Maori Personalities in Sport By PAUL POTIKI

* THE KENNYS OF JOHNSONVILLE * Although many Maori families have distinguished themselves in sport, I would most certainly hand the palm to the Kennys of Johnsonville. Not only have they achieved success in a diversity of sports, but also they have achieved it in an atmosphere not encountered by many Maoris. The Kennys have made their mark in the city, where competition must necessarily be more intense than in the rural areas because of greater numbers, a more scientific approach, and a higher degree of specialisation. Although they have been prominent in several sports, the Kennys are best known as Rugby footballers. Their Rugby tradition began with Aylmer, but in succession as they left school his younger brothers joined him in the Johnsonville senior XV. They were Mervyn, Mick and Brian, and in those days Johnsonville was a force to be reckoned with. Aylmer, who played senior football from 1928 to 1949 and represented Wellington from 1930 to 1945, has a niche all his own in Wellington Rugby. He is still regarded as one of the hardest yet shrewdest forwards the province has had, and I well remember the ruthlessness of his rucking when in one of my first senior games I foolishly stayed on the ball a little longer than the rules provided for, yes, Aylmer Kenny was tough, yet in no game have I ever seen him do anything dirty. He believed football to be a man's game. He neither gave nor sought quarter. He knew and exploited many tricks which may have stretched the laws somewhat, but he was so adept that few referees could ever catch him out. There may be people who deprecate such tactics, but Aylmer and many other sportsmen—including myself—consider that one should play to the limit of what one can get away with. Perhaps this, today, would be called gamesmanship. In Aylmer's day it was simply the way Rugby was played. Aylmer Kenny was a Maori All Black in 1938 on the tour of Fiji. He is one of the very few Maoris ever to have the distinction of leading a Wellington representative team. He was Wellington captain in 1940. Aylmer was also a prominent member of the Centurians, and it was in these sides that I first played with him. During the war he held a commission in the Maori Battalion and played for the side which won the Freyberg Cup. The next brother, Mervyn, was a most versatile footballer and, like Aylmer, had a very long playing career. Mervyn began his career as a fullback—and a fine one he was too. That he did not reach the same heights as Aylmer was no real reflection on his ability. He played during an era of exceptionally good fullbacks—men like Bunk Pollock, Herb Lilburne and Ron Masters, Also, because of his nature, he may not have applied himself with the same zeal that Aylmer did. Nevertheless Mervyn was a very sound fullback and, when young Mick joined the team, he moved up into the line and played well as a three-quarter. For a time Mervyn played league, but was later re-instated. Wellington has had few better goalkickers than Mervyn Kenny. He is a big man and kicks with tremendous length and considerable accuracy. His son, who is carrying on the Kenny tradition, seems to have developed the same capacity for goalkicking. The third Kenny, Mick, needs little introduction—especially to those Maoris who served in the Middle East and Italy. Mick was a fullback, and what a good one too. Like his brothers, Mick began his career with the Johnsonville Club, and at the age of 19 he had the distinction of being named “one of the five most promising players of the year” by the New Zealand Rugby Almanac. Mick was one of the bigger fullbacks, but he was as agile as men half his size. He was the epitome of coolness, he was a prodigious kicker with either foot, and he specialised in the bonecrushing tackle. He is a fine modest and extremely popular sportsman, and those of us who played with him or saw him play overseas —for the 22nd Battalion and the 2nd N.Z.E.F.—are the only ones who realise just how his very serious war wounds affected him. Mick was wounded in Italy—so seriously that it seemed a miracle he survived. But not only did he survive where 999 men out of 1000 would have died, he also returned to football; and although the 1946–47 Kenny was not a shadow of the splendid player of 1942–43, he was still good enough to represent Wellington and the New Zealand Maoris. Just let me give you an idea of how good Mick Kenny was before he was wounded. You have all heard of Bob Scott, no doubt.