John Manchester and Heath Kirk (Right) celebrated 25 years and 30 years since they first started playing for the Devils on Saturday. Harden went down 10-3 in a close one.
The Harden Red Devils Rugby Union fraternity came together on Saturday afternoon at Robert’s Park, to pay homage to two old ‘war horses’.
Those horses being, Half-Back John Manchester (Manch) and Front Rower Heath Kirk (Kirky).
Both men joined the club as teenagers and although the Devils have gone into hiatus on a couple of occasions over the last 30 years.
John celebrated 25 years since he first pulled on the red jumper for the club and Heath 30 years since he did. Good Half-Backs are hard to find and when it comes to Front Rowers they are like ‘Hen’s teeth’.
This is why John has continued to be able to perform for the club and offer sound advice to any youngsters coming through, while Heath continues to ply his trade in the toughest of environments, mainly as a tight head prop.
John’s pass continues to be crisp and it hits the mark. Heath used to hit his mark also with the sprigs of his boots down the opposition player’s backs if they ended up on the wrong side of the ruck.
Although that technique is now frowned upon, back in the day it was legal and was celebrated and Heath was an expert. It hasn’t stopped him from playing his uncompromising style of Rugby.
He upset some of his younger opponents with a solid charge on Saturday and they decided to tip him on his head. Both John and Heath have seen it all. They have played for the club when it was struggling and they have played when it has been at its strongest.
Both players were central to the club’s 2006 Grand Final where Harden played in the two team Canberra competition where they went on to beat Goulburn five tries to nil.
They were also there two years before when Harden beat Cooma at Cooma to claim the premiership. John has picked up four premierships during his time and came to the club during a chance meeting between his father Tony and Devils stalwart John O’Connor. John said, “Dad was on the road mustering sheep and I was home from boarding school when John and him had a chat, I went down to play and I was put straight into first grade over a couple games.
It was a pretty good standard of footy back then, especially when you have a forward pack like we had. You couldn’t beat the after parties either. With forward like Kirky and Ben Mackey, Some Mosogau and Adam Walsh, there were some pretty solid Front Rowers.
When asked why he still turns out for Harden John said, “I don’t want to see the club fold again, we’ve been through that, I’ve been through the hard years, we were getting flogged there for a few years. To be in a side for so long, you see the club at its lows and its highs. I prefer to be on the high side.”
John says that Harden can go all the way this year, but they must continue to have good numbers to training and work hard.
“We’re lacking a bit of forward structure, if we can really get forwards down there and really push them along a bit that would be good. John and Heath were both appreciative of the effort that went into the weekend.
They said, “We want to thank Charlie and Antonio Brown for the weekend and everyone who chipped in.” Heath has continued to be a positive influence on the players, although the ’Sunday sessions’ see a few less players than they used to.
He has always enjoyed his footy and taken it seriously but also enjoyed the social side.
He said, “I made my debut towards the end of 1992, then my first full year was in ’93 as a 17-year old, Hudson Shaw got us going with some school games and I took a liking to that and decided to have a go towards the end of the season with the help of John O’Connor.
“I’d never really played footy outside of school, I’d played a bit of league but never had a taste of union, once I got a taste, I sort of fell in love with it and found my place in the Front Row.
“Chris and Patty Blanchard took me under their wing and pretty much taught me what to do; they were a great help.
“I played both tight and loose head but I always felt more comfortable, tight, you’re actually locked in as a tight head rather than coming in off the side as a loose.
“In my younger days I used to play 30 minutes for the reggies before playing first-grade, sometimes you’d pull up sore but I liked it a lot more than warming up. When asked if there was any memorable moments at the Devils Clubhouse, Heath joked, saying “There’s plenty, none that would be appropriate for print though.
“We made plenty of preliminary finals, but we didn’t win our first Grand Final until 2004 when we beat Cooma in a really close game. When asked what he likes about this year’s season he said, “If I can contribute 10 or 15 minutes here and there and I’m not taking a spot off a young fella I’m happy to keep playing.
“I love the club and there’s something special about playing with former teammates’ sons and helping guide the next generation through, as long as they’re happy to have me, I’m happy to keep playing. Congratulations to John and Heath or as everyone knows them, Manch and Kirky.
