bruce
Contributor
I don't have Richard Becht's book anymore but it was in there who was the first. I think it might have been Gavin, he was playing for the Bulldogs at the time I think.
MurrayTD
Cheers Bruce. I thought that he was recruited from Wellington rugby?? not sure why i think this.
mt.wellington
Warriors Orange Peeler
Contributor
Yeah he was the first official signing for the club. Was picked up from the Waikato Lion Red club after a stint with Featherston...
bruce
Contributor
There is more to it than that Welly.
I am having to go on memory but he had two very good seasons with the Bulldogs in 1992 & 93. I think he was signed by the Warriors in that time but of course he had to get through the 1994 season without a club for some reason. Gavin went to England for our summer and then came back and played in the Waikato, but he had been signed for the Warriors long before that.
I think it was like Sean Hoppe who when he signed got dropped by the Raiders straight away although I think he then got signed by the Bears for a year. Wikipedia says that the Raiders did not extend his contract, but there was more to it that that. The Raiders were playing a pre season game at Carlaw Park when they heard Sean had signed with the Warriors and he was dropped from first grade straight away.
Signing for the Warriors back then was not the done thing.
Tonbridge (Swanley)
nothing has changed then...
bruce
Contributor
The smart people in Sydney were very concerned at the depth of talent in NZ and how strong the Warriors could be.
They only wanted us in the comp for TV ratings, nothing has changed there either.
It has to be remembered that if they hadn't lost that two points for one too many substitutions late in a game in which they were up by so many points they couldn't lose anyway, they would have made the finals in their first year. That turned out to be a massive error and it shows how right they were to be concerned.
It was the Bulldogs that signed him from Wellington Rugby Union. Rugby was strictly amateur back then. Gavin was a real success with the Bulldogs and by then the Winfield Cup was on TV every week here so he had a big profile in NZ. His signing was big news.
Prior to 1990 the only way you got to see the Winfield Cup on TV was renting from a video shop or the annual Grand Final.
That all changed after the NZTV ratings of the 1989 Grand Final and when Graham Lowe got signed as Manly coach. We got to see a live game every week and Graham Lowe and Graham Hughes also hosted a weekly league show for TVNZ.
There were still not many Kiwis in the Winfield Cup so any Kiwis got to be very famous and Gavin was right up there.
Weno
ajofbrisbane
Bumped into Mark Tookey, Justin Murphy, Sione Faumuina, Clinton Toopi at the NRL Legends match for Kim Walters Choices program a couple of weeks back.
Tooks still has his mini, he tried to sell it to me for $25k, Sione is trialling for Easts Tigers over here in the QLD Cup, not sure what Justin is up to & Toops is looking fit and his "Fabruary" program is going really. Toops was awesome at half time, my youngest sons team was playing pre game & halftime, during the half time Toops came down and got on the field with them and encouraged them.
Tooks still has his mini, he tried to sell it to me for $25k, Sione is trialling for Easts Tigers over here in the QLD Cup, not sure what Justin is up to & Toops is looking fit and his "Fabruary" program is going really. Toops was awesome at half time, my youngest sons team was playing pre game & halftime, during the half time Toops came down and got on the field with them and encouraged them.
Miket12
I still wake up in a cold sweat thinking of some of the kicks he tried to make
Weno
Has anyone caught wind on how Adam Tuimivave Gerard is developing.
Always thought he had good potential.
Always thought he had good potential.
BiggerD
Lance Hohaia is now a Real Estate Agent in the United States
He has reinvented himself & now sells Real Estate in Grand Rapids Michigan
Good on ya Lance.. I would certainly buy a House from you.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/leagu...ed-himself-as-a-real-estate-agent-in-michigan
Lance in Michigan in the snow with his Kiwi's jersey
In one of the downstairs wardrobes of a suburban family home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a local real estate agent is sorting through a tangle of old rugby league jerseys.
Among them are dozens of Warriors jumpers, stretching back to the early 2000s. There are old Kiwis test jerseys. Old New Zealand Maori ones. A green and gold Taniwharau club jumper, from Huntly.
The agent reaches deep into the pile and pulls out a black and grey one.
"How about this?" he asks, holding the jersey up with a grin.
It is the hooker's jumper from the Warriors last NRL Grand Final appearance, against the Manly Sea Eagles in 2011; an item worth its weight in Kiwi league history gold.
Five and a half years ago, Lance Hohaia pulled it on at Sydney's ANZ Stadium – and ran out for his 185th, and final, game for the Warriors. He remains the only player to make two Grand Finals with the club.
