Merepeka Raukawa-Tait: Turn down the gong, Richie

Richie McCaw doesn't need a knighthood to be remembered for his achievements, writes Merepeka Raukawa-Tait.

I sincerely hope Richie McCaw won't even think of accepting a knighthood if one should be offered to him.

Apparently he has already turned it down once. He should do so again.

I'm not against gongs. There are people we admire and respect and want to show how much we appreciate their endeavours and accomplishments. Be it in science, sport, entertainment, business and the many other fields. Although I don't particularly care for outgoing politicians receiving a gong. But that's just me. Of course Richie would fit the knighthood achiever category. But I like the fact that he is different.

Right now he doesn't need a knighthood. Perhaps some time in the future but not now. He's done just fine without one. I don't want him to become like all the rest. He's respected on and off the rugby field. A role model too if you like. Although this is such an overused word these days. Whoever gets up in the morning and says "I want to be a role model today".

We are told that role models are people whose behaviour, example or success we should try to emulate.

Young people in particular are encouraged to seek out role models they can aspire to be like. The problem is we often put role models on a pedestal and when they sometimes fall from grace we feel let down. Betrayed even. Yet role models are just like everyone else, fallible.

Far better to let people find their own pathway, go on their own journey. With or without role models most of us get along pretty well. I have found that if you get on with life, life has a habit of getting on with you.

Just last week the new Australian prime minister announced that gongs are a thing of the past. They have been given the flick.

Somehow that doesn't surprise me. Australians don't appear as hung up on recognition as we seem to be.

They don't see the need to glorify their achievements with gongs conferred by a monarch in a far away country. They're just not into royalty and everything that goes with it. They're leaving the past behind and looking to a bright new future determined by themselves.

We have great New Zealanders, who over the years have achieved in many areas. They went about their business quietly and performed. Never expecting a gong and the recognition that comes with one.

If they received one I'm sure it would have been well earned. So I don't begrudge those who have accepted a gong.

But now our Government, more precisely our prime minister I suspect, as he keeps going on about it, feels it fitting to recommend Richie for a knighthood.

Turning it down once suggests Richie gave it some consideration. I hope he hasn't changed his mind. Maybe he thinks "do I really need a gong"?

I may be wrong but I have the feeling he doesn't want one. He should just be allowed now to get on with his life. Perhaps one day when he's ready and the approach is made again as I suspect it will be, fine. But that time is not now.

It was Theodore Roosevelt who said "Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike".

Richie McCaw has character. He has it in spades. As a rugby great it is his character and leadership that is his legacy.

It manifests now in who he is and will shape who he becomes in the future. Character tops knighthood any day.