Eastern-Northern Barbarians stalwart says milestone a privilege

Sunday, 12 May 2019

Eastern-Northern Barbarians loose forward Scott McKee has brought up his 100th game for the team.

Scott McKee remembers vividly the conversations in 2011.

There was a quest to get a Eastern-Northern Barbarians team set up and playing in Southland's premier club rugby competition.

Scott's father Alistair McKee was a driving force behind launching the team, so there was little escaping the discussion.

'When the meetings were initially going on I wondered if it might be too hard to get the buy-in from everyone to get it going,' Scott admitted.

However in 2012 the Barbarians lined up for their first game, which was a win under lights against Midlands at Centre Bush. McKee lined up in the loose forwards.

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Seven years on and McKee was more than convinced the Barbarians concept had been a success and still had a future.

On Saturday the 33-year-old joined fellow Barbarians original Lachie McCall as players who have played 100 games for the combined team.

His team mates ensured the occasion was marked in style with the Barbarians recording a convincing 36-10 win over Star.

The 100 game milestone was an impressive effort considering all the Barbarians have only played 105 games in total.

'I didn't think it would happen. It is a privilege to get to [100 games].'

Naturally the highlight for McKee during those 100 games was the 2016 Galbraith Shield victory, a special moment for the Waikaia farmer who seemed destined to miss that season.

In November 2015 a farm accident left McKee with severe burns to 18 per cent of his body.

Initially McKee was told he would not be able to play rugby that season, before the advice changed.

Three days after getting the clearance he lined up in a preseason game against Wakatipu, and later that year he helped the Barbarians to a Galbraith Shield title.

'I really wanted to play that year, I knew with the players we had, we had something. I'm glad I got to do that.'

How about a second Galbraith Shield title in 2019?

'It is going be a big ask to tip up Marist. But the thing is, if you get to that top four anything can happen from there,' McKee said.

Marist made it eight straight wins on Saturday with a 47-17 victory over Pirates-Old Boys at Surrey Park in Invercargill.

Marist led 33-0 at halftime, which included three tries in the space of 10 minutes at the midway point of the first half.

To Pirates-Old Boys' credit they showed character and actually won the second half 17-14.

The reality though was that Marist was too big and skillful. No 8 Lio Tosi got the green-and-blacks on the front foot, and the likes of Javaan Fa'amoe and Alatini Vaahu were able to have some fun on the fringes.

Even in a well-beaten team, Pirates-Old Boys first five-eighth Jaye Thompson was able to showcase his attacking abilities.

In the third Galbraith Shield fixture on Saturday Woodlands put the rest of the competition on notice with a 20-12 victory over Blues.

Woodlands only squeaked into the Galbraith Shield section of the competition but with players back from injury and some new recruits they were now starting to impress.

Blues led at the halftime mark before Woodlands held led 13-12 for much of the second half. Lewis Ormond latched onto an intercept in the dying stages to push it out to 20-12 which denied Blues a bonus point.

Loose forward Curtis Williams has been one of Woodlands' best this season and that remained the case on Saturday.

In Ack Soper Shield action, Wyndham made it three wins from three games, although was made to work hard the 22-19 victory of Te Anau.

After losing its opening two Ack Soper Shield games Waikaka impressed with a 37-17 victory over Edendale, while Midlands banked a 30-15 over Riversdale.

RESULTS

Premier

(Galbraith Shield)

Marist 47, Pirates-Old Boys 17; Barbarians 36, Star 10; Woodlands 20, Blues 12.

(Ack Soper Shield)

Wyndham 22, Te Anau 19; Waikaka 37, Edendale 17; Midlands 30, Riversdale 15.

Division One

Mossburn 18, Waikiwi 13; Albion Excelsior 39, Star 12; Pioneer 77, Waiau Star 0; Blues 43, Wakatipu 19.

Division Two

Pirates-Old Boys 29, Marist 20; Bluff 35, Ohai-Nightcaps 28; DLS 57, Woodlands 12; Riverton 42, Blues 7; Bush Pirates 32, Balfour/Lumsden 29; Collegiate defaulted to Mataura.