IF THE CAP FITS… - New Zealand Police Association

PoliceNews162August 2007The Voice of PoliceNZ Police rugby team thrashAustralian counterparts 77-0By James WhittakerThe New Zealand Police rugby team will playagainst the All Blacks as a part of the All Blackspre-World Cup build-up.The NZ Police versus All Blacks game is set totake place in Christchurch as this issue was goingto press.The invitation to play the All Blacks came fromAll Black assistant coach, Steve Hansen, who wason hand to see the NZ Police team trounce theirAustralian counterparts by 77-0 in Melbourne lastmonth on the eve of the All Black-Wallabies test.Unfortunately, the All Blacks could not make ita Kiwi double for the weekend, going down 20-15 to the Wallabies despite leading 15-6 at halftime.Warm-up game cancelledPoor weather leading up to the match had led tothe cancellation of the NZ Police’s warm-up gamedue to flooding of the ground. With little time toprepare and no opportunity to get a practice gameunder their belts, the NZ Police team took the badluck with a grain of salt, hit things full throttle andthrashed the Australian side 77-0.As the score suggests, the New Zealand teamdominated from the outset. According to secondfive-eighth Nathan Couch: “It was one of thosegames where everything we tried seemed tocome off, passes stuck and we just kept runningin tries.” Couch said that Australia were effectivelydenied the ball and, as a result, were left chasingthe New Zealand Police side for the whole game.Challenge never eventuatedNZ Police were anticipating a fairly robust challengefrom their trans-Tasman rivals but it nevereventuated. Naturally, Team Manager, LandonPearce, was thrilled with his side’s performance:“It was great to watch...the Aussies’ only chance toscore was with a drop kick...and they missed.”The team was the first official, national Policeside to play against an Australian side in abouta decade and its’s hoped that the match willbecome a regular event. There is also a possibilityof a Police Rugby World Cup being held in NewZealand in 2011.• Five members of the NZ Police rugby team, which thrashed the Australian Police team 77-0in Melbourne last month. - Photo: Courtesy Jason Oxenham, Suburban Newspapers LtdFirst pistol biathlon in March 2008Run, shoot, run, shoot, run.That’s the name of the game in a rather uniqueevent – a pistol biathlon.The event featured at the World Police and FireGames in Adelaide earlier this year. Competitorsrun 1.6 km cross-country and then shoot 12shots from a standing position at a target placed25 metres away. This sequence then repeats.Your final score is based on time. Less accurateshooting adds seconds to your overall time.The pistol biathlon can be thought of as thesummer sports equivalent to Winter OlympicsBiathlon, which involves cross-country skiing andrifle shooting. It combines the classic catch-22 ofan endurance sport with a precision component.Run too hard and you risk losing points in theshooting section. Spend too much time in theshooting section for accuracy’s sake and thenyou are falling behind on the run.The pistol-shooting component of the eventinvolves basic skills that will be already familiar tomany police officers, however a firearms licenseis required to shoot handguns on pistol ranges inNew Zealand. Approach your firearms officer toapply for a licence.Contact cyrus.robinson@police.govt.nz toregister your interest in attending the first NZPolice pistol biathlon to be held in March 2008and to receive a copy of the rules. The event willbe held in Auckland and is open to sworn andnon-sworn staff and their families.Body building:Willie Walkergrabs twosilver medalsWillie Walker, who hasbeen competing in thesport of body buildingfor seven years withconsiderable success,is focusing on capturinggold in the WorldPolice and Fire Gamesin British Columbia,Canada in two yearstime.Walker has alreadycompeted in over50 championshipsin New Zealand andAustralia and recentlywon a silver medalat the World Policeand Fire Games inAdelaide, Australia.Willie was the sole NZ• Willie Walkercompeting at theWorld Police andFire Games heldin Adelaide earlierthis year.Police representativein the body building section. The Games attracted8,000 athletes from 60 countries competing in 70different sporting codes.Huge eventThe Games is the third biggest gathering ofathletes in the world behind the Olympics andWorld Cup events.Willie followed his top effort at the World Policeand Fire Games with another silver medal atthe Australasian Body Building Championshipsin Sydney in late April. Willie was part of a NZFederation of Body Building team of 12 and thegold medalist was a teammate from the Bay ofPlenty.Willie’s dedication to his sport sees him rising at4.30 a.m. to start training and often he does notget to bed until 11 pm. Body building is not onlyabout good training it demands good nutritionin order to build well defined muscle groups.Body builders often eat up to eight meals aday and Willie is no exception. He averages sixcompetitions a year. Self-trained, Willie began hisbody building career after a dare from a friend andsays he has “enjoyed every minute of it since”.National the focusWillie currently has his sights firmly set on theNational Body Building Champs in October andhe will use the Central North Island Champs inTauranga in late September as a build-up to whathe hopes will be a national title.Anyone interested in participating at the BritishColombia Games 2009 should initially contactlocal members that have attended previous WPFGames or they can contact Willie. Willie recentlytransfered from Hastings to the Eastern Waikatoand is the area’s executive member for the NewZealand Federation of Body Building (NZFBB).Any police personel interested in eithercompeting or being involved in the sport cancontact Willie via the Police Email system orby ringing the Thames Police station.