We love to keep track of our Old Boys. Mr Stuart Leighton has been busy doing some research. Check out some of the stories below.

Scott Parkes | 1997-2001

Scott, a farmer/lawyer and rugby player from Ohingaiti took on a new role recently when he was part of the cast (he played Sky) for the Taihape Drama Club's production of Mamma Mia. Scott thought it would just be some rehearsing followed by a few beers, little did he know what commitment was in front of him. He compared drama to rugby with the team effort being vital. Scott's daughter has also learnt his lines after hearing them repeatedly while helping dad with the cattle and dogs. The director of the show is Paul Revell's (9094) mother, Wendy, who has been involved with the Taihape Drama Club for many years.

Dan Reddiex | Staff Member 1995-2000

Former staff member, Dan Reddiex, is now the Headmaster of Dilworth School in Auckland. Before this he had been the Headmaster of King's High School in Dunedin. Dan has had a profile in the media recently, which he rather would not have had. Dealing with historical issues have created a major challenge for him.

Tim Saunders | 1990-1994

Tim farms sheep and beef near Palmerston North. He has published poetry and short stories in the NZ Listener and Flash Frontier and won the 2018 Mindfood Short Story Competition. He performs poetry around the Manawatu and beyond.

He has published his first book "This Farming Life - Five Generations on a New Zealand Farm". From reviewer Linda Burgess - "An unsentimental yet lyrical love letter to the land and the humans and animals who inhabit it, this extraordinary memoir follows life on a family farm through the season. This is a man-on-his-land story unlike anything you have read before. Tough and tender, heartfelt, fabulous".

Farmer Tim Saunders manages to incorporate some writing into his days and in the book describes his life through the seasons: Summer - shearing, slaughter, crop harvest, conservation; Autumn - floods, trading stock, drenching, dagging; Winter - maize harvest, lambing and Spring - docking, pet sheep, weaning. It's a tough life and through his powerful, poignant writing, Tim tells of his connection to the land, why he loves farming, how he's also conflicted by it and what it is that keeps him tethered to that place.

Ryan Funnell | 2006-2010

Ryan is teaching Physical Education at an International School in Shanghai. After being on holiday at home he managed to get back into China two days before they closed the border to foreigners. Since then it has been all about face masks and thermal cameras.

Carl Johnson | 1984-1988

Carl is a former stockbroker and now head of the Guernsey Government Investment Division. Carl, his wife Lynda and three sons, Ben, Max and Harry, have lived in Guernsey since 2009. Carl had been captain of the Guernsey rugby team when they won the prestigious Siam Cup. He was also chairman of the Guernsey Rugby Union. His main sporting focus is now on his three boys' cricketing futures. Ben is already playing for the Guernsey seniors.

NB: The Siam Cup is an annual rugby union competition held between the Channel Islands clubs of Jersey Reds and Guernsey. It was first contested in 1920. The trophy is the second oldest rugby trophy in the world to be contested after the Calcutta Cup.

Geoff Wheeler | 1979-1983

Geoff is the owner and managing director of Bake Tech South Africa, ANUER Namibia, True to Nature New Zealand and Sungeo LLC India. He has offices in Cape Town and New Delhi. The company specializes in the production and distribution of various baking ingredients including yeast, bread mixes, confectionery mixes, pizza base mixes and other related products.

Kirwan Attwell | 2006-2010

Kirwan is the E-Commerce Logistics Operations lead at Woolworths Group in Sydney. His role is to drive digital growth to better serve Woolworths customers. Previous to this job Kirwan was the E-Commerce Fleet Manager for Woolworths NZ.

Sam Bamford | 2008-2012 

Sam is the team lead at BVT Engineering Professional Services based in Christchurch. He is responsible for the team's delivery of solutions to their clients in the interior fit-out, storage racking and height safety industries. This involves both liaising with clients, as well as working with each team member to achieve peak performance.

