#52 Quentin Pongia
RIP 09/07/1970 - 18/05/2019
Rugby league greats farewell Kiwis star Quentin Pongia at Greymouth funeral
Marc Greenhill May 25, 2019 • 5:17pm
Quentin Pongia was remembered as a great player and a great man at his funeral on Saturday. Photo: TONY SMITH / STUFF
Tough, courageous and highly respected.
Words used repeatedly to describe former Kiwis league skipper
Quentin Pongia in tributes by family and former team-mates at his funeral in Greymouth on Saturday.
The man known by many as "Q" died on May 18, age 48, after battling bowel cancer. He had returned home to the West Coast to be with family in his final days.
League stars turned out in numbers to farewell former Kiwis skipper
Quentin Pongia at his funeral in Greymouth on Saturday. Photo: JASON BLAIR / KATABATIC CREATIVE
Pallbearers included former Kiwis Jarrod McCracken, Richie
Barnett,
Ruben Wiki, Craig Smith,
Tea Ropati and Brent Stuart.
Pongia was known as a hard man on the field during his 35 tests for New Zealand and a 12-year professional career, in which he won an NRL premiership with the Canberra Raiders in 1994.
Former Kiwis coach
Frank Endacott said he knew within 15 minutes of seeing the then teenager that he was a special talent.
Pongia became both a great player and a great man, he said.
"Whenever Q's name is mentioned you think of toughness. But as we all know there are players who are tough on the outside and players who are tough on the inside – he had both."
Pongia's best attribute was his defence, Endacott said. "Everyone knew when they were tackled by Quentin."
He was also an "old-fashioned" prop who liked to play the full 80 minutes. He would have played every minute of the tests he played under Endacott had he not been subbed 10 minutes from the end of the third test against Great Britain in 1998.
"And Jeez did I cop it. I copped it all night," Endacott said.
Former Kiwis and Canberra team-mate
Ruben Wiki remembered Pongia as a "brother and mentor".
"Three words sum up Q – blood, sweat and respect. The first two you give, and last one you earn ... and that's Q."
Sister Megan Tahapeehi said having her brother home in the two weeks before his death was "lovely".
"There's definitely been some trying times. That's because he was such a fighter," she said.
"It was Q's journey right till the end and we had to respect that."
Wife Sue Pongia spoke of how grateful they were to have two-year-old daughter Maia in their lives after struggling to conceive.
"[Quentin] got to be a dad, which was one of his dreams," she said.
New Zealand Rugby League president Howie Tamati said Pongia epitomised a West Coast rugby league player.
"Today we acknowledge a great champion of rugby league in New Zealand, Australia and indeed, the world."
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