Legends of the Jubilee Cup: Dave Henderson (Wellington Axemen)

Halfback Dave ‘Charlie' Henderson (pictured above back row in the middle with the beard) spent a decade at the top in Wellington Jubilee Cup and Swindale Shield rugby, as the Wellington Axemen's halfback from 1969-79. Throughout his time, the Axemen were one of Wellington's leading clubs, sharing the Swindale Shield with Petone in 1972, sharing the Jubilee Cup Athletic in 1972 and with MSP in 1978 and winning the unofficial National Club Rugby title in 1979. Henderson also played exactly 100 first-class matches for Wellington and was a key cog in Wellington's inaugural NPC-winning side in 1978.

What years did your Senior A [Premier] career for the Wellington Axemen span?

I joined the Wellington Axemen in 1965 straight out of Wellington College, but played my first few years for age-grade sides. I was called up to the Senior A team for the first time in 1968 as an injury replacement and was their Swindale Shield and Jubilee Cup halfback from 1969 to 1979.There were a couple of other halfbacks around but I had the spot to myself for a decade, it was good.

Were you ever injured during your decade-long career at the top?

The only injury that I had that cost me a couple of games was I planted my foot in a tackle against Ories at the Polo Ground and a tackler hit me from the side and bent my knee and ripped the ligaments. But those were the days when you got a jab in the knee and were then straight back into it! My knee's never been the same, but that's a different story!

You never made the First XV at Wellington College either?

I started my rugby life off as a flanker. Another former Wellington College student, Ken Gray, was a halfback at school and didn't make the First XV either but he went on to become a famous All Black. ?So he was a halfback who became a prop, I was a loose forward who became a halfback! The closest I came to playing First XV rugby was a reserve once against St Pat's Silverstream, but once I left school I ripped into it.

Who were some of the great players at the Wellington Axemen that you played alongside?

Head and shoulders above everyone was Graham Williams. He was a fabulous footballer. I still rate him as the toughest player I have played with or against. Just an ironman, and a great bloke as well. His wife is an elegant woman and Graham is a battle-scarred old war-horse. Fast forwarding a few years there was Murray Mexted, another tremendous loose forward. Plenty of others too, such as Michael Knight who was a try-scoring wing for us for a few years. Laurie D'Arcy who was the NZ sprint champion. I used to love it because if you gave him a hint of an overlap on the blindside he was gone. ?

There were some wonderful stalwarts in the team, such as Noel Hawkins, who had the nickname Hawke-eye because he also came from Hawke's Bay, and another guy called Ted Lines. Both were policeman, and one Saturday night my friend Keith Quinn and I were dribbling an empty paint can up Adelaide Road and then we drop-kicked it over the fence of the local police station. At that same moment an unmarked police car screeched to a halt and these two familiar looking cops leapt out, and, recognising us, said ‘how could we have guessed, it's that Quinn and Henderson again'.

What were the strengths of the Axemen teams you played in?

Our forwards were very strong the entire time I played for them. If you haven't got a strong forward? pack you'll struggle. We also had some pretty solid backs, with guys like Tom Bracefield in the midfield, Doug Froggatt at fullback, who was as solid as a rock at the back and kicked goals, Jim Morgan, who went on to play for Wellington and was a prison officer so a good man to know.

Winning the Jubilee Cup twice in your career was special?

Yes, we shared it twice and could have won it another couple of times but for a couple of dropped games along the way. One of our proudest moments was winning the unofficial National Club Championship in 1979. This was played between the previous year's Wellington, Canterbury, Otago and Auckland club champions. We beat Christchurch club in the first match and then beat a strong Ponsonby side studded with Auckland rep players and with two All Black locks in Andy Haden and Pole Whiting in the final and became the national champions. ?A great day and a great night afterwards.

Who were the other strong clubs?

