Chiefs lock Dave Duley applauds the crowd after their win over the Bulls in the 2004 Super 12 match. Photo / Phil Walter/Getty Images
He might be remembered by many as the Waikato lock who chased down one of world rugby's fastest men, but from rugby field to horse stud, Mystery Creek's Landsdowne Park owner Dave Duley has had an industrious life over the past quarter of a century.
Born on Boxing Day 1976, Duley was raised in Matamata and at age 12 moved to the Gold Coast, Australia, with his father and two sisters.
There he attended The Southport School (TSS), a boys-only school that is renowned for rugby.
"That's where I got a taste for rugby and I managed to make the Australian Schoolboys rugby team," said Duley.
"The Australian Schoolboys trip was unbelievable when we were 18 years old. We went travelling all around Ireland, France and Wales. It was bloody good."
Duley was part of a formidable locking duo with future Wallabies centurion Nathan Sharpe and they played close to 100 games together for The Southport School and Australian representative sides.
"We had a pretty good lineout as you could imagine."
After finishing school in 1995 he then went on to play Australian Under-21s rugby.
1996 saw the game of rugby go professional and Duley "followed the professional rugby trip from then on".
At the age of 21 he headed to England and played a season for second division team Coventry.
Duley then returned to Australia and was part of the Queensland Reds system.
In 2000, he travelled to South America with the Queensland side and even played against the USA.
Duley was even given a crack against the British and Irish Lions for a Queensland select team, although he never made a Super 12 appearance for the Reds.
"They had [Wallabies captain] John Eales, Garrick Morgan, and Nathan Sharpe was just coming up, and I didn't really see a path there for me at that stage," said Duley.
"Bay of Plenty had just gone up to the first division and Gordon Tietjens was the coach at that stage. He gave me a call and asked if I wanted to play some first division NPC rugby. I knew how good it was and thought that it would be awesome for my career."
So, he headed back across the ditch to play the 2001 and 2002 seasons for Bay of Plenty and the Mt Maunganui club, scoring three tries in his 20 appearances for the Steamers.
"Then Ian Foster [Waikato's coach at the time] came calling and said 'would you like to come play for Waikato?'."
Duley took up Foster's offer and spent 2003-2004 with the Hamilton-based side playing nine matches.
"My mum lives in Matamata still, so she was very proud of me when I played for them. She always wanted me to play for Waikato and when I did she was pretty happy."
His second match for the province was against Northland, who boasted Fijian international winger Rupeni Caucaunibuca, one of world rugby's fastest men.
The big lock forward ran down the Fijian flyer with apparent ease, a moment that he is still remembered for almost two decades on.
"I hope I'm not remembered just for that, but I pretty much am!" he said light-heartedly.
Later in the match, Duley rampaged down the same touchline, getting rid of Northland's other Fijian winger, Fero Lasagavibau, before fullback Jared Going just denied him of an epic try.
"Everyone will say that running down Rupeni was the highlight [of my career] but I wouldn't say there's any one highlight.
"I never got to be an All Black or that sort of level, but just to meet so many different people and from all backgrounds, from Wales to South Auckland, I think it made me as a person. The whole experience was a highlight."
Duley made his Super 12 debut for the Chiefs in 2004 against the Hurricanes before facing off against several familiar faces in his second game, the Queensland Reds.
It was the first time that he had come up against his old locking partner Sharpe, with the Reds taking the win 39-25 in Ballymore, Brisbane.
Duley made a further two appearances for the Chiefs before his final three appearances for Waikato later that year.
"Playing for Waikato and the Chiefs was really awesome. I still remember getting the phone call from Ian Foster. It was always my goal to play Super 12 like a lot of the guys that I played with in the Australian Under-21s Elton Flatley, Sharpe, Stirling Mortlock, Steve Devine," he said.
"But playing for Waikato, as a kid I used to go and watch Mitch [John Mitchell] and I remember the Mooloo bells, it was just really something that I'd always wanted to do and I was lucky enough to do it."
