Sir Peter Snell has died, aged 80, at his home in Dallas, Texas. James McOnie remembers arguably New Zealand’s greatest ever athlete. Sir Peter Snell was so great that small towns still engage in custody battles over the legendary runner. His birthplace Opunake (where he spent his first 11 years) claims him, as does Te … Read more
From his first encounter as an 11-year-old kid in Te Awamutu to yesterday’s funeral service, James McOnie remembers some of his favourite Pinetree stories. He didn’t want to be called “Sir”, but Colin Meads deserved it. Sir Colin will always be remembered as perhaps our greatest ever rugby player but now, as so many stories … Read more
Everyone’s hailing Leicester City’s amazing Premier League victory as a one-in-a-million sporting tale, but James McOnie argues it was plagarised from the Highlanders’ 2015 season. While everyone thinks Leicester City’s fairytale Premier League victory will be turned into a movie, let’s just remember this rags-to-riches tale involves some players* who earn more in a fortnight than many All Blacks do … Read more
With Hilary Barry’s resignation from TV3 still sending shockwaves through the television news universe, James McOnie creates a New Zealand newsreader hall of fame just so he can imagine her place in it. Hilary Barry is walking away from TV3 at a time when her stocks couldn’t be any higher. The Newshub has been gutted … Read more
It’s never too early to start talking about who might make the All Blacks. Barely a week into the season, these are James McOnie’s top 11 candidates to pull on the black jersey for the first time this year. The rugby season started in a big way at the weekend. It was a massive TV … Read more
It’s Super Rugby opening weekend and a few fresh faces are taking to the field. James McOnie does his best to describe just who the hell they are. Super Rugby opening weekend is almost upon us and no-one is really ready but too bad, it’s happening. Post-Rugby World Cup is always a big changing of … Read more
The Halberg Awards honour the best of the best in New Zealand sport today. James McOnie proposes a new award to honour the best there ever was. Tomorrow night New Zealand sport’s glitterati (sporterati? jockerati?) will gather in Auckland for the Halberg Awards.It’s a swanky affair, the beef is good, and the athletes enjoy mixing … Read more
For James McOnie and his fellow boarders in ’80s Hamilton, David Bowie was a lifeline to a more thrilling and artistic world. He remembers the songs that kept the schoolboys sane. David Bowie was a surprising and ambiguous genius; his music gave common ground to people with polar opposite views and lifestyles. It also shocked … Read more
The Crowd Goes Wild’s James McOnie on the underrated man-management and team cultural strengths of Richie McCaw. As the stats whirled around about Richie McCaw’s incredible feats as an All Black (the most astounding: he played in almost a third of all New Zealand test rugby wins in history!) there was a story that couldn’t … Read more
We asked a dozen All Blacks who their athletes of the year were, then commissioned essays on those they chose. In equal second place: rowers Hamish Bond and Eric Murray, profiled by James McOnie. They’re like a cute old couple. One of them is sensible, methodical and disciplined. The other is bold, mischievous and charismatic. Both … Read more
The Crowd Goes Wild’s James McOnie on the underrated man-management and team cultural strengths of Richie McCaw. As the stats whirled around about Richie McCaw’s incredible feats as an All Black (the most astounding: he played in almost a third of all New Zealand test rugby wins in history!) there was a story that couldn’t … Read more
James McOnie remembers Jonah Lomu as an athlete whose imposing physical gifts were allied to a playful, vulnerable, huge-hearted man. Watching Jonah Lomu in full flight was a thing of terrifying beauty. The grace, speed and power he possessed was like nothing rugby had ever seen before. He was larger than life and people around … Read more
The Crowd Goes Wild’s James McOnie looks back on 2014 in televised sport, recounting the year’s biggest stories – most of which were broken by him using MySky and Twitter. At the start of the year it was all about Benji. Where would he play? Would he be good? What’s the point of having health insurance … Read more