The Star: April 04, 2019

news online at www.star.kiwi
The Star Thursday April 4 2019
SPORT 31
Rico hit top gear at Crusaders
Rico Gear made a
decision to shun the
Chiefs and join the
Crusaders in 2005 – a
move which paid off in
more ways than one.
Gordon Findlater reports
RICO GEAR has gone from
dazzling fans with his power and
speed on chilly Christchurch
winter nights at Lancaster Park
to a slower-paced lifestyle on the
sunny Gold Coast.
Gear played 40 games for the
Crusaders, scoring 30 tries in his
time with the franchise.
He is best remembered in red
and black by many for moving
from the Blues to the Crusaders
in 2005 – a year which saw
him help the team to the Super
Rugby title by finishing as the
competition’s top try-scorer with
15.
However, the move to
Christchurch may never have
happened had it not been for a
last minute change of heart.
“At the time we had all the All
Black wingers at the Blues in Joe
Rokocoko, Doug Howlett and
Mils Muliaina,” said Gear.
“I actually chose the Chiefs
initially and then I rang my
agent back about 10min later
and I said I don’t know what I
was thinking, I want to go to the
Crusaders . . . I think the Chiefs
would have been a comfortable
move, but then I thought my
pathway to the All Blacks
realistically is probably going to
be through Robbie [Deans] and
with the Crusaders so I quickly
made that phone call.”
It turned out to be the right
decision. Following the 2005
season Gear was named Super
12 player of the year and won the
Tom French Memorial Māori
player of the year honour at
the 2005 New Zealand Rugby
Awards. He also established
himself as the preferred starting
option on the All Blacks wing at
the time.
Growing up in Gisborne,
Gear began to make a name for
himself playing for Gisborne
Boys’ High School. After
finishing school he played one
season for Poverty Bay in the
third division of the NPC in
1997 before picking up a contract
with Auckland.
At the same time he also
played for the New Zealand
sevens team on the World circuit
and won a gold medal with the
team at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur
Commonwealth Games.
“That was a really good
experience with Gordon Tietjens
and Eric Rush leading the team
at the time,” said Gear.
His first Super Rugby
experience came with the Blues
in 1999. However, in 2000 he was
drafted by the Highlanders after
not being protected in the Blues
22-man squad.
The following year he was part
of the Crusaders but, injuries
meant he only played two games
for the team before returning
to sevens and the Blues which
he played for between 2002 and
2004.
His return to the Crusaders
then came in 2005 which worked
as a springboard for his All Black
aspirations.
“I liken it [Crusaders] a little
bit to the All Black environment,
where you can just be yourself
and enjoy the journey . . .
personally it felt like you really
wanted to contribute to the cause
there,” said Gear.
“I found with the likes of
the Blues there was a lot more
pressure . . . the main difference
I found was just the ability for
the team to come together. It
was certainly a lot easier in
Christchurch, and maybe the
size of the city had something to
do with that . . . it’s always going
to be a challenge in Auckland
to get everyone so tight because
everyone lives for far away from
each other.”
Gear was part of one of the
Crusaders greatest ever backlines
in 2005, which included Justin
Marshall, Dan Carter, Andrew
Mehrtens, Aaron Mauger, Caleb
Ralph and Leon MacDonald.
“What was really memorable
was that we had the ability to
know what each other were
going to do. I felt we were always
on the same page. As a winger
what I could see in terms of the
opportunities, DC [Dan Carter]
and Aaron Mauger were seeing
the same thing.”
After his final season with the
Crusaders in 2007, Gear spent
four years playing for Worcester
in the English Premiership
competition. He then spent four
years playing in Japan with the
Kintetsu Tigers.
In 2014, Gear moved back to
Gisborne and played one season
for Poverty Bay as a playercoach.
“It was a really nice way
to just phase out of rugby. I
know a lot of guys don’t get
that opportunity and it’s
where it all started for me. It
was nice getting back to places
like North Otago and grassroots
places. However, you can barely
fit in the changing sheds,” he
said.
Two years ago Gear, his wife
Bec – a former Australian
international basketballer – and
their two young children moved
to the Gold Coast
•Over the Super Rugby season, The Star
will look back each week at some of the
identities who graced the Crusaders jersey in
the past and discover where they are now
TRY MACHINE: Rico Gear leaves behind Waratahs’ Morgan Turinui and Phil Waugh in the 2005 Super 12 final at Lancaster
Park. (Right) – Gear and his wife Bec are now the health and wellness consultants on the Gold Coast.
For the past four years, Gear
and his wife have worked as
health and wellness consultants
with Isagenix – a privately-held
multi-level marketing company
which sells dietary supplements
and personal care products.
“Once I finished playing
in Japan we were looking for
a business opportunity and
then we came across Isagenix.
Because it’s all online-based, we
knew the world is trending that
way, so we thought let’s try the
products ourselves first and see
if they’re any good. We had a
really good experience and from
a business point of view it looked
awesome,” said Gear.
He is also the backs coach for
Bond University which play in
Brisbane’s top club competition
and have a number of
Queensland Reds players in their
squad. He has also coached at
private schools Somerset College
and The Southport School.
Gear says he is enjoying the
professional environment at
Bond University and is open to
pursuing coaching at a higher
level in the future.
• By Gordon Findlater
HEATHCOTE Cricket
Club have created history by
becoming the first club to gain
promotion into metro cricket’s
premiership competition.
The side’s 125 run win over
Sumner in their final two-day
match at the weekend confirmed
their promotion from the new
Metro Championship into the
Metro Premiership. Heathcote
finished the summer with the
most points accumulated across
the Metro Championship’s
one-day, twenty20 and two-day
competitions.
“We always hoped promotion
would come and it’s been the
objective for a number of years
now. It’s taken a lot of hard work
and plenty of time putting pressure
on metro cricket to allow
promotion to the premiership,”
said Heathcote batsman Matthew
House.
Last year the Christchurch
Metropolitan Cricket Association
implemented a new format
which introduced the Metro
Championship and scrapped the
former Senior A competition.
The format allows the winner of
the championship to gain promotion
to the premiership if they
are a club without a premiership
side already.
“It’s hard to attract players to a
club if there’s no room to grow,
so gaining promotion is great for
our club . . . We’ll have to recruit
over the winter and the biggest
thing next summer is surviving
relegation,” said House.
Heathcote were guided to
promotion with heathy contributions
from Ben Cochrane
who finished at the top wicket
taker with 55 wickets, while
House was the top run scorer
with 700 runs. Overseas import
Tom Payne took 52 wickets and
scored 470 runs for the team.
In recent year’s Heathcote
dominated the former Senior A
competition and in the 2017/2018
summer won the one-day, twoday
and combined trophies.
This summer Heathcote had 11
senior teams making them one
of the biggest clubs in terms on
senior numbers.
First promotion for Heathcote
At the weekend the two-day
premiership title was wrapped
up with Lancaster Park defeating
Marist Harewood by an innings
and 10 wickets. Lancaster Park
also won the premier women’s
one-day title when they defeated
Old Boys Collegians by 29 runs.
Heathcote will replace
Marist Harewood who have
been relegated to the Metro
Championship.
PINT SIZED: Ben Cochrane
took 55 wickets for
Heathcote on their road to
promotion into the Metro
Premiership.