Top marks for initiative in this week's Hawke's Bay Wakely Shield rugby tournament go to Hastings East lock Paxton Joe.
Each player in the 10th annual tournament which caters for players under-50kgs is asked to find sponsorship to help cover the costs of their team shirt and jacket. Hastings East assistant coach and former Magpie Glen Varcoe said Joe hit up his uncle, All Blacks halfback Aaron Smith, for a donation to cover the cost of his.
"Paxton went up to Hamilton to watch Aaron play for the All Blacks against Argentina last month and got the donation then," Varcoe explained.
Joe, who played for the Western Suburbs 12th grade team which finished second in the Hawke's Bay intercity competition this season, has obviously been inspired by his uncle and the ABs' form of late. Joe has been prominent as the Hastings East side has recorded maximum points on the first two days of the five-day event staged in recognition of Taradale's Intercity JRB stalwart Adele Wakely who won the New Zealand Rugby Union's Volunteer of the Year award in 2005.
"Paxton normally plays in the backs but we've brought him into the forwards because he has a little bit of mongrel. He carries the ball well," Varcoe said.