The 21-year-old man killed on a rural property at Five Forks, inland from Oamaru, on Thursday was a talented rugby player and a ''good club man'', the president of his former rugby club says.
Police confirmed Zachary Mark Johnston died after he became stuck in a hay baler, the fifth death on a rural property in the Waitaki district in the past six months.
Police and Fire and Emergency New Zealand were called to the property near the intersection of Kakanui Valley Rd, Whitestone Five Forks Rd and Fuchsia Creek Rd, west of Oamaru, about 11am on Thursday.
Johnston's father, Donald Johnston, said yesterday it was ''too soon'' to comment on his son's death, and his mother, Nicola, declined to comment.
Zachary, a former Waitaki Boys' High School pupil and Lincoln University student, was a keen rugby player and represented the Maheno club, based south of Oamaru.