The 13½ stone Kaierau member, nicknamed "Nimble", who made his local rep debut at the Recreation Ground (now Spriggens Park) against Taranaki in 1903, was a very versatile all-round sportsman.
The Marist Brothers' educated athlete was a fine swimmer who helped Whanganui win the New Zealand water polo title in 1905, rowed for Aramoho and helped Kaierau win the local premier club rugby championship title the following season.
In 1907 he was in the North Island team that beat the South 11-0 in Christchurch and was named in the All Blacks to tour Australia, playing in two matches against Queensland state sides.
Also on that tour was another Wanganui-born player, Charles "Bronco" Seeling, now a member of the Whanganui Sports Hall of Fame, who repped five times for the union in 1903 when a member of the Pirates club.
Seeling moved to Auckland to become a top-flight All Black loose forward with 39 caps for New Zealand between 1904 and 1908.
Hogan scored tries for Whanganui in 1906 against Horowhenua (26-5 home win) and away against Wellington in a 22-3 loss.
His final season for the union was 1908 when he helped Whanganui hold the touring Anglo-Welsh side to 9-6 but a broken leg during an 11-0 loss to Hawke's Bay at McLean Park led to his retirement.
John Hogan, who served on the Kaierau club between 1904-08, later tried his hand at league in Whanganui and was chosen in the 1913 NZ Kiwis to tour Australia to play against New South Wales and Queensland state teams.
Another Whanganui league player on the tour was Ray Siddells.
Fine Heartland Record
Steeform Whanganui will be seeking to maintain an impressive home opening round Heartland record when Horowhenua-Kapiti challenge for the Bruce Steel Memorial Cup at Cooks Gardens on August 21.
Since the Heartland championship started in 2006 Whanganui have won nine of 10 first round home fixtures but this is the first winter that Horowhenua-Kapiti have opened their season at Cooks Gardens.
The two unions have played each other only once previously in round one with the Butcher Boys scraping home 39-34 at the Levin Domain in 2015 to regain the Steel Cup which was lost 34-23 at Cooks Gardens the previous season.
In the 2015 clash current Auckland Blues fullback Stephen Perofeta, then a member of the Collegiate School first XV, scored a try and kicked a dropped goal and conversion for Whanganui who won by six tries to five.
Whanganui carried on to beat top qualifiers South Canterbury 28-11 in the Meads Cup
final in Timaru that year.
In three other away first round Heartland matches Whanganui pipped Mid Canterbury 24-23 in 2012 thanks to Mark Davis landing four penalty goals and a conversion and lost 21-18 to South Canterbury in 2014 and 28-18 to Wairarapa Bush in 2019 in a Bruce Steel Memorial Cup game.
Whanganui's round one Cooks Gardens Heartland victories were 46-11 against East Coast in 2009, 71-6 in 2008 and 28-11 in 2007, 50-19 v King Country in 2011, 66-18 v Thames Valley in 2006, 79-11 v Wairarapa-Bush in 2017, 21-10 v South Canterbury in 2018 and 13-6 in 2010, beat West Coast 74-5 in 2016 with the sole loss 17-18 to King Country in 2013.
The local hosts have scored 463 points (65 tries) and conceded 95 (11 tries) in the 10 home fixtures and scored 99 pts (13 tries) and conceded 116 (14 tries) in four away first rounders.
In 14 opening day clashes, Whanganui have scored 562 points (78 tries) and opposing sides 211pts (25 tries) for an average winning score of 40-15 (six tries to two).
Most local first day tries were 11 each against Thames Valley and East Coast (2008) and 10 each against West Coast and Wairarapa-Bush.
Pati Fetuia (v Thames Valley in 2016) and Cameron Crowley (v East Coast in 2008) each started a local Heartland season with four tries each, and day one hat-tricks went to Asaeli Tikoirotuma (v Thames Valley 2006), Johnny Mow (v East Coast 2008), Fraser Middleton (v East Coast 2009), Michael Nabuliwaqe (v West Coast 2016) and Timoci Seruwalu (v Wairarapa Bush 2017).
Two opening match tries were scored by Tikoirotuma v East Coast (2009), Sam Scown and Simon Dibben both v King Country (2011) and Te Rangitira Waitokia v West Coast 2016).
Only twice have Whanganui managed just a single try in the first round — from Sam Scown v South Canterbury in 2010 and Pehira Huwyler v King Country in 2013 under Japanese referee Akihira Aso.
Leading Whanganui points scorers at the start of each Heartland campaign have been Craig Clare 26 (a try, three penalties and six conversions v Wairarapa Bush in 2017) and Mark Davis 21 (a try and eight conversions v East Coast in 2008).
This season will be the first time Whanganui will host both Horowhemua-Kapiti and Wairarapa-Bush in dual Heartland and Steel Cup fixtures in the same season, providing the Levin visitors are beaten on August 31. The Masterton team comes here on October 2.
Last time both visiting Steel Cup unions played on Cooks Gardens in the same season was 2014 when Horowhenua sprung a 34-23 upset to lift the Steel Cup.
In addition to facing two Steel Cup defences, Whanganui will also host Poverty Bay and 2019 Meads Cup champions North Otago this year.
Whanganui travel to Taumarunui to challenge King Country for the Sir Colin Meads Pinetree Log and is also to Paeroa to play Thames Valley and twice fly to the South Island, to meet Mid and South Canterbury.
The 2021 programme for the Butcher Boys, who finished runners-up in the last Heartland series (with opposition 2019 rankings in brackets), is:
Aug 21 v Horowhenua-Kapiti (9), Cooks Gardens.
Aug 28 v South Canterbury (3), Timaru.
Sept 4 v North Otag0 (1), Cooks Gardens.
Sept 11 v Thames Valley (3), Paeroa.
Sept 18 v Poverty Bay (8), Cooks Gardens.
Sept 25 v Mid Canterbury (12), Ashburton.
Oct 2 v Wairarapa-Bush (4), Cooks Gardens.
Oct 9 v King Country (10), Taumarunui.
Oct 16 — Meads and Lochore Cup semifinals.
Oct 23 — Meads Cup Final.
Oct 24 — Lochore Cup Final.
Whanganui do not play West Coast (6), Buller (7) or East Coast (12) during qualifying rounds.
As a lead-up to the representative season there will be a Town v Country trial match at Taihape on July 24 to help prepare Whanganui for games against the Taranaki (Hawera — July 31), Hawke's Bay (Cooks Gardens — August 7) and Wellington (Porirua — August 14) Development teams.
Loyal radio announcer
Whanganui rugby has lost a popular radio and ground announcer with the death of 85-year-old Eugene Crotty in the Waikato.
He was the regular announcer for club fixtures in the 1960s and 1970s when local radio broadcast the feature premier game from Spriggens Park each Saturday.
Eugene, who taught and coached teams at local union schools Queen's Park, Westmere and South Makirikiri, played rugby at Marist and St Augustine's College during his own schooling days and then played grade rugby for the Marist club.
He announced regular Saturday night and Sunday morning sports sessions on Whanganui radio.
Eugene Crotty, who moved to the Waikato in 1975, was a New Zealand rowing representative at the 1958 British Empire Games in Wales and won Red Caps (NZ premier rowing titles) in the Port Chalmers coxed fours (as a loan coxswain) in 1946 on the Whanganui River and as an oarsman in the Wanganui Union premier eight at the1959 national championships at Lake Waihola.
During his years in Whanganui he took an ultra-interest in all forms of local sport and this loyalty to the River City continued after his move to Hamilton 46 years ago.