Petone were certainly up there as one of our main rivals throughout my career. The Athletic club with Brian Cederwall at fullback, they were strong. Marty Dawson, the Athletic halfback, was a good player, lock Trevor Snowden was their captain and then their coach and an excellent footballer. ?Other clubs such as Poneke in the mid-1970s and MSP towards the end of the decade were especially tough to beat.

You've mentioned Marty Dawson (above) as a competitive rival at the base of the scrum. Petone halfback Ian Stevens was the leading halfback of the time in Wellington club rugby when you started?

Ian Stevens was a very good halfback. I was delighted one year when he played for the Wellington rep team at first five-eighth in place of incumbent John Dougan. And my tongue in cheek story is that I served him so well that made the All Blacks at first-five on the back of my impeccable passing! We were great rivals and great friends as well. ?

You played 92 games for Wellington, what were some of the memorable times from your representative career?

I'm very proud of the fact that I also played eight first-class matches for the Senior Bs against first-class opposition, so exactly 100 first-class representative games.

I was first picked in the squad in 1970 by then coach Bill Freeman and got a taste of it. And then in 1971 the late Frank Ryan was the new Wellington coach and he picked me as one of his halfbacks and I never looked back until the end of 1979.

In 1971 the team got trounced by the touring British Lions [9-47]. Following the match, the squad gathered the next morning for a Sunday training session and Frank Ryan, a smart coach, said righto boys we have just our arses kicked, what can we learn from that? We talked about the way the Lions backline was set up.? Halfback Gareth Edwards was a long passer with Barry John outside of him and their backline operated from there. So we collectively took this on board. That suited me, because my trademark as a halfback was a long pass that I practiced hard on and I established myself as a member of the squad. Ian Stevens and I often played together and shared games, with him playing at first five-eighth.

Playing in those early NPC years was memorable. The first one in 1976 was won by Bay of Plenty, and we won it in 1978. That team was a great team. One thing that has to be said about Wellington is that other teams envied us because we had a magnificent team spirit. We had a lot of fun and a few characters to keep things bubbling along. A strong team spirit, a lot of humour and everyone got on well and contributed and it was bloody marvellous.

Lots of funny incidents on and off the field. One example is we were playing a NPC match against Waikato and we were under the pump with them hammering away at our line. Then, on our own goal line, wing Bernie Fraser intercepted a pass and took off on a clear 90-metre run. Both teams were? sprinting after him, including Brian Cederwall who proceeded to launch into a [radio commentator] Winston McCarthy style booming commentary. Even the Waikato guys were rolling around on the field laughing. ?Bernie got the try and we won the game.

We also used to do a bit singing as a team and I was the choir master and we sang a rather vulgar version of that old Australian song Road to Gundagai. We got into trouble after singing it in the presence of distinguished guests including the Governor General after playing the British Lions in 1977. Everybody loved it at the time, but we got berated for it afterwards of course.

As well as Freeman and Ryan, Ian Upston was also a terrific coach. Similar to Ryan in being a quiet well-respected guy and the team just played to win for him.

Post retirement, you moved to Auckland, where you are still based, and coached at club level up there for a while?

I coached at Waitemata with former Auckland No. 8 Joe Posa for a couple of years. During that time Joe and I were privileged to introduce a teenaged Michael Jones to Senior rugby, straight out of Henderson High School. We said gee, this guy's got potential! I said to Joe that we should play him at centre because he ran with ball and passed so well, but we decided to keep him at flanker. Tongue in cheek, we always said that we discovered him, but in fact he discovered himself.

Do you still follow Wellington club rugby? What are your thoughts on the Axemen's revival?

I've got two great mates in Wellington. Paul Williams, a former flanker for the Wellington club, and Murray Mexted. Those guys keep me posted. Murray has done a magnificent job getting the Wellington club back into Premier rugby. I've got other good mates as well who keep informed.

Who's your favourite halfback at present?

I really like Aaron Smith. He's really busy around the field and passes superbly - and he's still improving. He's going to be one of the very good All Blacks.