Former Waikato and Thames Valley first five-eighths Warren Hodges.
Former Waikato and Thames Valley first five-eighths Warren Hodges.
Former Ngāhinapōuri resident and one-cap Waikato first five-eighths Warren Hodges recalls “the worst day” he ever played rugby, competing in such shivering Irish conditions that they had hot tea at halftime to warm up.
Hodges’ storied rugby career began in the fifth form at Hamilton Boys’ High School.
He was born in Palmerston North in 1966 into a farming family and they soon headed north to Matamata, before settling in Wairarapa.
Hodges attended Greytown School and Kuranui College before moving to a farm in Gordonton, seeing the transfer to Hamilton Boys’, “the factory”.
A member of the 1st XV for three years (1983-1985), Hodges shared the school field with future Waikato legends Warren Gatland, Rhys Ellison, Daryl Halligan and Warren Jennings - players who he would continue to associate with for a long time.
“That first year I went there, I got beaten up at the 1st XV training. I went home and said to the old man, ‘I’m not playing anymore’,” Hodges recalls.
“He told me to get back to school. So, that was pretty much the start.”
After representing Waikato Secondary Schools and Northern Region Schools in 1984 and 1985, Hodges was selected for the New Zealand Secondary Schools side to tour Australia.
The likes of future All Blacks Olo Brown, Steve Gordon and Jon Preston were in this squad.
Coached by Graham Henry, the side won three games and then lost against Australia Secondary Schools.
“They had a pretty good team. I remember Ricky Stuart being the halfback and a few other players that went on to play for Australia,” Hodges says.
“Playing for your country is a pretty big deal. I was only young so I didn’t quite understand what was going on. You probably appreciate it more when you get a little bit older.
“When I was growing up, I played a lot of sports like table tennis and tennis. I represented age group in table tennis and tennis, New Zealand-ranked. I almost went down the tennis path and almost went to the [United] States to play but I think my love for rugby was just too strong.”
Straight out of school, Hodges played for Hamilton Old Boys for three seasons.
“Pretty much because my school coach Glen Ross went to Hamilton Old Boys the next year as Prems coach and then he coached Waikato.”
Named in the 1988 New Zealand Harlequins Under-23 team, Hodges toured Canada and the USA alongside Gatland and Halligan.
They were unbeaten, having played in Vancouver, California, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego before taking on the USA Eagles.
“I actually played that game at second five. The first five was [future Taranaki rep] Jamie Cameron, and that was my only time at second five,” he says.
In 1989, Hodges made the move to Taupiri Rugby Football Club, where he would stay until the end of 1996.
That same season, he broke his way into the Waikato NPC team under coach Ross.
He started at No 10 in the September clash with Bay of Plenty, becoming Waikato player 880 in the 32-9 victory at Hamilton’s Rugby Park.
Waikato 1989 team. Warren Hodges is middle row, third from right.
“I played my one and only game for Waikato. We won the game though, so that’s a 100 per cent record,” he says jokingly.
“I sat a fair bit of time on the bench. Back in those days, no one came off unless their arm was falling off so it was really hard.”
Brett Craies had been the usual first five-eighths that season as stalwart Ian Foster was out of the picture for the year - and Craies was very handy off the tee.
Waikato fullback Halligan was the goalkicker in that Bay of Plenty match and Hodges was told that he had to have “a reasonably good game” and hope that Halligan kicked really well for him to play more games, proving that there was no need for a kicker at the 10 position.
But Halligan missed everything, in front, close and wide.
“Which became ironic as Halligan became famous for his kicking in league. His good goalkicking would have helped my cause to be a starter,” Hodges says.
“I was in an era [of great first fives]. When I played at Hamilton Old Boys, John Boe was still playing and there was Foster. They both played around 140 games for Waikato, so for me to squeeze a game in was pretty good probably. When Craies came down from Auckland, I suppose that stuffed my ambitions.”
1989 had been a jam-packed season for Hodges. He also headed abroad to California to play for third division side the Orange County Bucks.
