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Former Kiwis league player and West Coast icon Tony Coll has died.
Coll, who played 30 tests for the Kiwis between 1972 and 1982, was captain of the national team at the 1977 Rugby League World Cup.
He was listed as a New Zealand Rugby Legend in 2007, and was a former Gray District councilor.
The second rower was Kiwi No. 503 and was considered one of the last internationals on the west coast of Kiwi.
Close friend Tony Kokshoorn, a former mayor of the Gray District, said the couple were biking the Wilderness Trail near Karoro on Thursday morning when Coll suffered a heart attack.
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* West Coast Mayor to the rescue after the heart attack of the Kiwi League legend
“I was about 10 feet ahead of him and I heard him scream at Koko, which is my nickname. I knew something was wrong right away, ”said Kokshoorn.
“He just collapsed and his bike went off track. We worked on it, but it just didn’t happen. ”
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Tony Coll, left, pictured with close friend Tony Kokshoorn in 2019.
The couple had known each other their entire lives and had been together on many adventures.
The Thursday morning mountain bike ride was a regular occurrence, but the first in six weeks due to the nationwide coronavirus blockade and the couple had been “pretty excited,” Kokshoorn said.
“I’m surprised I lost my best friend. He put us on alert after the first [heart attack] but he had begun to prove that we were all wrong. He was so tough and so fit.
“He came out as a fighter.”
In February 2019, Kokshoorn saved Coll’s life after his heart stopped while he was standing at Kokshoorn’s door.
Kokshoorn ironically said, the couple were passing their home again on Thursday when Coll had his second heart attack.
Kokshoorn performed CPR on Coll both times, but this time “it just wasn’t meant to be.”
West Coast- Tamsman MP Damien O’Connor posted a tribute to Coll on Twitter on Thursday night.
“Today the West Coast lost a hero, a community leader, and a wonderful guy. RIP Tony Coll,” wrote O’Connor.
Coll was a proud West Coaster who was born to play the rugby league; her father Peter played for the west coast team that beat the tour of Britain in 1946.
Coll’s nephew, Greymouth-born Paul Coll, is the fifth player on the world squash circuit and a medalist for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Tony Coll made his test debut at the 1972 World Cup and in 1975 was rated by the coach of the West Coast legend of the Kiwis, George Menzies, as the best striker the Coast had ever produced; a few compliments considering the list included Charlie McBride, Chang Newton, Bill (Ginger) McLennan, Frank Mulcare, and Jock Butterfield.
In 1975, he scored one of his career best attempts, half the field effort in a 25-24 loss to Wales in a world championship game in Swansea, where he left the test wings of Great Britain John Bevan and Bill Francis in his path.
Fit, fast and brave, Coll was the New Zealand Player of the Year in 1976 and led the Kiwis at the 1977 World Cup in New Zealand and Australia.
He resigned from the captaincy at his request in 1978, but continued to serve the Kiwis skillfully. By 1980, the Annual New Zealand Rugby League He noted that a “current Kiwi side without Tony Coll is unthinkable.”
Coll scored 18 attempts during his games with the Kiwis, and kicked his only goal in his final test, against Papua New Guinea in 1982.
As a teenager, Coll spent a year playing in Christchurch for the Marist Western Suburbs club and was a reserve for Canterbury in 1970.
Back home on the west coast, he played 227 games for his beloved Marist club and 58 games for the west coast, earning the province’s Player of the Year title three times.
Coll captained the South Island with an 18-17 victory over Sydney in 1976 and a 12-11 victory over Australia at Christchurch in 1980.
While playing with and against some of the best players in the international rugby league of his time, Coll was noted for his dedication to his Marist club.
Greymouth League fans often fondly remembered how ‘Butch’ Coll would play a test match at Carlaw Park in Auckland on a Saturday, fly to Hokitika early Sunday afternoon, grab a taxi at the airport, put on his uniform during the cab ride to Wingham Park, and then it turned out for Marist in a West Coast club game.
Coll trained alongside the west coast in 1986 and 1987.
A diesel mechanic by profession, Coll ran a successful sports shop on Greymouth’s main street for many years.
He was elected to the Greymouth District Council in 2011 and served under Kokshoorn Mayor’s Office until 2019.
