Icon Dan becomes a hero for grassroots

Blair Agnew will be dining out for the rest of his life on the big hit he put in on Dan Carter last weekend. The West Melton hooker lined-up the three-time World Rugby Player of the Year and hit him with everything he had.

- SHANE WILLIAMS

Welcome back to Canterbury’s Ellesmere Premier Competitors league! It may have been six years since one of the greatest players to have ever laced up a pair of rugby boots had played at Southbridge Domain, but he put in a great 80-minute shift in a game that everyone around him will never forget.

The last time his opposite number, Ashton Molloy, had met him was when he was a ten-year-old asking for an autograph. What a thrill it must have been for him to go up against his idol.

I found myself watching the Facebook feed of the game and it was magnificent watching Dan going back to his roots. It is something I did at the end of my career with Amman United and I knew exactly how he felt. While it is great to be able to give something back to the club that helped you launch your career, and supported you all the way through, you know there is a target on your back. In my case, a naughty late tackle in a cup semi-final earned me a fractured cheekbone and broken jaw.