Dominic George: My eulogy was a little unnecessary

Keith Quinn

Rural radio personality Dominic George muses about mistakes.

I heard a great story last week from the godfather of New Zealand broadcasting, Keith Quinn. It was 19 years to the day since he uttered his famous line as All Blacks wing Jonah Lomu ran over England fullback Mike Catt en route to a quartet of tries in the 1995 World Cup semi-final at Newlands.

The "Lomu ... Oh, Oh ... " line was actually more accident than design. Quinn was searching for a pre-prepared line he'd included in his match-day notes for the broadcast but failed to locate it in time, hence the "Oh, Oh".

He says it wasn't entirely the product of a lost piece of paper, as Lomu's effort that day did leave many people lost for words, but it certainly wasn't entirely spontaneous either. It has become one of the best known pieces of Kiwi sporting commentary -- ironic as it was two-thirds "sounds" rather than words.

What it shows is that blunders aren't always costly and can, in fact, work in your favour. A few weeks ago, The Farming Show received a text that read: "Jamie, Friday was a sad day for Sheep Farmers of NZ as we have Lost a Gr8 Scientist Dr Julie Everett-Hincks who worked for Agresearch.

As you can see, it's pretty sombre stuff -- a eulogy by text, if you will. I read the text out and then pontificated in suitable tones along with host Jamie Mackay as to the terrible nature of someone being taken before their time.

Turned out, however, it was simply Everett-Hincks' last day at work. I can only imagine what her family and friends went through as they digested the information. I did manage to track her down, though, and can assure you she's very much alive. I managed to get a very good interview in which she spoke openly of her redundancy from Invermay and that she is now starting a new chapter in her life.

There has been vociferous and vocal opposition to the AgResearch restructure, incorporating the relocation of jobs from Invermay and Ruakura to centralised "hubs".

The protests have been well orchestrated and consistent but ultimately have failed in their objective.

Save for the occasional concession, especially in relation to deer research at Invermay, the proposal has been given the green light. The majority of those who have voiced an opinion on this matter in a public forum have overwhelmingly stressed it's a mistake, plain and simple.

They have been forthright in their opinion that it will lead to some of the best and brightest this country has to offer plying their trade elsewhere or quitting the profession. They may well be right, given the seemingly iron-fisted approach with which the restructure has been implemented and despite even AgResearch's own change management team recommending Invermay be enhanced rather than downsized.

But, as we've seen, it doesn't follow that the result will ultimately be a negative one. As Federated Farmers' president-in-waiting, Dr William Rolleston, says: "We must not become sentimental over tired bricks and mortar."

There's always a degree of sentimentality when it comes to change. Heck, I was engulfed with pangs of nostalgia when they started turning Carisbrook to rubble, despite the creation of the country's best stadium across town. Many thought that was the biggest mistake in the history of Dunedin. Some still do, but there is no better place in New Zealand to watch the national game.

Put simply, a mistake doesn't necessarily manifest in failure.

And by the way, the line Keith Quinn was going to use when Jonah scored "that" try against the Poms: "All muscle and pump." Not bad.