You don’t get much more King Country than Paul Mitchell.
On Monday, the man they call Ox was honoured with life membership of the King Country Rugby Union (KCRU) at the union’s annual general meeting in Taupō, in recognition of his contribution to King Country rugby.
KCRU life member Dave McEwen, who nominated Mitchell, said Mitchell’s dedication to helping King Country rugby prosper was inspiring.
“Paul has been what I would call 100 per cent King Country, and the work he has done behind the scenes has been remarkable,” McEwen said.
Following a unanimous vote in favour, fellow life member Stan Meads recalled many years of coaching Mitchell, who he described as “thoroughly prepared and ready to go”.
“I’m not going to say he was always the easiest bugger to look after, but at all times you knew he was going to give you 100 per cent.
"Ox, you deserve this and I congratulate you,” Meads said.
Mitchell said he never forgot where he came from throughout his playing career, and he was honoured to become a KCRU life member after many years involved in local rugby.
“I believed wherever I was, King Country was with me," he said.
"With the Chiefs and the Blues, the support that I got – you’d be having King Country people come up and tap you on the shoulder.
“Rugby’s been good to me – I can say thanks to rugby – but I think it’s even better that I can say thanks to King Country rugby because that’s where it all started.
"I really mean that, I’m proud of this.”
Mitchell pulled on the Waitete blue [jersey] in 1983 as a 16-year-old, quickly proving himself at club level before debuting for Graham Potaka’s King Country against Thames Valley in 1988.
The fullback-turned-hooker went on to become the most capped player in King Country’s history with 147 games between 1988 and 2001.
One of his career highlights included King Country’s promotion to the first division after winning the second division in 1991, as well as captaining his province, not to mention three unsuccessful Ranfurly Shield challenges against Auckland (1988, 1992) and Waikato (1994).
As the game turned professional in 1996, Mitchell signed with the Chiefs to begin a professional career spanning six seasons and 51 games for both the Chiefs (1996-1997, 2000-2001) and Blues (1998-1999).
Following his swansong playing for the New Zealand Divisional XV against Ireland in 2002, Mitchell served as president at Waitete and as a KCRU board member, and he is the current long-standing president of the Maniapoto sub-union.
After cutting his coaching teeth with Waitete and Maniapoto, Mitchell joined King Country head coach Kurt McQuilkin’s coaching team in 2005, before he was promoted to the top job to lead the 2006 and 2007 Heartland Championship campaigns.
Nowadays, Mitchell is regularly found mowing the fields and chalking lines as the groundsman at Rugby Park in Te Kuiti, where he resides with his wife Shelley, daughter of late-great All Black and King Country legend Sir Colin Meads.
- Dan Tasker
Credit: Stuff.co.nz
