John Purewa Brodrick (Jack) (1913 – 11 March 1965) was a rugby league player. He represented the New Zealand rugby league team in 7 matches in 1937 and 1938. In the process he became the 252nd player to represent New Zealand. He played rugby union in the Bay of Plenty area predominantly for Ruatoki, and represented Bay of Plenty in the mid-1930s, and New Zealand Māori in 1935. He then moved to Auckland and played rugby league for the Manukau club. He represented Auckland, Auckland Māori, the North Island, and New Zealand.
Early life John (Jack) Brodrick was born in Ruatoki North in the Bay of Plenty in 1913 to Ernest Brodrick (1858–?), and Te Pari Tiakiwai (?-1940) when Ernest was aged 56. Ernest had been born in Baydon, Wiltshire, England in 1858. The original spelling of Brodrick was ‘Broderick’ but the ‘e’ dropped out of the spelling at some point. Jack had another sibling through Ernest and Te Pari's marriage named Mary Brodrick (1916–1984). Ernest had been married previously to Hinemoa Brodrick Tepo (1880–?) and they had a daughter, Emily Margaret Ihaia Brodrick (1902–1987) who was Jack Brodrick's half-sister. The family lived in the Bay of Plenty, in Ruatoki North, while in 1935 the General Roll showed that Ernest was living on Merritt Street in Whakatāne, while working as an agent.
Playing career Rugby Union Whakatane HS and Rangitaiki (1931) Jack Brodrick grew up in the Ruatoki area and attended Whakatane High School where he played in the 1st XV rugby union team. After leaving school he spent time in the Rangitaiki District (between Whakatāne and Te Puke) before returning to the Bay of Plenty. The first mention of his involvement in rugby post high school was in 1931 for the Rangitaiki sub union team against Ōpōtiki. He was named in the reserves for the 27 June match when he would have been aged about 18. He was named in their reserves once again on 12 July for a match with Te Puke at Matatā but he in fact played in the game. The Bay of Plenty Times said that Brodrick played a “solid game” in the second row of the forwards. Brodrick's Rangitaiki side lost 10–12 to a last minute penalty to claim the Apanui Shield. Brodrick then played in a match against Whakatane on 1 August which they won 5–3. Rangitaiki played again 2 weeks later on 15 August with Brodrick playing well in the second row in a 15–8 loss. The Bay of Plenty Times said “Broderick secured and made a great run, being pushed out near the line”, then towards the end of the game he secured the ball from a high attacking kick and passed “to Anderson, who pushed his way over the line” to score.
In 1932 Brodrick did not play any rugby. He was charged with stealing a case of beer from Matata Station on 26 December 1931, and plead guilty along with the other 5 men involved. Brodrick was fined £5 and ordered to make restitution of £1 2/6 in order to avoid one months imprisonment along with two of the other men. The other three were given prison sentences due to prior offending. He did not participate in any rugby matches that season.
Rugby for Ruatoki and Whakatane (1933) At the start of 1933 Brodrick joined the Ruatoki team where he had grown up. He played in their first match on 6 May against Paroa. He then played in matches against City on 20 May, Whakatane on 27 May, Poroporo on 10 June, and City again on 24 June.
Then in July, Brodrick was selected for the Whakatane (sub-union) representative team to play Tauranga on the 29th. Tauranga won by 16 points to 11 at the Tauranga Domain with Brodrick on the back of the scrum. He played for the same Whakatane side on 5 August against Te Puke at Te Puke's ground. A weakened Whakatane side lost a close game 17–15 with Brodrick playing in the second row. He scored his first try for Whakatane on 26 August in a 16–5 win over Galatea at Matata. His try came early in the match with Whakatane clearing out to a 16–0 lead. The following month Brodrick turned out for Mātaatua in a match with Arawa. They were tribal teams representing Māori with the Mātaatua name deriving from one of the first great voyaging canoes which arrived in the Whakatane area approximately 700 years ago. The game was played at Arawa Park in Rotorua on 30 September with the local side winning 12–3. Brodrick's final game of the season was for Whakatane against Ōpōtiki on 9 September for the Parata Cup. Ōpōtiki had an “easy” 23–5 win.
Bay of Plenty debut (1934) The 1934 season saw Brodrick make his full representative debut when he played for the Bay of Plenty side towards the end of the rugby year. His first match of the season was for Ruatoki against the Whakātane club side on 5 May. On 26 May he played for Ruatoki against Waimana in a 12–12 draw. Ruatoki then lost to Paroa 9–6 on 2 June. Brodrick was then chosen in the Whakātane union side to play Rangitaiki at the Whakātane Domain on 19 May. Whakātane lost 12 points to 8. His next game was again for Whakātane against Ōpōtiki on 14 June and then he played again for them on Te Puke on 16 June. Whakatāne won the later match 23 to 3. A month later he was chosen once more in the Whakatane side to play against Rangitaiki for the Te Hurinui Apanui Shield. The match was played at Te Teko on 21 July.
Then in mid September Brodrick was chosen for the Bay of Plenty side to play against the nearby Thames Valley union. Brodrick was chosen in the second row. The match was played at Waihi with Bay of Plenty winning 11 to 9. Brodrick scored a try when Thames Valley led 6–0 to narrow the score. His try came after he picked up the ball from a forward attack and “dashed over to score a good try”. He was chosen as an emergency reserve for Bay of Plenty's match the following Saturday against Waikato at Te Puke but was not required and his season ended.