Steven Cegledy | 1949-1952

Steven arrived in New Zealand from Hungary with his brothers, John and Janos, speaking no English. They found life at PNBHS particularly challenging and were not always made to feel welcome. However, after finishing his university studies Steven did spend one year on the staff at PNBHS teaching History and Latin. Steven currently works for the Holocaust Centre in Wellington, which hosted some senior History classes earlier this year.

Janos Cegledy | 1951-1955 

Janos attended PNBHS with his brothers, Steven and John. Janos and Steven came into the school in February this year and were given a tour of the school. They are to be commended for coming into the school because their memories are not fond ones. Janos, who is a music teacher in Tokyo, Japan, was particularly impressed with the development of the Arts in the school and the quality of the Speirs Centre. He was pleased to be able to play the grand piano in the Viv Bevan Rehearsal Room.

Colin McKinnon | 1966-1970 

Colin who is the current NZ Private Capital Executive Director. His role is to promote the story of private equity through their members and to give the opportunity for investors and entrepreneurs to access the advantage of private growth capital.

Nigel Corbett | 1977-81 

After almost finishing a Bachelor of Agricultural Science until he discovered the Fitzherbert Hotel, Nigel has forged a career as a Creative Director for a number of Advertising Agencies, especially into the digital era. He had a brief role as Head of Department at Weta Workshop Ltd. He is digitally savvy, creatively strong and results orientated and has even restarted his comedy career.

James Brooke | 1980-1984 

James is the co-founder and tribal chief of Tribe, a specialist Recruitment and Talent Research across the Asia-Pacific and New Zealand. James was formerly the Co-founder and Co-owner and NZ-based Director for Gaulter Russell Numero, which was sold to Rubicor Group Ltd.

Ben Birks Ang | 1997-2001 

Ben was a School Prefect and Proxime Accessit winner in 2001. He is currently the Deputy Executive Director-Programmes of the New Zealand Drug Foundation, Chairman of the Addiction Practitioners Association of Aotearoa NZ. He is also the National Youth Services Advisor for Odyssey and the NZ Drug Foundation. Ben leads projects that bring different sectors together for the well-being of young people and reduces harm from alcohol and drugs.

Tim Dalzell | 1977-1981

Tim is the National Commercial Manager at Duffett Door Solutions based in Auckland. They are specialists in retail, commercial and industrial doors.

Tom Gillespie | 1999-2003

After spending a number of years in Singapore, Tom is back in Auckland as a Senior Associate with Russell McVeagh.

Blair Dravitski | 1998-2002

Blair will be leaving his Principal's role at Linwood Avenue School at the end of this term to take up a new Principal's position at Lemonwood Grove School in Rolleston, Christchurch.

Ngatai Walker |1996

Ngatai has been the Principal of Puketapu School, Bell Block since 2016. His interest area is Core Education as Learning with Digital Technologies. Ngatai still maintains his interest in sport and coaches the Inglewood premier rugby team and the Taranaki Development Squad.

Chris Furkert | 2003-2007 

After completing a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery through Otago University, Chris has worked in Nelson, Thames, Dunedin, Invercargill and is currently the Surgical Registrar at Counties Manukau Health.

Kieran Horsley | 2009-2013

Kieran is a Management Accountant at MyFarm Investments Ltd. MyFarm provides investors with syndicate investment opportunities in dairy, sheep and beef, horticulture (permanent crops), manuka honey and rural commercial property.

Tim Eglinton | 1986-1990

Tim is a Consultant Colorectal and General Surgeon at Christchurch Hospital. He is also a Senior Lecturer in Surgery at the University of Otago's Christchurch campus and a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

Christian Brown | 1997-2001

Christian is the General Manager of Madison Recruitment in Auckland. Christian came from a legal background before embarking on his recruitment career in London. Returning to Auckland in 2014 he has led numerous recruitment teams across a variety of industries. As the General Manager of Madison he is responsible for the oversight of 5 offices across New Zealand. Outside of work Christian enjoys spending time with his family and friends, social sport and being involved with the Big Brother programme.

Scott Waghorn | 1995-1999 

Scott was seen on TV3 recently discussing the merits of dental hygiene.