Now, he's a 33-year-old father of two in small town Michigan, selling residential suburban properties and helping out with rugby coaching at a local university.
"I got recognised by some Kiwis in Las Vegas once," he says.
"There was some Aussies who came up to me in LA one other time too, and they asked about my league.
Things get cold in the winter. When we visited Grand Rapids in early January, snow covered open ground, kept the roads slick and the temperature at about minus 7C. The week before, it got down to minus 16C.
"The winters can be pretty brutal, but I don't really mind the cold," the Huntly-born former Warrior says.
With his wife Marisa at work, Hohaia is looking after sons Riley (4) and Tyler (2) and working from home in Grand Rapids' eastern suburbs. Snow falls lightly, outside.
"I'd say [Grand Rapids] is probably double the size of Hamilton," he continues. "It's a great little place, with a lot of development going on.
"The quality of life is pretty good here. It's big enough that it has everything, but it's not too big. It's not like Auckland City where it is huge and there are so many people around. We barely have a rush hour here."
The 28-test Kiwi's move to the United States was as unexpected as it was likely. With a season left on his contract with St Helens - who he joined after leaving the NRL in 2011 - Hohaia's league career was cut short by a brutal punch by Wigan's Ben Flower in the 2014 Super League Grand Final.
After-effects of the concussion he received lingered and although Hohaia played eight games of the following Super League season, constant headaches and memory loss forced him to step away from the game.
His wife – who hails from Grand Rapids – wanted to come home, and Hohaia was ready for a fresh start. So they headed to the States in July 2015..
He has reinvented himself & now sells Real Estate in Grand Rapids Michigan
Good on ya Lance.. I would certainly buy a House from you.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/leagu...ed-himself-as-a-real-estate-agent-in-michigan
Lance in Michigan in the snow with his Kiwi's jersey
In one of the downstairs wardrobes of a suburban family home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a local real estate agent is sorting through a tangle of old rugby league jerseys.
Among them are dozens of Warriors jumpers, stretching back to the early 2000s. There are old Kiwis test jerseys. Old New Zealand Maori ones. A green and gold Taniwharau club jumper, from Huntly.
The agent reaches deep into the pile and pulls out a black and grey one.
"How about this?" he asks, holding the jersey up with a grin.
It is the hooker's jumper from the Warriors last NRL Grand Final appearance, against the Manly Sea Eagles in 2011; an item worth its weight in Kiwi league history gold.
Five and a half years ago, Lance Hohaia pulled it on at Sydney's ANZ Stadium – and ran out for his 185th, and final, game for the Warriors. He remains the only player to make two Grand Finals with the club.
Now, he's a 33-year-old father of two in small town Michigan, selling residential suburban properties and helping out with rugby coaching at a local university.
"I got recognised by some Kiwis in Las Vegas once," he says.
"There was some Aussies who came up to me in LA one other time too, and they asked about my league.
Things get cold in the winter. When we visited Grand Rapids in early January, snow covered open ground, kept the roads slick and the temperature at about minus 7C. The week before, it got down to minus 16C.
"The winters can be pretty brutal, but I don't really mind the cold," the Huntly-born former Warrior says.
With his wife Marisa at work, Hohaia is looking after sons Riley (4) and Tyler (2) and working from home in Grand Rapids' eastern suburbs. Snow falls lightly, outside.
"I'd say [Grand Rapids] is probably double the size of Hamilton," he continues. "It's a great little place, with a lot of development going on.
"The quality of life is pretty good here. It's big enough that it has everything, but it's not too big. It's not like Auckland City where it is huge and there are so many people around. We barely have a rush hour here."
The 28-test Kiwi's move to the United States was as unexpected as it was likely. With a season left on his contract with St Helens - who he joined after leaving the NRL in 2011 - Hohaia's league career was cut short by a brutal punch by Wigan's Ben Flower in the 2014 Super League Grand Final.
After-effects of the concussion he received lingered and although Hohaia played eight games of the following Super League season, constant headaches and memory loss forced him to step away from the game.
His wife – who hails from Grand Rapids – wanted to come home, and Hohaia was ready for a fresh start. So they headed to the States in July 2015..
Generally Little
Just saw this!!! He is looking terrible. What happened?
Waiting For Premiership
Good to see he's lost a bit of weight , looks goodJust saw this!!! He is looking terrible. What happened?
t-wade23
crump81
mt.wellington
Warriors Orange Peeler
Contributor
He's playing for Hills District Bulls in the Ron Massey Cup.
