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  1. #1
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    Little Chuchok's Avatar
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    Cool RIP Frank Oliver....All Black

    Bobby will remember Frank well.

    He died in his sleep last week.Only 65 years old.

    As a young lad, I will never forget meeting him.He was at the Poenamo hotel. His hand wrapped around a coke can.You could hardly see the can...

    Small by international lock standards, but as tough as hell.

    His son Anton, was also an All Black.

    His nickname was Filth....gained off the field....

    By all accounts, a great family man and straight up bloke.RIP

  2. #2
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    Bruce Bayliss's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Little Chuchok
    e was at the Poenamo hotel.
    They allowed you into the Poenamo?
    Quote Originally Posted by Little Chuchok
    His nickname was Filth....gained off the field...
    He was a genuine hard bastard...and former policeman...probably got the nick there

  3. #3
    Thailand Expat Bobcock's Avatar
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    Yep, I remember him.....saw him play on at least three occassions, partnering Andy Haden in the second row of Mouries 8th All Blacks.

    Quote Originally Posted by Little Chuchok
    By all accounts, a great family man and straight up bloke.RIP
    Not that I heard, he was estranged from Anton for sometime due to the way he treated Anton's mother.....

    Antons autobiography waxes lyrical about what a great influence his mother was and how he admired her bringing up three children on her own.

    His father hardly warranted a mention on that score.

    Lets just say Anton didn't like his fathers violent side.

    Anyway, a great all black. RIP.

  4. #4
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    Only 65 years old.? Have heard of frank only.
    But 65 jezuz
    I was 66 last birthday.
    Better shag more woman while I have the time.

  5. #5
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    Frank Oliver farewelled in Palmerston North


    'To many of us, Dad seemed to be indestructible'
    PETER LAMPP


    Last updated 07:49 24/03/2014




    FAREWELL, FRANK: Frank Oliver is carried from the church on Saturday. Pallbearers from left are James Oliver, Mervyn Murphy, and Anton Oliver with Marist rugby players in the guard of honour.

    Rugby Union Frank Oliver farewelled in Palmerston North A tough, fatherly influence A lasting, exciting rugby legacy Hammett testy over Savea snub Hurricanes need cool heads in Cape Town Prop axed as Canes seek scrum remedy All Black was bodyguard for Lawrence of Arabia Heat going on the Hurricanes Another Turbos halfback gone Tudreu impresses in Hurricanes cameo
    Many judicious metaphors were used to describe Frank Oliver's life and rugby career at his funeral in Palmerston North on Saturday.

    With the congregation strewn with All Blacks and rugby disciples, most knew about his toughness in that area, and the size of his enormous hands.

    But the priest at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Father Marcus Francis, summed it up cleverly.

    He wondered when "Frank arrives at the pearly gates" and is greeted by St Peter, if this applies: "Whether what goes on tour stays on tour holds good for heaven."

    Oliver's son Anton had flown in from London, where he lives and works, and expressed his initial shock at his father's death aged 65 last Monday.

    "To many of us, Dad seemed to be indestructible."

    But as the priest reminded everyone, that no matter how robust, even with 43 games for the All Blacks, "the human body isn't meant to last."

    The funeral pretty much packed out "St Pat's". Other All Blacks there were his brother-in-law Mark Donaldson, Taine Randell, New Zealand Rugby Union president Ian MacRae, Jeff Wilson, Gary Knight, Sam Strahan, John Callesen, Christian Cullen, John Ashworth, Andy Haden, Stu Wilson, Leicester Rutledge, Dave Loveridge, Tony Brown, Norm Hewitt, Jason O'Halloran and Laurie Knight.

    Knight, the doctor, and Oliver, the bushman, became friends when dirt-trackers on the 1976 tour to South Africa. After their rugby days they lost touch for 20 years only to reunite at Pauanui on holiday in the summer of 1998.

    Knight paid tribute to "a true man's man", a warrior, and said condolences had been received from Allan Martin. He was one of the Welsh locks in the controversial lineout at Cardiff in 1978, the one which Oliver and Haden fell from and drew the winning penalty.

    Knight recognised Oliver's strength and courage and said: "We all knew Frank wasn't an angel; it was in his DNA".

    There was a noticeable simplicity about the service, in line with Oliver's uncomplicated outlook, a man who preferred to do a deal on a handshake. There was just one photo, of him with his beloved logs and the plainest of caskets.

    The funeral opened quietly with Dire Straits' blues rock song Brothers in Arms.

    Sons, James and Anton, from Frank's first and second marriages, spoke more about the person than the rugby. James, the fourth of five Oliver boys, said his father had done a lot of living in his 65 years, of how he kept returning to timber, the constant thing in his life.

    "He enjoyed his own company a lot in the bush and cherished family time."

    James recalled how his father would sit on the sand dunes at Pauanui Beach for three hours watching the boys in the surf, to ensure they came home safely.

    Both James and Anton described their father's love of books, especially westerns.

    "I think that was where he wanted to be; he was born 100 years too late."

    His jobs matched his persona - working in his father's concrete-post factory aged 14, truck-driving in mines in Australia aged 17, then the police, crayfishing and forestry.

    - © Fairfax NZ News

  6. #6
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    Bruce Bayliss's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bobcock
    Not that I heard, he was estranged from Anton for sometime due to the way he treated Anton's mother.....
    Without being disrespectful to his memory...he was very upset about not being selected for the ill fated All Black tour to Britain in about 1972 (I think)...however he was on the short list for replacements...and when Keith Murdoch got sent home for punching a Welsh bouncer who wouldn't let him have some food...he was about to get the callup as his replacement...unfortunately not long before that he had gone on a bender which ended in an incident...forunately nobody was hurt...but needless to say he missed selection on that basis...so yes there was some history behind the ill feeling...but Little Chuchok would know all about that because he shared a Coke with him in the Poenamo Hotel...which used to be the base for the All Blacks in Auckland

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat Bobcock's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Bayliss
    for punching a Welsh bouncer who wouldn't let him have some food
    5555... hardly.....

    He punched the security guard of the Angel Hotel who asked him to leave the kitchen where he should not have been. He was looking for alcohol not food.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bobcock
    He punched the security guard of the Angel Hotel who asked him to leave the kitchen where he should not have been.
    That was nothing compared to what he was supposed to have done to that young Aborigine in the outback...but we digress...Frank was an outstanding All Black

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Bayliss View Post
    but Little Chuchok would know all about that because he shared a Coke with him in the Poenamo Hotel...which used to be the base for the All Blacks in Auckland
    Son, leave the funny stuff for others eh,

    Now go back to Wiki and find out some more for us....

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Little Chuchok
    Son, leave the funny stuff for others eh,
    I didn't think you would know...it isn't on Wiki

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