Water tragedy: Record-breaking rugby legend dies in diving accident
A jumping mishap off the Te Araroa shoreline has killed East Coast and heartland rugby saint Morgan Waitoa.
Police affirmed toward the beginning of today that a body had been situated in the quest for a previous disappeared and bombed man to reemerge off the East Coast shoreline on Wednesday.
"While formal ID has not yet occurred, Police trust it to be the missing man," they said in an assertion. "Police's contemplations are with the man's family as of now."
Accolades have begun to be posted online for the tremendously regarded Waitoa, including from the Waiapu Rugby Club who stated: "Tear Cuzy Nuts Morgan Waitoa, What a Man What a Legend."
Waitoa both played and afterward trained the Ngāti Porou East Coast rugby crew.
He holds the record for most games played for the area at 115 appearances. He is only one of three players to have addressed the group in 100 games or more.
Waitoa, 61, first addressed the East Coast as a teenager in 1979.
His mind boggling life span in the side saw him actually playing common rugby in 2006, an amazing 27 seasons later.
Positions he played for during his rep profession included second-five, flanker, lock, No 8 and prop.
His experience with the common battlers saw him play during three of their best seasons: winning the NPC Third Division title in both 1999 and 2000, and afterward being important for the group, which lost the 2000 NPC Second Division last to Hawke's Bay.
Waitoa was all the while playing club rugby until a few seasons prior, just as showing up for the East Coast Legends, a group including players who had recently played rep rugby for the territory.
He said in a meeting with Radio Ngāti Porou in 2013 that he was "all the while appreciating it".
He kidded that like each and every other player he had been harmed, yet the way in to his life span had been "taking care of" himself.
"It is tied in with keeping your body fit," he said.
When inquired as to whether he actually went out on preparing runs, Waitoa giggled prior to let the station know that he "actually went out hunting".
"It is tied in with doing dynamic things."
A portion of the match features of his commonplace profession remembered playing for Eas Coast's 1987 Ranfurly Shield challenge against an All Black-stacked Auckland side at Eden Park.
Auckland dominated the match.
"We had a decent development that year," he said.
"They were the world's best players [back then]. To get to stir up with them was okay."
After 10 years he was an individual from the East Coast group who the elegant Auckland group beat 115–6 in a Ranfurly Shield challenge facilitated at Ruatoria's Whakarua Park.
Waitoa was additionally essential for the East Coast-Poverty Bay joined choice who played the visiting Scotland group in 2000 in Gisborne. The Scots won 51–10.
Police said the demise will be alluded to the Coroner.
- by Neil Reid, NZ Herald
