As those Old Golds prepare for a reunion this weekend, Hayden Meikle talks to two key players about what made the team special.
From heartbreak to utter dominance.
North Otago rugby had experienced devastating lows at the end of both the 2000 and 2001 seasons as it was beaten — at home in Oamaru, too — in the final of the old NPC third division.
Losing to East Coast in 2000 was a shame but tempered by the fact the Ruatoria boys had become the nation’s sweethearts, and that the Old Golds had spent 25 years or so in the FAR lower reaches of New Zealand rugby, so another year without a trophy was hardly intimidation.
Defeat to hated rival South Canterbury in the 2001 final, though? Oof. That one hurt — still hurts, if we are honest.
Were the Old Golds destined to be forever the bridesmaids? Would they (unfairly) be labelled chokers again? Had their glimpse of glory come and gone?
Er, no.
What followed was one of the great seasons by a provincial side in New Zealand history.
North Otago utterly laid waste to the competition in 2002, winning all eight round-robin games then smashing South Canterbury (thanks for coming) 58-10 in the semifinal and Horowhenua-Kapiti 43-19 in the final to earn promotion to the second division for the first time.
It was a stable, experienced and ridiculously talented team that had no weakness, and it set team records for points (454, at a scandalous 45.4 per game) and tries in a season (62), and individual season records for points (150, Simon Porter) and tries (14, Pila Fifita).
"It would have been a good team that beat us," fullback Luke Herden told the Otago Daily Times this week.
"There was a lot of talent, and guys who had had some higher honours like our Tongan internationals.
"We had no fear and nothing to lose and we all just knew what we could do. It was really an awesome team.
"We were given full rein to run from our line if we wanted to — you had to get it right or we’d be in trouble — and we were just unharnessed.
"There was flair and strength. We were powerful and we were fast and we were tough. It was a really rounded team all across the paddock."
Herden was part of a group of seven Dunedin-based players who had joined the Old Golds when the rules on imports were slightly more relaxed.
The King’s High School old boy loved the whole experience.
"That was a great crew. It was always an occasion to get in the van and go up there, even for trainings during the week, and there was just such a good vibe about it.
"Oamaru was such a welcoming place and we just really were made to feel part of it from the start.
"It was my first real chance of representing someone outside my club. And it was just really ... it’s hard to describe.
"You had so many different cultures. You had your farmers, your Polynesians, and the Dunedin crew, who were largely students. I enjoyed learning about other parts of life."
The tone was set by coaches Glenn Moore and Barry Matthews, Herden said.
"Growler" Moore did not suffer fools but he had a great ability to get the players on his waka.
"Glenn just set the tone on game day. He knew what he wanted to do, and he had his ideas, and he managed to deliver them to the team in such a way that we all bought into them.
"He was open to being challenged. He liked to get your thoughts. That’s what the top coaches do.
"I always remember his pre-match chats at Summit Wool Spinners. We’d be sitting in our chairs, waiting for him to say something, and more often than not he would just look at us and say, ‘Let’s go.’ That sent a shiver down the spine."
While Herden was something of an outsider that season, the man with the captaincy was as local as they come.
Barry Fox, from North Otago farming stock, was in the middle of a long, virtually unbroken run as the team’s hooker and captain and target of the "Light ‘em up, Foxy" chant that sprang forth constantly from a revived North Otago Rugby Supporters Club.
He was there — and, yes, those might even have been tears in his eyes — when the Old Golds were beaten in both the 2000 and 2001 finals, and acknowledged it provided some motivation going into 2002.
"It was certainly in my mind, and not just going into finals day but throughout the whole season," Fox said.
"We wanted to make sure we were better than we had been. So, personally, I had done a lot more fitness work to get ready for the season, and you could see the energy levels and the hard work guys were doing."
While Fox and his beefy props did their jobs, and the locks and loose forwards and inside backs were all class, the Old Golds ran amok with the likes of Fepikou Tatafu and Pila Fifita in the backs.
Big scores were racked up and every opponent was put to the sword.
"We just had the ability and confidence to have a go from anywhere on the field," Fox said.
"We had players who could beat defenders on the outside then link up with their support players, and we could score bloody good tries from anywhere.
"It was pretty cool to be involved with, really. I’ve kept in touch with a good core of that team."
Fox took his leadership role seriously but said it was not hard to blend together the mix of cultures in the team.
He recalls the Dunedin players, in particular, being fascinated by how locals who were slogging away in a shearing shed or stock yards all day could turn around and train as if they were a professional.
Moore, who would go on to coach the Highlanders then win a World Cup with the Black Ferns, set the standard, Fox said.