It was still in the early days for rugby in the United States.
“It was snowing, it was blowing, the ground was wet and cold. It was just such a bleak day. I was probably quite lucky I was playing at first five so I was reasonably close to the ball and they’d give it to me a lot. They probably would have called it off in New Zealand.
“We were having cups of tea at halftime to try and warm up. We had a bottle of whisky in the showers afterwards and it didn’t even hurt. We lost 3-nil, a ‘riveting game’. That was an enjoyable trip and I probably learnt a lot about rugby then.”
The 1991 Rugby World Cup was on at that time and Hodges recalls heading to Lansdowne Road, Dublin where Australia tipped Ireland out of the quarter-finals in the last minute, 19-18, and then witnessing them beat the All Blacks 16-6.
One of Hodges’ career highlights came in 1992 with Taupiri, when they claimed the Breweries Shield, beating Hamilton Marist in the final.
“We had some good stars in there. Tony Rae, Richard Jerram, Steve Gordon, Warren Gatland, Warren Jennings, Darren Henare. That was a pretty good year.”
After playing his final game for Waikato in 1994, Gatland became the 1995 coach of Thames Valley alongside Hamilton Boys’ and Hamilton Old Boys teammate Willie Hetaraka.
The pair asked Hodges to be a loan player for the province.
Thames Valley 1996 team. Warren Hodges is third row, right.
“I went over there, trained and enjoyed it. I suppose the team morale got us over the line. The team culture with those Heartland teams counts for a lot,” he says.
“We won third division in 1995. I played another year and that was pretty much the end of rugby for me.
“I said to myself that I didn’t want to play when I was 30, so I gave up when I was 29. It was right when rugby turned professional.”
The 1997 Air New Zealand Rugby Almanack made mention of Hodges and his teammates:
“The backs took some time to settle down but in the last few matches they functioned well as a unit. Those to impress were fullback Alan Buchan, centre Nooroa Manu, wing Jimmy Bolakoro, imported first five-eighth Warren Hodges and halfback Frank Teague.”
Across his two seasons with the Swamp Foxes, he was a regular starter, amassing 85 points from 16 appearances.
Rugby would never leave his veins and even now, Hodges still laces up for Waikato classics and charity games.
After getting a taste of coaching in 1991, Hodges started coaching his son Bodie at Hamilton Old Boys junior rugby in the mid-2000s.
He then coached the Hamilton Wasps rep side in 2011, claiming the historic Gwynne Shield before becoming Waikato Roller Mills assistant coach in 2012, when they also won the tournament.
“Then someone rang me up and asked me to coach Hamilton Old Boys Prems.”
With his first year as backs coach, the second season saw Hodges co-coach with Mark McConnell and Old Boys made the final, losing to Hamilton Marist.
“Then I did a year with Morrinsville and we punched above our weight.”
In 2016, Hodges returned to coach his beloved Taupiri, leading the team off the bottom of the first division. By 2018, they had won the division and were promoted to Premier status.
“Winning the championship with Taupiri was a highlight and then winning division one coaching them. [It was coming] full circle and giving back what rugby gave me,” he says.
From there he went into a defence coach role with the Waikato Women’s Development team, a position he admits wasn’t his strength.
Now a self-employed house developer in Cambridge, Hodges has stepped back from big coaching roles but has helped out with New Zealand Harlequins teams in recent years.
His advice to current players is not to be bogged down too much with patterns and positions.
“You’ve got to have an outline, your team structure, but I think you’ve got to play what’s in front of you. Don’t be too bogged down playing one position. If you can play multiple positions and do multiple things in different parts of the field, I think looking forward, that’s the way rugby is going to go,” Hodges says.
“Where could have you put Jonah Lomu? Where could have you put Sonny-Bill Williams? More than one position I reckon. You’ve got to have an open mind, play what’s in front of you and play rugby.”
Jesse Wood is a multimedia journalist based in Te Awamutu. He joined the Te Awamutu Courier and NZME in 2020.
