Gents,
Just caught up with some sad news from New Zealand. Rhys Brookbanks who played for us last year has tragically died in the earthquake in Canterbury. He had only recently started working as a journalist with Canterbury TV whose building was badly affected by the quake. In the short time he played for us he proved to be a hard player on the pitch and popular with his team mates. I have passed on our condolences to his family.

This article was posted on 20-Mar-2011, 21:51 by Scott Inglis

 

 

 

GHK News - The View from the First Man Over the Top

 

RHYS BROOKBANKS

 

Men. Take a knee. For this week The Regiment has lost an Officer and our line has waved a little.

 

Like many others amongst us when I crawled into bed on Sunday night I read the wretched news of Rhys Brookbanks. I do not believe this is the forum to dwell on such matters and indeed I am not the type to succumb to affecting sentiments but this tiding has rankled with me.

 

I awoke to phone calls on Monday morning enquiring if I had heard the news. Within each of these discussions Rhys was acknowledged as ‘a quiet guy’ but in every reference each could remember a burst of animation at O.A. Indeed, Rhys was the archetypal ‘dark horse’ and it is this term that has repeated throughout the week.

 

This term is often used to describe a little-known person that emerges to prominence, especially in competition. My time with Rhys was always spent within the fixture of our great game, Rugby Union and as a consummate poet and wordsmith he took great enjoyment in quietly chastening this View when it dared to step out of turn. Rhys had similar skill in his ability to go placidly amongst the noise and haste of the herd and put front foot forward with little noise or fuss but abounding commitment, on and off the field.

 

Such a tenacious example leads me to examine my own character. We are all aware of the loud and the aggressive and their demands to the ear but this week I draw your attention to the quiet ones within the Regiment. They are calm, confident, and determined to hold on to the end and it is this I believe gives assurity to the loud. It is the quiet ones that we should listen to.

 

Men. Yes, we have yielded ground this week, much more ground than we would every want but as we take to the field tomorrow let us go about our business quietly, properly and with skill. For that shall be the lesson.

 

God be with The Regiment and bless GHK.

 

The Regiment for tomorrow’s match against Cumbernauld RFC at Auchenkilns, 3:00pm kick-off, is as follows: 


 

15. T. ‘Sprat‘ Herron

14. R. ‘Grampus‘ Johnstone

13. M. ‘Porpoise’ Aird

12. D. ‘Oberon’ Hoffman
[c]

11. R. ‘Shrimp’ Love

10. A. ‘Otter’ Fleming

09. F. ‘Finwhale’ Carmichael

01. C. ‘Opposum’ Macphee

02. G. ‘Warspite’ Reid

03 C. ‘Valiant’ McLay

04. F. ‘Onyx’ Leggat

05. H. ‘Olympus’ Parker

06. M. ‘Cachalot’ Borthwick

07. G. ‘Orpheus’ Woolard

08. R. ‘opportune‘ Shedden

 

16. R. ‘Spartan’ McCormack

17. A. Ursula ’ Tilston

18. S. ‘Torbay’ Robertson

 

Yours as always, running towards the gunfire. 11am Flying Scotsman. Pulling armpit hairs. Never wearing white boots. The need to pee at five to three. Forwards should always hunt in packs. Grasp the waistband. Never face the grass and never put your hands on backwards. Challenge your twilight hours.

Teamtalks in the showers are the German way. Altos Band. Pate Pies. Cammy Little’s novel. One Name. Mine. The temptation of the comeback. The back seat of the bus. The front seat of the bus. Mizuno Timaru are like Mizuno Motherwell.

 

Disco

This article was posted on 25-Mar-2011, 09:20 by Hugh Barrow.