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Photo by Mr. Mark Ealey

Methven family

Mr. Mark Ealey —

Three generations of rugby prowess

The Methven family's contribution to St. Bede's 1st XV history is a significant one. All have been forwards with the dynasty now spanning three generations. The current involvement is father, Committee member Mike, and three sons: George (1st XV captain), James (3rd XV) and Harry (U58kgs Red). St. Bede’s is proud that Bedean fathers seek to send their sons to the College, and those involved in St. Bede’s Rugby are particularly pleased when successive generations are involved in our rugby.

In terms of 1st XV appearances of the Methven family members, here is the calculation to date:

1954 Robert W Methven 15 games

1978 Robert T Methven 15 games

1982 Patrick B Methven 19 games

1984-85 Michael J Methven 35 games

1987 Andrew P Methven 19 games

2018-2020 George B Methven 37 games and some to go

So a grand total of 140 and counting.

Comment from Gary Lennon:

“The legendary Fr. Kevin O’Connor described Bob Methven, his 1954 1st XVer, as playing soundly, ‘especially in the rucks where he played well’. Bob’s four sons built on that tradition from 1979 to 1987 when they raised the family appearances close to the century mark.

Image by: Mr. Mark Ealey

Robert [15 games] was a loosie in the ’79 team, the first to win the grade in 30 years; Patrick, [19 games,] a lightweight lock in the ‘82 side which won “the double” [schools competition and U18 grade], Michael, [35 games], a larger lock in the grade sharing team of ‘84 and returning in ‘85 in the Jon Preston led 1st XV; while Andrew [19] the fetcher in the ’87 side which won that memorable game against Christchurch BHS. (See Ed Sparrow’s explanation below.)

The legacy lives on in the 2020 captain, George Methven, in the centenary year of the shift to the Main North Road: grand dad would have enjoyed the recent victory over unbeaten Christ’s College.”

Some comments from Mike Methven:

I would just like to make some comments on 1st XV rugby of 35 years ago and that played today, as well as the great strides I have seen St. Bede's Rugby and the St Bede's Rugby Club make over the last 3-4 years. I think the difference between the 1st XV rugby I played in the mid-eighties and the rugby played today can be captured by comparing me with son George son and me.

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Image by: Mr. Mark Ealey


- I was probably considered one of the bigger players in 1985, but do not think I weighed more than 90 kgs at school. George plays at over 100kg.
- He trained on 5-6 days in the pre-season, with the majority of it in a gym doing weights. The gym for us was used for PE classes if you were lucky and there were no weights involved. I probably went for a few runs on my own and Gary Lennon (GPL) would run us around the back-fields until we were sick.
- As a result of his training, I could describe George as being athletic and muscular - two words that I cannot remember ever being used to describe my physique!
- While George eats well, I ate what my mother put on the plate. I do not think the word “nutrition” was widely known back then, and as for “hydration” - no one carried a water bottle around with them.
- GPL was our coach. The only resource coach I can remember being used was Graham Moody and that was just for the backs. I think this year former All Black coach Mike Cron has taken the 1st XV for scrum-training, whereas we use to scrummage twice a week on the scrum machine housed under the gymnasium. Any 1st XV forward from the 70's and 80's era will remember that machine and no doubt still hate it.
- Probably the only thing that has not changed is the fact that you play with your mates and any win over CBHS or Christ's is sought after and savoured.

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The change in 1st XV rugby was slow and probably took off with the advent of age of professional rugby. Some boys now see rugby as a career opportunity, others play it just because they love the game. That is where I think Rugby at St Bede's has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years especially in the last two with the return of Mark Ealey and the International Rugby Programme to St. Bede’s along with the great number of passionate parents who have put their hands up to be on the Rugby Committee.

It was identified that communication was key for us moving forward, and this is the one area that has improved the most - even I enjoy using Facebook and WhatsApp to stay up with the play.
Content offered at St. Bede's for rugby these days is for the smallest Year 9 boy to the biggest Year 13 boy. Everything is about inclusiveness - you just need to look at the activities offered in the last school holidays.
Operating school rugby properly is not cheap, and I am sure what St. Bede's spends on it is a lot less than some of the private schools, but due to the marvellous efforts of our fundraising sub-committee the club finances are improving every year. I also think that our sponsors are communicated with and looked after really well now.
We have teachers, parents and students coaching teams and the efforts being made to improve their coaching ability will pay dividends going forward.

A further interesting element of the Methven family saga:

Whilst the Methven family has had a huge involvement in St. Bede’s rugby it's also the case on Mike’s wife Rebecca’s side -- with the current Methven boys’ uncles - Bede and John Callaghan – also playing rugby at St. Bede’s. Mike and Rebecca should therefore both be credited with joining good Bedean families! Also related is that both families (George, James and Harry’s grandparents) were huge contributors for the College. Bob Methven Snr was described in the Bedean as ‘one of the great olds boys’, serving as the first or one of the first chairs of the Board of Trustees and Board the Proprietors and chaired the Jubilee Committee that organised the 75th anniversary celebrations in 1986. John Callaghan Snr was similarly heavily involved on both boards - related to the legal work of the school and its financial arrangements regarding integration funding.

Also, the real reason that game against Christchurch BHS in 1987 was memorable as GPL mentions, aside from it being a comfortable win to a very determined Bede’s team, was that it was played the day after Bob Methven prematurely passed away. GPL, as he always did, gave us a special pre-match speech, but this time it was about Bob Methven and us playing in honour of him and how we were playing for our mate Andy who had just lost his father, but was choosing to take the field with us. I don't think anyone in that team will ever forget that day because of that. I remember a few years later having a beer with Andy's opposite number, the Boys’ High openside and head-boy Tim Keenan, who said it was really tough being up against us that day, especially so because Andy Methven had tears streaming down his cheeks throughout the match. Ed Sparrow