Carl Omundsen | 1991-1994 

Carl is the Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of Vesper Marine in Auckland. Carl has developed a real love for the water and being surrounded by like-minded people is one of the perks of his job. Carl leads he team designing and developing the product portfolio, responsible for all research and development programmes and product roadmap. He oversees new product offshore, manufacturing partnerships and supply chain in Asia, manages international certification and compliance. Carl is also a board member. Vesper Marine is a global provider of marine safety products for commercial and recreational vessels, aids to navigation and marine asset production solutions.

Mark Omundsen | 1985-1989 

Mark is a General/Colorectal, Laparoscopic and Endoscopic surgeon with a particular interest in colorectal and pelvic disorders. He takes an active part in research programmes at Tauranga Hospital and has published widely in the fields of both general and colorectal surgery. Mark moved to the Bay of Plenty with his wife and three children in 2012. He works as a specialist surgeon at both Tauranga and Grace Hospitals, managing a wide range of general and colorectal pathologies. He is actively involved in junior surgeon training at the public hospital and has a mentoring role for junior doctors (intern supervisor).

Luke Wolfsbauer | 2006-2008

Luke has his own property investment firm, Wolfsbauer Investments. Luke's company invests in the USA property market. They find the best deals on homes, buy them and renovate them, then rent them out and manage any repairs and maintenance. Luke is based in Georgia, USA and his business partner, Clinton Duffy (1993-1997) is based in Palmerston North. 'Stuff' ran an interesting article on Luke in its "How I Made My First Million" series, published 6 June 2020.

Martin Badenhorst | 2002-2004 

Martin is a Financial Modeler and Chartered Financial Analyst with McGrath Nicol in Auckland.

Neil Badenhorst | 2002-2005 

Neil is a Financial Accountant at New Zealand Rugby.

Roald Badenhorst | 2004-2008

Roald is a Division Manager for Stellar Recruitment in Auckland. A former first-class cricketer, Roald has been in recruitment since 2016 and has achieved extraordinary results for his clients and job seekers. He has a hybrid desk of both temporary and permanent positions in Civil Construction.

Chris Pike  | 1972-1976

Chris, formerly a Statistician with Statistics NZ and Principal Consultant with Topas Consulting. He founded GenRate EQ in 2018. GenRate EQ is a gender pay gap software service. Chris draws on his 30 years' experience in the business of official statistics - specializing in price measurement and labour market statistics at StatsNZ. He also has a strong interest in data visualization following a stint consulting with the United Nations on a price measurement initiative in Bhutan. Chris developed GenRate EQ's software service with the express aim of supporting businesses to make positive change - by providing the accurate, data-driven evidence they need to tackle inequality effectively.

Matthew Setterquist | 1992 

Matthew was an exchange student from the USA who spent two months in PNBHS back in 1992.  Most of his professional experience has been in Civil Engineering and Land Surveying. However, his interest has always been the law which he is preparing for his final bar exam this year. While studying Matt is a stay-at-home dad, taking care of daily household duties and raising his four-year-old son and one-year-old daughter. He lives in Salinas, California and would love to hear from anyone who remembers him.

Angus Donaldson | 2000-2004 

Angus is teaching PE and Health at Katikati College. He is also the senior Dean.

David Bielski | 1994-1998 

David with his wife Miriam manages Craigmore Station in South Canterbury. They manage 21,000 stock units. Their operation was recognized for its protection of biodiversity, its extensive pest management policy, use of alternative pastures and its strong community involvement. Click here to read more

Peter Bielski | 1991-1995 

Peter is the Managing Director of Ethos Homes which specializes in Passive House construction i.e. healthy sustainable homes in Christchurch.

Ben Roberts | 2014-17

Ben a young Palmerston North builder has won the 2020 Central North Island and Hawkes Bay-East Coast Master Builders Apprentice of the Year.

The 20-year-old who works for Mike Campbell Construction faced stiff competition, but the judges singled out Ben, who excelled in all areas of the competition.

