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The injury, and the desire to put the team first, robbed the late David Halligan of the opportunity to play a rugby event, but his brother “always thought of Dave as an All Black.”
The talented former fullback, an Otago star in the early 1980s, once joked that he had “become a Trivial Pursuit question” as the man selected for the All Blacks, but never got to play.
Halligan died suddenly, aged 61, in Mount Maunganui earlier this month, and was fired at a gathering where friends and family praised his athletic talents and his dedication to helping at-risk men in his beloved Bay of Plenty.
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David Halligan, photographed in the 1990s, was the All Blacks’ full back in 1981, but never got to play.
Since then, stories about Halligan’s precocious rugby talent have flowed among contemporaries who remember him as one of the most unfortunate players to ever win an All Blacks cap.
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“Dave was the George Best of our time, very talented,” wrote Dirk Williams, wing of the University of Otago, Otago, Wellington and Wallabies, in a message read at Halligan’s funeral, comparing his former teammate to the famous forward of the Manchester United. and personality larger than life.
Halligan – Hooley to his teammates – made the headlines in 1981 when he was selected as a fullback for the All Blacks to play Scotland at Carisbrook after a great performance for the South Island.
Ian Mackley / Stuff
Dave Halligan threw a shot on goal in 1981.
Radio host Phil Gifford recalled in The herald of the weekend last year when he called Halligan to his flat at 7:30 am to discuss his selection, the new hat – reluctantly woken up by a roommate – came to the phone and could only manage to croak: “Speight’s is great.” .
A potentially long test run attracted the 21-year-old, who could kick goals from the middle and cut through defenses, but fate intervened in the All Blacks’ first training session on Thursday morning before the Scottish test.
Stretching out, in cold, wet conditions as he ran to the baseline, Halligan felt his quadriceps rip.
Many players may have kept the injury a secret, but Halligan decided to tell coach Peter Burke that he was not completely fit.
A deeply disappointed Halligan was photographed sitting thoughtfully on a ladder as All Blacks officials called in replacement fullback Allan Hewson of Wellington for his first international game.
“If I had kept it quiet, it probably could have started on Saturday,” Halligan said. The herald of the weekend in 2019. “But that would have been dishonest.”
He stated that he was “not upset at the time” because he thought he was young enough to get another chance.
However, Hewson kept the No. 15 All Blacks jersey for the 1981 series against the Springboks.
Halligan sat on the bench for the three-Test series against Australia in 1982, but never entered the field.
“In those days, they had no tactical substitutions, so he never got a cap,” Halligan’s brother Peter explained Wednesday.
In 1983, after 43 games for Otago and a stint as captain, Halligan moved to Auckland where he played a few games for the representative team before leaving senior rugby after a bout of glandular fever and the desire to focus on his career. business as a futures broker.
He had a keen interest in rugby for the rest of his life, but his brother Peter “never heard Dave express any regrets” for not playing a test match.
“He never carried it as some kind of cross.
“From what I understand, he probably could have played. He could probably have pretended he wasn’t injured and moved on.
“It was probably a difficult decision to make, this is your chance to be an All Black, the door was open. But he made the right decision and did what was best for the team.
“I always thought of Dave as an All Black. While he didn’t technically make that designation, he was effectively of that standard.”
David Mark Halligan was born in 1959 and grew up in Putaruru, a couple of years behind Wayne Smith, who became the first fifth eighth and coach of the All Blacks.
The Halligan brothers were always “at Putaruru High School, kicking a ball or hitting a golf ball.”
John O’Brien / Stuff
David Halligan was known as a prodigious kicker with a devastating side step and clever tactical awareness during his elite rugby career in the early 1980s.
Dave Halligan’s natural gift for the sport blossomed as an intern at King’s College, where the principal asked him in an entrance interview if he could “kick with both feet.”
Halligan became King’s boss and captain of King’s College rugby first XV and cricket first XI, as an all-rounder “who threw with his left hand and hit with his right,” his brother recalled.
He was also the 1500m junior record holder, a triple jump and steeplechase champion, was “a fairly competent tennis player and played golf with a single figure handicap.”
Halligan represented Auckland high schools in rugby and cricket in his final two years at King’s.
After leaving school, he left for the University of Otago determined to do a double major in business and law, but once there he specialized in rugby, before graduating with a degree in behavioral economics.
In his sophomore year, 1979, he was part of the University of Otago rugby club’s Speight’s Shield winning team.
Ken Hodge, a professor of sports and exercise psychology at the University of Otago, who played alongside Halligan for four seasons “and was with him for two years,” said his friend was “an outrageous rugby talent.”
“By today’s standards, it wasn’t big, but it was reasonably large for an outside runner at the time. It was fast and could stomp with both feet. It was a brilliant side step, it could read the game and had the best sense of space of any player that I had the privilege of playing with.
“We were playing a game in Carisbrook one day where the ball went into touch. Quick throws weren’t really taken in those days, but Dave caught the ball, threw it five meters to him, and quietly dropped a 45-meter goal. ., then ran back like ‘doesn’t everyone do that?’ ”
Halligan was also “a prodigious kicker,” who started out “by copying Andy Irvine from the 1977 Lions tour, who used to lay down kick per bunt.”
Michael Bradley / Getty Images
Former All Blacks captain David Kirk, who played rugby with Halligan in Dunedin, said he had great talent.
Hodge, a former rower who had to “push himself” in the preseason, said Halligan had “an infuriating ability to get in shape in just a few weeks after having fun all summer. He was what they now call a ‘fast responder.’ .
Halligan, who came out as a fullback, first five eighths, second five, center and on the wing for Otago, played in a golden age of college rugby where his teammates included All Blacks World Cup winners David Kirk and Warwick Taylor. , too. as future Wallaby Williams.
Kirk, who attended Halligan’s farewell, formed a top-five combination with Halligan at the club level, after Halligan had patiently waited for Winston Peters’ younger brother Wayne, a Junior All Black from New Zealand, will graduate and vacate the number 10 in jump.
“Of the first five I played with, the three most notable were Wayne Smith, Frano Botica and Grant Fox, but I’d say Dave was the most physically talented of that group of four, with his combination of speed, power and skill. .
“He would just back his talents, just like some players we see today, just backing up to beat one player and run to others.”
Kirk said that you would never know “if Dave had the determination” to make it to the top in the test level “since the other three [first-fives] He did, but he certainly had great physical talent. ”
Beyond the field, Halligan, who in later life preferred to wear Hawaiian shirts and shorts, was always good company.
“He had a laugh that was bigger than Texas and could fill the room,” Hodge said.
Kirk remembers Halligan as “a sociable person.”
“He really loved his rugby, and he was a lovely, laid-back boy. If you were on tour with him, it would be fun to be with him. ”
Halligan, who had four children, left the business world behind and settled near the beach in Mount Maunganui about 17 years ago, returning to his happy place where he spent many summers on vacation from Putaruru.
Peter Halligan says his brother found his niche after founding a men’s life skills and parenting advocacy trust in Tauranga.
“He found something he could add value to and was very passionate about it,” said Peter.
Kirk was not surprised that Halligan was successful in the new life “supporting people who needed help” because he was “a loving guy and a good listener, who could get people to open up and talk about things.”
Peter Halligan said his brother “did a lot of good in that space, as a man who talked to men, in a manly way. He opened a lot of doors for men and was helping others to the end.” ‘
