The Country 07/10/25: Ian Kirkpatrick talks to Hamish McKay

We catch up with an All Blacks legend to talk a bit of farming and footy.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right, I hope joining us now or probably somewhere up
there in ty Rafferty Country up in the old poverty Bay.
Ian Kirkpatrick, former All Black retired farmer. Are you fully
retired from farming, Kirke or do you still keep your hand.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
In a bit? Oh? Look, probably just a fraction. I'm
just finding a few lambs during the winter and now
a lifestyle block and so they just keeps some trouble
with it. Yeah, I'm really right out of farming. I
want to say.

Speaker 1 (00:32):
It doesn't. See, you wouldn't be right out of farming
if you went to the sale back in the summer
and bought lambs at ninety five dollars and now there
three hundred and fifty dollars. Hogits you can't you know
you're probably done right Turkey.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Well, you actually paid a bit more than that. This
was more see, it was about that. So yeah, but
you know these postures are great, but not everyone's got
a thousand and two thousand lambs, you know, put on
them to seeing them work. So you know, it's it's
about timing, isn't it. So yeah, it's still it's good

(01:06):
to have those prices and farmers need it. You know,
they go through some difficult times and know all about
that and droughts and down scends and economy and you know,
you name it. So they need they need, you know,
some good periods. So I don't think we you know,
that farmers become millionaires over over six months. I'm tilly,

(01:31):
not at all.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
You're not seeing a whole lot of Aston Martin's replacing
you know, falcons and commodores and that sort of thing.
That's not happening.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
No, it's definitely not.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
And you've been through it long enough, Kirky, you would
remember the gee you know, I mean your reagion. You
think of the Bowl of Days and the post Roger nomics,
the removal of the the s MPs. I mean, geez,
we should not forget those times because their bloody will
happen and they were tough.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Oh they sure were. Yeah, But you know that's that's
been farming pretty much all the way through, you know,
you know, the wool boom and just after the war,
a Second World War, you know, and so all those
sort of things happen and then disappeared. Look, nothing stayed
the same forever. So you've got to accept that and

(02:21):
just get on with it and take just make the
right cause that's the time. So you know, the farmers
are always doing that. You know, they've got the weather
to continue with and so yeah, it's just it is
what it is. But it's not all beer and skittles, No, no,
it's not.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
But but it is good though, to at least see
people with a bit of a smile on their dial
and you know, and you know, a bit of the
sort of the wolf from the door has gone and
parked himself at the back of the kennel sort of
thing for a while, which is good.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, yeah, that's fun of is.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
Now Heartland Rugby. Obviously you follow your mighty Poverty Bay
around you. They had see they had a pretty close
one on the weekend against the old boys down the line,
their bottom of the island wild Rapper Bush twenty nine,
Poverty Bay twenty four. Did you catch that, Kiki?

Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, I actually went down with the boys. They asked
me if I'm going to go down with them and
obvious involved with them a little bit over the last
few years and just give them support. Yeah. So yeah,
we we you know, we're sort of in front for
a thad bit of the second half and we just
we had to go into extra time acually Golden Points

(03:33):
who to get a decision and they scored and deserverly,
so I guess tried what at the end, and so
that was it. But no, the boys played well, you
know the sidewip of Bush. They you know, they're quite
big boys and it's all about these days, it seems
to be. And so yeah, they they've played pretty well,

(03:57):
so you know it's and so probably by down and
play North Otago in the first playoff of the Walk Cup.
So yeah, they've already been down there probably three four
weeks ago, so yeah, so it won't be easy down
there either. But no, they've done pretty well this year
Poly Bay. Last year we've never won a game, if

(04:18):
there were a few close ones. But this year things
have changed a little bit. Loan players have helped a bit,
and so yeah, so you know they've had a pretty
good year. But that's not over yet.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
Yep. So off to play North Otago down there in
Old Maru, I guess, and a bit of the old
white Stone cheese if you're the local attractions and what
you're not hitting down there too? Are you kicking? No?

Speaker 2 (04:45):
I'm not. I've got I've got a prior engagement on
Friday night, so I can't, I can't go. So yeah, no, they'll, they'll,
they'll do the best. Good lads, I'll tell you they
they're probably a little bit more dedicated than probably some
of the guys. They's way back, but no, they yeah,

(05:07):
they they're sort of not quite professional obviously, but but
they know they're proud of the jersey and they go
out the end. They do their best every time, so
that's all you can ask for. So yeah, they's not
over to all the fat ladies singers, as they say,
so yeah they'll go down there. Well, a few a

(05:29):
few of our key guys injured at the moment, but however,
that's that's part of the game. So yeah, no, they
will look forward to going down there again. And it's
on their luck too, right they were mad.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
Canterbury of course, finished top of the log unbeaten. South
Canterbury the next cab off the rank lost three and
it goes right down through to Poverty Bay who lost
four in seventh. And that's a great competition right across
the board. All black Saturday night, kecky, what did you
give them past? My out of team? Where do you
think they're sitting under razor.

Speaker 2 (05:59):
Oh they, I think you mean you're talking about the
game itself. Yeah, I thought, you know, they were playing
and obviously seeing that one of the beat them obviously,
and it's not a bad Aussie team. You know, they've
got some good plays here. They were dominant in the
first twenty minutes, and so yeah, I think they. I
think they they came out of it pretty well. I

(06:21):
thought its difficult games. Who decide what, you know, what's
going to happen in these games? Now that's you know,
the game so was. It's tough. It's very tough. And
so you know they've got to they've got to travel
back to back or will all the teams do that,

(06:42):
you know, Saturday to Saturday, and some of these guys
don't come right saw Wednesday, so you know they've you know,
nessity goes with all of them. Of course. Yeah, so
it's not that easy. You know, you think, oh, yeah,
the professional and they should be doing this, it should
be doing that, but it's not all. You know, they're
not steal their human beings and so they get beaten

(07:05):
up of it and so they take a while to recover.
So you know, that's that's that's the thing they've got
to get over somehow, All.

Speaker 1 (07:13):
Black numbers six six six se Kirkpatrick eleven seasons and
all Black one hundred and thirteen games for the All Blacks.
He would have got beaten up on a view occasions
on some of those long tours