The next step in Duley's journey was back to the UK, but this time to Wales where he represented Llanelli Scarlets.
"From there I went to Edinburgh, Scotland. So, I've been a bit of a journeyman in the sport. It took me lots of different places and I loved it. Edinburgh was pretty cool and Todd Blackadder was my coach at that stage," he said.
2007 brought him back to Kiwi soil where he started 10 games for Counties Manukau under coach Kevin Putt, a former Waikato and Springbok halfback.
The following year, 31-year-old Duley was named captain of the Counties side. It was very special for him especially as they took down big brother Auckland 17-6 at Pukekohe.
"Phil Healey who was the Counties trainer, actually texted me the other day saying that he remembers the best moment of his rugby career was beating Auckland. We were 10 to one to beat them and it was just a great experience, one of my greatest rugby experiences.
"I really enjoyed it up there, it was different being an older player but there were some really good up and coming players like Sekope Kepu."
Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be as Duley was injured in the third game of the season, the last match of his professional career.
Luckily, he had already thought about his future outside of rugby several years beforehand.
He had been able to do what he loved, play rugby, but what other passions did he have? His answer was horses.
Duley had grown up in Matamata's thoroughbred industry, with his dad preparing yearlings on their family stud farm.
"I use to do pony club and all that sort of stuff so horses were in my blood," said Duley.
"I had a good friend called Rodney Schick, the owner and stud master of Windsor Park Stud [near Cambridge]. Through him I got a passion again for it and he said 'why don't you come in during the offseason and do a bit of work on the farm'.
"So, back in 2006 and 2007 when I had any chance, I would head out to Windsor Park and work with the horses. I decided that was the career I wanted to take."
This was the same path that former Bay of Plenty and Chiefs teammate Simms Davison (Mappereley Stud, Matamata) took too, so the pair stay in regular contact as they see each other at events.
In 2008, Duley bought some land and established Landsdowne Park near Walton, Matamata as a sales preparation, spelling and agistment farm for thoroughbreds.
The name Landsdowne Park came about because the block was on Landsdowne Rd.
In 2016, the relocation to a 20ha purpose-built property bordering the Waikato River in Mystery Creek offered the opportunity to expand and develop the services and facilities available.
Landsdowne Park is owned by Duley and partner Jude Latimer, with Duley being responsible for the day-to-day running of the farm while Latimer is an equine vet.
He said that it's great having Latimer's experience on the farm.
Landsdowne Park offers an ample stable block and a combination of individual colt paddocks and larger paddocks with all paddocks being fenced with Horse Rail, widely acknowledged as one of the safest fencing systems.
Day/rehabilitation yards, mare and foal crush, arena, truck/float loading ramp and holding yards have also been designed with safety as a priority.
Now heavily involved in all facets of the industry, Duley is the president of the Waikato branch of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders Association.
Having been involved with horses from an early age, Duley has always had an active interest in racing and breeding.
"If you're a competitive person, horse racing is great because it brings out that competitive nature. You're around competitive people, you've got a little bit of a rivalry with other farms but it's friendly and we're all pretty close," he said.
"I just love everything about horse racing. Just breeding and selling good horses. That's what my farm really tries to do anyway."
Duley has successfully pinhooked for many years, buying weanlings and re-selling them as yearlings, predominately at Karaka Yearling sales.
He loves taking his yearlings to the Karaka sales where he gets to meet horse racing legends and people that he looks up to.
He is committed to ensuring the horses in the Landsdowne Park draft reach the sales as well educated, confident individuals.
He attends all major weanling sales in Australasia and enjoys the opportunity to view the offspring of emerging stallions and maintain connections with other industry professionals.
Duley and Latimer are dedicated to the horses in their care. They prioritise client communication and aim to build a personal relationship with owners/trainers in order to meet the needs of every individual horse.
Duley has moved from one love to another, he loves his horses.
"You've really got to love the horse too. I'm a bit of an animal lover and I don't feel like I'm working doing what I do. It's good."
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