Dude, Paekākāriki
The Parade, Paekākāriki. We are invited to the perching place of the green parakeet. A fitting place for plunderers to call home. In a different age of the pirate, maybe. As goes the lore of other codes, places and times with few women, hard, dangerous labour and riches. Cowboys, mining, logging or the more nefarious gambling, drug running, inner cities, or the high seas. They are places of lore because they ran by different codes, and justice was often deemed fair and swift. They were places that returned different cultures and ideas. There were no bylaws, barristers or bailiffs. Most notable in those places of men was that you were responsible for yourself. You looked out for the safety of yourself, the job and others. A hand for the boat and a hand for you.
We work together to achieve a goal, but no force was required to work hard; if you did not want to work, you did not go. The reward came from the sustained effort. Most of these places got on with the labour, a daily grind of work with no drama. Chop wood, carry water. The Kiwi way of just crack on and do hard things, no drama. We need to embody that ethos as guests today and every week because it holds up half of what we do.
Do not forget the Wu Wei: the path of ease, the short, simple play, the easy pass. That will keep us together, working hard and smoothly. No drama that lets us absorb a foul, ignore a push, allow a missed line out and play our football. Appeal a hand up, a simple question, but don’t quibble or bother. The game is motion is the game we want more chances, more passes and more fun
Te Wero
No Drama.
Work, struggle, push, but fair and even. Be cool, not cold. Unbothered, not unaware.
Integrity is easy: no effort to remember or flatter the referee. No drama you knocked it out. No problem; just don’t kick it in the sea today. Drive safe; enjoy the banter in the cars.
Yo-Ho, Let’s Roll.