Palenski has just produced Our Game, New Zealand Rugby at 150. It includes 150 short takes from the game since it was first played in New Zealand.
It is commonly believed the first game took place in Nelson in 1870 — 150 years ago — introduced by Charles John Munro. But Palenski presents evidence of a game played in Whanganui the year before. Town and country sides did battle but no score is recorded.
Palenski said New Zealand at that time was not well connected and what happened in one area did not impact other regions.
But the game spread quickly and became New Zealand’s game. He said rugby developed like no other sport and grabbed a hold on the country.
It was a game of the people, no matter where they came from and their political leanings. It was also a game for women, and always had been.
Palenski has included many tales of the game and said it was an interesting task.
He said he had to include some of the most well-known issues such as All Black Keith Murdoch’s sending home from tour and Don Clarke beating the Lions on his own at Carisbrook, but there were also plenty of things to surprise.
One revolved around the fact three St Kevin’s College old boys, Kevin Skinner, Bill McCaw and Bob Stuart, were all part of the 1953-54 All Black team which toured Europe and meeting an old school teacher in Ireland. Then there are the priests who played for New Zealand.
Palenski is not counting the books he has written but it is into the dozens. He said the game was changing and in a difficult period at the moment, and it had been exacerbated by Covid-19.
"I think people are tiring
of the structure of professional rugby and we need something different. It’s not New Zealand Rugby’s fault," he said.
The game is played under confusing rules and is not the game that was played by many people.
"There are too many people in marketing-type roles who have no real feel for the game. There are generations who have followed the game, that rugby has always had, who are ignored.
"There is all that hidden history in the game, stories, all that sort of stuff which gets missed with an emphasis on marketing.
"I’m quite happy to go to a Neil Diamond concert but I don’t want to go to one when I’m at the rugby.
"You have to get the balance back into it. They have alienated a lot of supporters — you can see that from the crowd numbers."
