Page 42 - Hereford Magazine 2022

After a lifetime of showing and stock judging, he was the first
New Zealand Hereford breeder to judge cattle at the prestigious
South African National Show in 2008. He grew up in Wairarapa,
where both his parents came from stud breeding families.
In 1977, Bruce used his 21 money to buy six stud Hereford
st
cows in partnership with his brother Richie. Bruce had been
working in Southland since finishing school, and by the mid-
1980s was managing Carolynn’s family farm at Mimihau, near
Wyndham. In 1987, the brothers halved the stud in Greytown,
which had been registered under the name Platform
Herefords, with Bruce and Carolynn forming Duncraigen
Hereford Stud.
Bruce had been playing rugby since his arrival in the
south, after playing Under 18s for Wairarapa Bush. He turned
out at No. 8 for Wyndham, progressing through to Southland
Colts, then the Southland team and the New Zealand Colts
(five caps).
Duane in his new role with Datamars. “It was a wee internal tour and the Irish Universities team
was our test match at the finish. A lot of All Blacks came out
1993 and beating Otago 40-5 to win the national championship of that team. Buck Shelford was captain and nine of that team
in 1992. went on to be full All Blacks.”
He started playing rugby when he was six. Most of his senior There’s debate around the kitchen table whether Bruce
rugby was played for Fraser Tech in Hamilton before he was would have taken an ABs jersey from incumbents Murray
selected to represent Waikato in 1987, going on to play a Mexted and Geoff Old, or the upcoming Shelford, if a knee
massive 135 games for them, plus one season for the Chiefs. injury hadn’t ruled him out of further national selection at the
He then played Currie Cup rugby in South Africa for Western time. He did continue to play for Southland until he was about
Province, and his last season was played for West Hartlepool 26, when he retired to take over the farm.
in England, where his battered body called time on his career. “They chased me for a long time because I was still playing
He had his first hip replacement when he was 37 and another club footy. I had to give up the rep stuff; none of us were
when he was 45, plus a couple of knee operations and a few getting paid at that stage and we had debt up to our ears. We
broken fingers. were paying 19% interest rates. Farming was more important,
After hanging up his boots, Duane remained committed to and looking back it was the right decision. We started with 550
rugby and the province, working as a development officer and acres [222ha] and have grown it to what it is today [810ha].”
doing some tackle and defence coaching at the Chiefs. The couple now farm in partnership with Casey and her
Trucks are Duane’s other passion. After rugby, he drove big husband Luke Caldwell on the home farm, Duncraigen. Marc
rigs for a few years then worked in transport manager roles and his wife Jolene took over the 380ha Lauder Falls property
before being appointed to Datamars (formerly Tru-Test) four in June 2021 and farm in their own right.
years ago. He lives in Cambridge and covers Waikato, King Duncraigen has 70 stud cows. Most of the bulls go into the
Country and Thames Valley. dairy industry through paddock sales, with about a quarter sold
“I’m dealing with really good people, the same sort of rural to beef buyers through online platform Bidr. They also have a
people who supported me when I was playing rugby,” he says. Dorset Down stud and the Motu-nui South Romney stud.
He ended up having a permanent relationship with NZ Bruce was 49 when he stopped playing club rugby, although
Herefords after an unforgettable herd tour in Northland – he managed to get three seasons playing with Marc, who is
“…going on those beautiful farms, seeing those beautiful now chairman of Southland Country Rugby.
Herefords, and meeting all the breeders. It was the best week”. “There were three of us playing in that team with our sons. We
had a lot of fun. I’m a life member of Wyndham, and I coached
Herefords and rugby: like family them for a while, but I’m just an honorary supporter now.”
Former Black Fern forward Casey has also coached the
From Northland to Southland – Herefords have meant a lot to Wyndham team, the first woman in the province to coach a
Wyndham’s Robertson family, Bruce and Carolynn and their senior men’s team. They made the finals of the Southland
adult children Marc and Casey. competition for the four years she was at the helm, winning
From club rugby to the Black Ferns, from farming two of them.
Herefords to going to a World Hereford Conference, Bruce The coaching came after she retired from the Black Ferns.
says it’s the people who have made them memorable, and She retired from coaching the season after having daughter
both are like family. Charlie, now aged four.
Both Marc and Casey have been involved in Hereford youth “The midwife rang the day after my check up, about three
organisations: Casey was the NZ Herefords ambassador to weeks before I was due, and I was yelling at the boys at
Australia in 2015, and in 2020 Marc, who is a past president of training. She said, ‘You’d better come back again because your
Future Beef New Zealand, helped to run the youth programme bloods have gone through the roof,’ and I was like, ‘No f-ing
at the World Hereford Conference. wonder,’ because we played terrible that weekend. The next day
Bruce is a past president of NZ Herefords and served on the I went into labour.”
national council for more than a decade. She had Charlie and was back at training the next week, but

40 HEREFORD MAGAZINE Year 2022