The apprentices were first judged on a two-hour practical challenge and their initial entry submission. The top 10 then progressed to an interview with the judging panel, followed by an on-site visit where the finalists discussed their work project.

On top of displaying a great range of knowledge at each stage, the judges felt Ben demonstrated the perfect aptitude for a promising apprentice.

"He is articulate, knowledgeable and overall an excellent tradesman".

"He took us around a residential build, pointing out details with clear pride. Yet he remained humble and frequently acknowledged how lucky he was to work on such an exquisite and unique build". 

"His explanation of the construction of the build was vast and detailed. It ended up being a real learning experience for the judges". Click here to read more

After winning the regional final, Ben then went on to compete in the national final where he faced off against the eight other regional finalists in Auckland in November.

Jack-Henry Sinclair | 2011-2013 

Congratulations to Jack-Henry on being Capital Football's Men's Domestic Player of the Year, in the recently announced New Zealand Football Awards 2020. When not playing football Jack-Henry is a cadet Quantity Surveyor at L T McGuiness Ltd in Wellington. Click here to read more

Josh Syms | 1994-1998

Josh was part of Hawkes Bay's coaching group when they won the Ranfurly Shield from Otago in early October. Josh is developing an extensive coaching C.V. after successful stints with Saint Kentigern's in Auckland, Wairarapa Bush, Hastings Boys' High School and in a development role with the Hutt Valley Old Boys' Club in Wellington. Of note, both Saint Kent's and Hastings BHS won national titles with Josh coaching.

Stacy Bakker | 1989-1993 

Stacy is the owner/director of the award-winning construction company Bakker Built and is Sydney based. The company specialises in architecturally designed and bespoke homes. In 2018 they were the recipients of the Master Builders Housing and Excellence Award for their work on "Binbimi" (House of Birds) project. This year Stacy has won a further award from the Master Builders Association (NSW) in the Housing, Design, Construction Category for prices over $4 million with his Oyster Bay House.

Murray Lynch | 1967-1971 

Murray is the director of Playmarket, whose vision is to empower and represent New Zealand playwrights. "This is done by promoting our playwrights' work nationally and internationally, upholding playwrights' standards and rights, providing access to NZ scripts, identification and development of playwrights of excellence. Playmarket was founded in 1973. In its first eighteen months Playmarket licensed a total of 15 productions. By comparison they currently license almost 400 productions of NZ plays each year in NZ and internationally.

Murray began his career at the Four Seasons Theatre in Whanganui in 1973. At age 22 he was appointed Associate Director of Centrepoint Theatre in Palmerston North and Artistic Director three years later. This was followed by a stint as Associate Director at Auckland's Theatre Corporate. While still in Auckland he formed a theatre-in-education company called Spare Parts and took the position of Artistic Director of the Maidment Arts Centre at the University of Auckland.

He was founding director of the widely acclaimed Tantrum Theatre Company before moving to Wellington in 1989, where he became Associate Director at Downstage Theatre. At the time he was also a project …….

In 1993 he moved to Tpi Whakaari NZ Drama School to tutor and later head the Acting and Directing Programmer, a position he held until his appointment as Director of Downstage in 2000. He held this position for six years.

In 2007 he graduated with a Masters in Theatre (with Distinction) from Victoria University. He was appointed Director of Playmarket in January 2010. Murray is the general manager and the agent for client playwrights.

The Lynch Cup for Contribution to Senior Drama is still awarded annually.

Blair Johnstone | 1992- 1996

Blair is the Assistant Principal and Head of Level 11 at Lincoln High School, near Christchurch.

Emosi Koloto | 1979-1993

Emosi was described by the legendary former 1st XV coach, Mr Ian Colquhoun, "as the player of a generation". Emosi had four years in the 1st XV and was captain in 1983. Mr Colquhoun also said, "much will be written about this player in the future. If he can develop 80 minute concentration, his magnificent innate ability will be adjudged by the highest rugby authority. Is he the best player to pass through PNBHS?"

