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Being inducted into the ARL Hall of Fame was an emotional occasion for the Coast’s Brian (Bluey) McClennan, who received the honour last month, on August 24. As well as his own entry into that rugby league elite, his late father Mike was also inducted – Bluey receiving that honour on his behalf.
“Our whole family went to the award night, which was great,” Bluey says. “It was a highlight to be inducted alongside my dad who I tried to be like my whole life. To be alongside all the people that are in that Hall of Fame – people I have the utmost respect for – was such an honour. They have all done so much for our game.”
The induction recognises the pair’s playing and coaching achievements over many years.
Mike was a fullback or winger, who the ARL Hall of Fame citation says could lay claim to the most astonishing one-test career in NZ rugby league, his only international being the Kiwis’ 24-3 win over Australia at Carlaw Park 1971 when he played fullback. His career included playing in Auckland’s wins over Australia in 1969 and in 1971 and coaching St Helens and Tonga.
Brian played with the Hibiscus Coast Raiders, Mt Albert Lions, Northcote Tigers, and North Harbour Sea Eagles as well as Auckland. In 1990 he captained Auckland to a 24-13 win over Great Britain. Bluey was appointed Kiwi coach in 2005 when he guided the New Zealanders to a 24-0 win over Australia in the Tri Nations final. He went on to achieve success with the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League and also coached the Warriors in the NRL in 2012.
Bluey says some of his fondest moments have been playing/coaching at Raiders, and he is proud of the local club, and the people in it. He first walked into a Raiders committee meeting after he and his wife built their first home in Stanmore Bay.
A year before he had captained Auckland to the win over Great Britain, so you can imagine the Raiders’ faces when he poked his head around the door.
“I said I was thinking of coming to play with their club, and they said yes,” Bluey says modestly.
Bluey says among the career highlights that he and his father were proudest of were their contributions to the Fox Memorial – the Auckland competition that Bluey considers still the iconic one to win. Bluey won five grand finals as a player and Mike six as a coach and one as a player.
Although Bluey says he has retired from coaching, he will always be available to the Raiders in any capacity.
“I live here, that’s my club and I will always be a Raider through and through.”