New Zealand Māori (1935) The 1935 season saw Brodrick selected for an All Black trial game, and then later in the season for the New Zealand Māori tour of Australia. Brodrick began the season once more playing for Ruatoki in the Whakātane area competition with games on 4 and 11 May. And then again against Tāneatua on 18 May where they won 20 to 8. On 1 June Brodrick played for Whakātane Māori against Whakātane Pākehā with the Pākehā side winning 11 to 5.
Brodrick was then selected as one of twelve Bay of Plenty players to play in a New Zealand trial match at the Oval in Gisborne. The other eighteen players chosen to make up the two sides were from the Gisborne-Poverty Bay area. From this trial it was intended to choose a team to play a Hawkes Bay-Bush side which would assist the New Zealand selectors in choosing the touring side to tour England. The Possibles whom Brodrick was playing for won the match 19 to 9. The Gisborne Times said that Brodrick was one of the best of the forwards in the match though all played well. Brodrick however missed out on selection for the following match. George Nēpia played in the match and it was reported afterwards that he had received an offer to switch to the rugby league code. He would stay with rugby union at the time but later did make the switch and played with Brodrick at Manukau as well as with New Zealand Māori and New Zealand.
Brodrick then played in 2 more games for Ruatoki against City on 8 June and Waimana on 22 June before he was selected in the Bay of Plenty side to tour the East Coast, Poverty Bay, and Wairoa District.
Brodrick did not however go on the tour with the Bay of Plenty side as he was selected in the Māori All Blacks team to tour Australia from 2 July to mid August. The Gisborne Times reported that the average age of the team was 24 and that Brodrick's height was 6 foot 1, and weight 14 stone. Also in the side was 30 year old George Nēpia, Jack Hemi, Tommy Chase, Hawea Mataira, and Len Kawe. All of whom would convert to rugby league relatively soon after the tour, with Nēpia, Chase, and Kawe all playing with Brodrick at Manukau, while Mataira joined the City Rovers club also in Auckland.
Brodrick played in 7 of the 9 matches on tour. He missed the first match of the tour which was a 39–22 loss to Queensland at the Exhibition Oval in Brisbane on 14 July. Eight of the Māori side were in hospital suffering from influenza, while Brodrick was taken to a dentist on the evening of the game to have an abscessed tooth extracted. Even the manager of the side, Mr. W.J. Wallace was struck down with influenza. A photograph of him playing tennis at Milton with teammates appeared in The Telegraph (Brisbane) days later on 16 July.
It was reported after the tour that Brodrick and George Harrison were the two fastest players in the team and "with their brilliant speed, were always the worry of the opposition. Brodrick found his place as a permanent loose forward following a race over 60 yards in which he and Harrison beat the remaining members of the touring party". Brodrick's first match was against Toowoomba on 17 July in front of 3,000 spectators. They won 35 to 13 with it reported in the Te Puke Times that along with the Māori side playing spectacularly “another Maori find was Brodrick, who is sure to be picked to play against Queensland on Saturday”. The Courier Mail said afterwards, looking at the team named to play Queensland that “another important pack change will be the inclusion of Broderick, who surprised the managers with his sterling performance at Toowoomba”. And that the team had all recovered from influenza and would be at full strength for the second match against Queensland. The strengthened Māori side won 15 to 13 on 20 July before 10,000 in Brisbane, with Brodrick scoring a try which clinched the match. It was said that “Harrison and Cooper were in particularly good form with Broderick and Mataira next”. Brodrick's try with Hemi's conversion made the score 15–10 in their favour before a Queensland penalty narrowed the margin to the final score. His try came after a movement started by Harrison with Brodrick, Whiteley and Mataira also involved at the head of the raid. At the end of it Brodrick got a “favourable bounce” to collect and go over. Early in the match Brodrick, playing in the loose forwards, had been involved in a movement with Mataira and Whiu which carried the play well into Queensland territory.
Brodrick played in their next match against New South Wales on 27 July before an enormous crowd of 25,000. Brodrick was said to have been “the best of the forwards” along with Rogers. They beat Western Districts in Bathurst by 42 points to 8 with Brodrick not playing. He was however named in their side to play Victoria at the Carlton ground on 3 August.
He played again in their second match against New South Wales on 10 August in Sydney. Before 20,000 spectators at the Sydney Cricket Ground the Māori side won 14–5 to win their series against NSW with the Prime Minister of New Zealand, George Forbes in attendance. Early in the second half with the score 3–0 to NZ Māori Brodrick was involved in a dangerous burst with Jack Hemi and C. Smith all handling and NSW was said to be “lucky” to avoid conceding a try. The Sydney Mail published a photograph of Brodrick tackling J. O’Gormon. The Referee publication in Sydney reported that “Brodrick and Rodgers also played havoc among our inside men who were standing too far up on the opposition when New South Wales won the ball. These two men have yeoman service, and were instrumental in stopping our backs from getting going”. He also gave Gibbons, the halfback a “torrid time” along with Harrison.
The team then traveled north to play in Newcastle and their selectors, Billy Wallace, and Kingi Tahiwi chose Brodrick on the back of the scrum once more. New Zealand Māori won the game by 11 points to 0.