"Right through his tenure, it was just that professionalism that he developed within the union. He set the bar fairly high, but we always knew it was achievable.
"We had to work hard but he also made sure we had time for fun as well."
Fox feels lucky to have played rugby in an era when he feels the game was more enjoyable.
"In my mind, the game was easier to play back then. It’s a very technical game now."
The Old Golds would have plenty more success in the years that followed 2002 — they reached the semifinals of the old second division for three straight years, and won the new Meads Cup in 2007, 2010 and 2019.
But 2002 will always be a bit special.
Fox, Herden and about a dozen team-mates will gather at the Valley club tonight to reminisce before attending tomorrow’s Heartland Championship game against Horowhenua-Kapiti, a repeat of the 2002 final.
2002 Old Golds
Champion team
15. Luke Herden
"Spook" was built like a forward but could run with the best of them. Returned to captain North Otago to Meads Cup glory in 2010. Deputy principal at St Clair School. Can still carry a keg.
14. Toetu Palamo
Dunedin/Harbour flyer scored 15 tries in 25 games for the Old Golds before heading to Auckland. Whereabouts unknown.
13. Fepikou Tatafu
Turned up to play for Maheno the previous year and was unbelievably good. Went on to play 23 tests for Tonga, where he lives with his family.
12. Mike Mavor
Could easily have played at a higher level but settled for a remarkably durable career in the Old Golds midfield. Turned into a fine coach and still lives in Weston, where he works as a tradie after years in the Oamaru stone industry.
11. Pila Fifita
Absolute definition of a blockbusting winger. Played in England then Japan before settling on the Gold Coast. Son Jojo plays in the NRL for the Titans.
10. Simon Porter
Classy operator who was third division player of the year in 2002 and later played for Counties. Now known as New Zealand rugby’s "super agent" and boss of Halo Sport in Auckland. Married two-time World Cup winner Hannah Myers.
9. Ryan McCarthy
One of the unsung heroes of the campaign. Super quick and a serial winner who claimed club titles with Waikite (Bay of Plenty), Ponsonby (Auckland) and Southern (Dunedin) as well as Citizens Shields with Athletic and Valley. Discovered CrossFit and is now, as the kids say, absolutely jacked. Teaches at St Paul’s in Hamilton.
8. Regan Laughton
"Chief" hailed from Southland but made his name in a gold jersey as a magnificent all-round loose forward. Still lives in the Haka Valley, where he works in the livestock industry.
7. Ross Hay
"Bones" appeared to be in his prime in the championship year but had about a million years to come. The peerless flanker finished on 114 first-class games for the Old Golds, and runs a sheep and beef farm near Oamaru.
6. Ray Ofisa
From Dunedin club player of the year to Heartland star. Ofisa went on to play over 100 games for Irish club Connacht, and played one test for Samoa.
5. Campbell Mackenzie
Gifted local lock who made the old Divisional XV twice and ended up playing and coaching in Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Canada and the US. Plays a mean guitar and builds a good house, and had a year of chemotherapy and radiation while battling cancer through the pandemic. Back in Oamaru.
4. Nathan Archibald
The rugged Green Island lock ended up in the Province That Shall Not Be Named, where he has taught at Timaru Boys’ for years.
3. Atelea Katoa
Old-school prop did the hard yards in 58 games for the Old Golds. Still in Oamaru, where he is a freezing worker. Son Tui was a schoolboy star then on the Warriors books, and now plays rugby in Australia.
2. Barry Fox
Widely considered the greatest hooker in North Otago history, the captain played 84 games in 11 seasons. Still in Oamaru, where he is a bigwig in the world of livestock sales with PGG Wrightson.
1. Hotili Asi
"Hotty" had been the third division player of the year in 2001. Played 57 games for North Otago, scoring a staggering 25 tries. Still in Oamaru, where he works as a social worker for Oranga Tamariki, but is looking at moving to Palmerston North.
Gary Byrne, Mike Rowe, Gary Ford, Regan Gilder, Kisione Ahotaeiloa, Ray Gutsell, Tevita Asi and Steve Kotua were the regular reserves.
By the numbers
2002 results
beat Mid Canterbury 43-16 (Hanan Shield only)
beat West Coast 60-6
beat South Canterbury 39-9
beat Buller 38-15
beat Horowhenua-Kapiti 40-0
beat Whanganui 73-7
beat Poverty Bay 49-32
beat Wairarapa-Bush 27-14
beat King Country 27-16
Semifinal: beat South Canterbury 58-10
Final: beat Horowhenua-Kapiti 43-19
