Humble. Selfless. An incredible rugby player and an even better man.
The Heartland hero was as modest as ever, down-playing his latest recognition for his long list of contributions to rugby in North Otago.
The man known as "Bones" and Neville Gard were made life members of North Otago Rugby on Monday.
Asked how he felt about the recognition, Hay (43) was quick to quip: "not old enough".
Then he shifted the limelight to his family — parents Alan and Anne, and wife Jo — for their support, allowing him to play, and volunteer for Maheno and the Old Golds for the best part of 20 years.
"It’s a privilege, I suppose you could say, to be given it," Hay said.
"The thing is it’s not just sort of me that’s been involved, people have been involved with it as well, family, and that.
"They’ve allowed me some time to do it all."
Hay’s list of achievements dates back to his school days at St Kevin’s College.
The flanker played representative under-14, under-16 and under-18 rugby for North Otago, made the New Zealand under-16 secondary schools side in 1995, and the South Island secondary schools side from 1995-1997.
He went on to make the Dunedin premier colts and North Otago development teams in 1998 and the following year debuted for Maheno and North Otago.
In 2001, his highlight in the green jersey came, winning Maheno’s first Citizens Shield title in 11 years.
He officially hung up the boots for Maheno — having played "on and off" in recent years — in 2012, two years after retiring from Heartland commitments.
Hay played 114 first-class games for the Old Golds from 1999-2010, and was named Heartland played of the year in 2007, made the Heartland XV in 2007-2008 and captained the side from 2008-2009.
It was a golden era for the team too, winning the old NPC third division in 2002 and the Meads Cup in 2007, but it was the experiences off the field he remembered most.
"I think as an experience it was sort of quite a highlight, getting to see all those smaller parts of New Zealand."
Since putting his playing days behind him, Hay joined the North Otago board from 2008-2013 and has spent the best part of the last 10 years running Maheno’s JAB, and serving on the North Otago JAB club council.
His children Charlie (13), Phoebe (12) and Archie (9) led Hay and wife Jo — who has been doing "more than I have" recently — to get involved in junior rugby.
They stepped down from running the JAB this year, but Hay would still help out coaching.
"The thing is, over the early parts of my career . . . a lot of people did stuff that contributed to what we did as players.
He had been "giving back to the community, I suppose, for what we had earlier on".
And while he was grateful to be made a life member, he felt there were others who deserved the accolade.
"There’s a lot of people that probably deserve as much recognition as what I do for what they do within the club rugby and rugby community as a whole.
"There’s a lot of other people that give a lot of time that don’t get recognised but probably should.
"I suppose it goes back to that whole family thing — I couldn’t have done what I have without help from other people."
Gard, a stalwart of the Kurow rugby club and community, was also recognised for his contributions.
He played for Kurow from 1957 to 1967 and made his North Otago debut in 1962.
While he may have only played one game for the Old Golds, it was a memorable one, playing on the wing during their 14-13 win against Australia.
The same year he joined Kurow’s committee, was appointed as the club’s North Otago delegate from 1980-1990, and served as Kurow’s president from 1994-1995.
But possibly he is best known for the countless hours he spent as the groundsman at Kurow from 1990-2020.
He was made a life member of the Kurow club in 2001.
- North Otago recorded a net profit of $371,162 for the past year.
Chief executive Colin Jackson described the results as a "defining outcome" for the union.
"Finally, we have monetary reserves and the ability to finance major capital projects," Jackson said.
"Also gratifying is that all of our rugby clubs and the referees association received large payments to tangibly assist projects in and around their clubrooms, fields and initiatives to facilitate membership recruitment."
