Alex "Grizz" Wyllie 1944 - 2025

Canterbury and NZ Rugby lost an icon of the game earlier in the week.

Grizz coached Canterbury through that now infamous Ranfurly Shield era from 1982 - 1985. Lesley Murdoch has put together a compilation of the era that includes match highlights and interviews from some of the key members of that Canterbury team.

LISTEN ABOVE. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Across to Wainsworth coming out to the left transfer ca
Weinsmith Life and his way room. Wainsmith comes in for
the try four minutes to go and Canterbory in front
of the sensational try it a Waynsman whistle goes full time.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Canary have the shield.

Speaker 3 (00:14):
A huge crowd at the airport. Players couldn't believe it,
and they reveled in it, and they all of their
dreams come true, and they saw the joy, their own
joy reflected in the eyes of so many ordinary people
who went out in their thousands, in fact, to their airport,
and they captured the hearts of this province of ours.

Speaker 4 (00:39):
Princess, we have to win that game well.

Speaker 5 (00:43):
I think that the team basically, of course, we came
together when it hadn't done that well the previous season,
and we came through pretty hard times, won the shield
possibly when no one really expected us to, and then
held on to it the following week when it could
have quite easily have gone. And had it gone then

(01:04):
had we lost that game, then of course we would
have just been another team again and written all.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
The red and the black sand over.

Speaker 5 (01:22):
The boys said, getting beaten, I hope we played well
when we get beaten and I think we played pretty
well today.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Whine Smith, I think Waynsmith, I was in with the dry,
looks up at the postiction takes a deep breath, he
says boy, and he gives it a bang and they
watch it and they still watch it and it's gone over. Goodness,
gracious me. Robbie Deans is simply magic, like something's waved
them all magic. When he's given a two with Darlad Hankins,

(01:50):
Ankin's up the gold line.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
It gins the Big five five and.

Speaker 5 (01:54):
Royan Smith puts it up in front of the long.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Posts and Kory roll with where I would it go?

Speaker 3 (01:59):
Blue barn Greats after greats gone? No, it's den, it's
darn the match some match, ladies and gentlemen is over.

Speaker 5 (02:08):
The referee as good as whistle. And so the era that.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
Began and Wellington in nineteen eighty two ends as.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Far as I'm concerned, and link talking for the whole team,
I think everyone is very privileged and proud to be
in a situation like that, and we're all very proud
to come through it. And there's two guys that probably
did more than all the players, with Doug and Elick,
and I mean that because no one really knows until
they've been with him heard him talk.

Speaker 5 (02:33):
Here.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
It can have three team talks in one day. I
don't know how he can do it. And I think
the whole team, I think and everyone here would congratulate
both Dug and Alick because I personally think we wouldnt
have been there if they weren't there, and I thank
them very much for that.

Speaker 5 (02:51):
The whole team, the whole all the players we've had.
It has been marmous, had very hard work and I've
come through, you know, I think very well.

Speaker 4 (03:10):
Thirty eight players were involved in Canterbury's twenty seven Ranfurly
Shield matches, which started with the shield winning game against
Wellington in nineteen eighty two and ended with the twenty
eight to twenty three lost to Auckland just a few
days short of three years later.

Speaker 5 (03:26):
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Speaker 4 (03:30):
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