Jason Hamlin, a professional station officer with the Whanganui Fire Brigade, is a trainer for Fire and Emergency NZ.
He was appointed a national Heartland team coach last year for the match against the NZ Provincial Barbarians in Taupo, having previously coached the NZ Marist XVs between 2014-16 as well as an extensive range of local rep and club squads over the past 30 years.
Hamlin and Caskey, who played together when Whanganui beat Marlborough 22-17 in the 1996 NZ NPC Dv 3 championship final in Blenheim, combined well when they joined forces as coaches of the Butcher Boys 11 years ago.
Apart from being dropped in 2013, when the then WRFU Board replaced the pair following a narrow 27-29 shock away loss to East Coast in Ruatoria in the Meads Cup final when defending the trophy, the Caskey-Hamlin combination developed Whanganui into the leading Heartland union in the country.
Jason Caskey had enjoyed previous Heartland success with Guy Lennox before Jason Hamlin came on board in 2011 when Whanganui beat East Coast 30-10 in the Meads final at Cooks Gardens.
Defeat in Ruatoria 12 months later, when the Butcher Boys squandered a 20-3 halftime lead in the Meads Cup decider, saw Whanganui switch coaches to the Hoskin Brothers who managed just four wins and a draw and the Caskey-Hamlin partnership was quickly recalled in 2014.
There was instant success with four successive Heartland championships in Whanganui's "Golden Era" during its entire 134-year history.
The Butcher Boys held off North Otago 14-12 away in the 2014 Lochore Cup final to set up a record three successive Meads titles – 28-11 away v South Canterbury, a nail-biting 20-18 v Buller on Cooks Gardens and 30-14 v Horowhenua-Kapiti in Levin.
The Caskey-Hamlin regime only missed out on qualifying for a Heartland final once when deservedly beaten 17-7 here by eventual Meads champions Thames Valley in the 2018 semis.
There was a plucky 20-15 semifinal revenge victory against the Swamp Foxes at Paeroa the following season only to fall 33-19 against North Otago's forward power in the Oamaru final.
Heartland rugby was wiped out by the epidemic in 2020 and last year only two sides qualified for the Meads Cup play-offs with third-positioned Whanganui (7 wins and 2 losses) holding off 2019 Meads champions North Otago 22-16 in a very close Lochore final at Cooks Gardens.
With Jason Caskey, by far the most prolific championship-winning coach in Whanganui's history retiring, Jason Hamlin now takes over the top coaching role.
He has named Ruapehu coach Kim McNaught (last year's rep scrum coach), Peter Rowe (the most capped NZ Heartland rep), former NZ Div XV and NZ Junior rep Peter O'Shaughnessy, and ex-Chiefs lock Michael Fitzgerald to provide motivation when required.
Loose forward Peter Rowe, a NZ Provincial Union's rep with 120 caps for the union; inside back Peter O'Shaughnessy, a 1981-90 Hawke's Bay rep who has been Whanganui's video analyst in recent seasons; and recent returnee lock Michael Fitzgerald, who played for Whanganui in 2005-09 before switching to Manawatu (2009-15), playing 58 games for the Chiefs (2012-15) and 93 times for Leister Tigers (2015-19) plus for Kaimaishi Seawaves in Japan (2019), and 2013 local rep Kim McNaught have a wealth of knowledge to share with the Whanganui players this season.
Long-serving Northern Whanganui official Marty McGrath retains his position as a rep selector with Darrell Robinson team manager again.
The Butcher Boys are fortunate that a scheduled April 24 early season away match against King Country has been postponed until next year.
It was to have been a game to help King Country celebrate its 100th jubilee but this has now been held over until 2023 because of the current Covid restrictions.
There would have been little time for the Whanganui squad to prepare for this year's Te Kuiti game.
The WRFU is now hoping to start the local Tasman Tanning Whanganui club championship on April 24 following a knockout series earlier in the month.
There are now doubts whether a 22-team Whanganui Sevens tournament, involving teams from Whanganui, Manawatū, Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay and Wellington will go ahead on February 26 because of Covid regulations.
With rep skipper and flanker Campbell Hart now in Taumarunui, prolific try-scoring winger Vereniki Tikoisolomone with the Highlanders, and former globe-trotting solid utility back Craig Clare in retirement there are some key gaps to be filled by 2022 selectors.
Jason Hamlin played 100 times under six different coaches for Whanganui between 1992 and 2001, appearing in most backline positions.
There were two Ranfurly Shield challenges and eight appearances against overseas teams, including wins over Victoria and Victoria A in Melbourne during his last rep season. He was a regular Whanganui age grade rep during his schooling years.
At premier club level he scored 557 points, including sharing the top honour with Tech COB's Jerome Nahona (132 pts each in 1999). He won premier championship titles with Wanganui Counties in 1990 (18-7 v Waiouru) and Marist in 2000 (11-13 v Ratana).
Prior to his Heartland coaching debut in 2011, Jason coached Whanganui Maoris, Wahines and Colts, a wide range of local age grade rep teams (under-11 to under-16) and numerous club teams including at premier level.