While at school Emosi also represented the New Zealand Schools with Kirk Dew, Duncan Parkes, Sean Bristow and Nigel Annis, NZ Under 17 with Craig Symons and NZ Under 19. He was in the North Island Under 18's with Bruce Hansen.

Emosi was the school's shotput and discus champion on a number of occasions in the different grades. In 1980 he was second in the shotput to Steve Cumberland.

In 1983 Emosi received the school's prestigious Dux Ludorum award for all-round prowess in sport. He was also a school prefect that year and even managed four University Entrance papers.

On leaving school he continued his rugby career by representing Manawatu in 31 games, Wellington 16 games and 12 others, including 8 for the New Zealand Universities. He was also a NZ Sevens Rep.

After scoring 17 tries for Wellington in 1988 and being very close to the All Blacks, he departed for the U.K. in 1988 to play rugby league for the Widnes and Halifax Clubs. He represented the NZ Kiwis on 5 occasions and had one rugby test for Tonga, the country of his birth.

While in Widnes, Emosi married his wife Susan and completed a business degree. A serious neck injury curtailed his playing career. Returning to NZ in 1996 he has had coaching roles with both the Papatoetoe and East Tamaki rugby clubs. He runs a Pacific Island Economic Advisory and Consultancy business with his sister. His daughter is a highly promising netball player. Emosi is the current President of the NZ Tongan Rugby Football Association. Click here to view a recent interview with Emosi 

Josh Millan | 2001-2004 

Josh is the founder/director of Bright Black, a kiwi-owned, globally established digital-first agency. They bring together some of the brightest and best minds to create magic inside local and global brands.

Bright Black are a digital consulting practise made up of creative genius, data scientists, strategists, story-tellers, media experts and technicians on a mission to change the way the world thinks about marketing and engage their customer's consumers. They have grown into three different countries working with small kiwi businesses through to billion-dollar companies across the world. Throughout all of this, the team at Bright Black have built remain their biggest achievement and the most prized asset to the business, "Our people are everything".

Russell & Ian Meyer | 1985-1989 & 1988-1992 

Russell & Ian joined their dad, Des, to win a bowls tournament at the Palmerston North Bowling Club recently. Russell and Ian who both live in the UK were home in Palmerston North, following the death of their mother Sue. Des Meyer often opens up the facilities at the Northern Bowling Club for spectators following a 1st XV match. They are in the photo with the sponsor of the tournament, Darlene Woodhead from Café Cuba. She and her husband Paul (1980-83) are the owners of Café Cuba, a long-running and respected Palmerston North Café.

Dane Cleaver | 2005-2009  

Dane achieved what is thought to be a world cricket record in a match against Northern Districts in February this year when he scored 201 and made nine dismissals as a wicket-keeper. This statistic was identified by 'cricket tragics' 

Ken Malcolm & Chris Pike  | 1973-76 & 1972-76

Ken has played in the Old Boys/School cricket match for a number of years but couldn't play this year as he was in lockdown in Ballarat, Victoria. He kindly presented a trophy for the match in the memory of two former 1st XI cricket members who have passed away, Paul Hodges (1972-75) and Nick Parkinson (1972-76). 

William Cribb & Hadleigh Parkes | 2000-2005 & 2001-2005

Old Boys Willie Cribb and former Wales International Hadleigh Parkes having a catch-up in Auckland recently. 

Ruben Love & Brayden Iose | 2015-2019 & 2012-2016 

Congratulations to Ruben Love and Brayden Iose who have been named in the Hurricanes. Ruben and Brayden will join fellow Old Boys' Jamie Booth, Ngani Laumape & Liam Mitchell for the 2021 Season.

Ruben made his debut for the Wellington Lions in the 2019 Mitre 10 Cup season and has been rewarded with a Hurricanes contract until 2023. 

Brayden had a superb start to the 2019 Mitre 10 Cup before picking up an injury. Brayden was the Vice-Captain of the Manawatu Turbos this season and his great form this season has earned him a Hurricanes contract until 2022.