The Morgan Files

Last updated 13:45, Thursday, 15 May 2008

GED Stokes was always willing to shed blood for rugby league – even when it was his schoolteacher dealing out the blows.

Haven's new head coach Ged Stokes. pic MIKE McKENZIE 2nd April 2008

The single-mindedness that became such a trait in later life, was evident at 15, when the future Whitehaven and Workington Town coach would sneak out of his boarding school in New Zealand every Saturday morning to play league for Canterbury.

He had his eye on a place in the NZ Under-15 side, and to do that he had to make his mark for Canterbury.

Unfortunately for Stokes, his schoolmaster also made his mark, on the budding prop forward’s backside, as a matter of routine every Saturday.

“You weren’t allowed out of the school on a Saturday morning, but I would sneak away,” said Stokes.

“When I got back to the school I would be caned, four times on the backside. It used to bleed. Then I had to play for the First XV in the afternoon.”

When Stokes returned to the school many years later, his reputation in rugby league sealed, he noticed his photo on a wall, wearing his NZ jersey.

“It was in among all the photos of the All Blacks,” he added, with satisfaction.

Raised in a rugby league-made area of Christchurch, there was only ever one sport for young Stokes.

He went on to share a field with many of the game’s legendary names, including some with Cumbrian connections, including ferocious packmen Kurt Sorensen, who like Stokes, went on to coach Haven and Town, and Kevin Tamati, another ex-Recreation Ground boss.

“Kevin Tamati got a bit carried away with the tough man image. It ruined him at times, because he was quite a good ball player,” said Stokes, who recalled slugging it out toe-to-toe with the Kiwi legend on rugby fields on both sides of the world. That image never worked for him in New Zealand because he came up against guys who would bang him one.

“As a prop forward in those days you had to be reasonably aggressive. If you took a backward step it was curtains.

“Not many were running around with straight noses in those days. You didn’t look up in the scrum, that’s for sure.

“Kurt Sorensen was a very good player, widely respected as one of the toughest around. He was very strong and did weights before it was popular among players.”

Stokes lined up for his country against superstars such as Mal Meninga and Wally Lewis, both named in Australia’s team of the 20th century.

But he rated Kiwi playmaker Clayton Friend, the ex-Haven and Carlisle Raiders scrum-half, as highly as any.

“I played with Clayton the first year I made the Kiwis, and he was unbelievable,” added the coach. “He was such an instinctive player.”

In 1982, after turning out eight times for his country, Stokes took the then unusual step of moving to England for a 12-month stint with Workington Town.

He was back at Derwent Park seven years later, fitting in a few games during a tour of Europe, playing as a trialist, AN Other.

“Those were the days,” he laughed.

Meanwhile, Stokes had taken his first coaching job, with his Kiwi club Marist. He was 27.

He admitted: “I hadn’t really wanted to do it. The board approached me and I turned it down, but they couldn’t get anyone else.

“We did really well that year, though it wasn’t due to my coaching. We had a really good team. That was when I discovered that coaching wasn’t as easy as everyone thinks.”

Over the next 15 years he held a string of senior positions in Kiwi RL, culminating in 2000, when his team Canterbury Bulls won the inaugural Lion Red Cup, the country’s new domestic competition.

He was rewarded with the New Zealand RL coach-of-the-year accolade.

Two years later he was Gary Freeman’s No 2 with the Test team that drew their series with the Brits.

In 2003, he was back in Britain, in charge of the NZ A-team. And at the end of the tour, he was offered the vacant coaching job at Town.

The club was at a low ebb, but Stokes’ record during his three-and-a-half-year tenure was impressive.

“When I got there they had seven players,” he said. “When I left they had 33 signed-on professionals, an Academy team and scholarship programme.

“We had a 68% win ratio in league games. That speaks for itself. We also had a 13-month unbeaten record at home.

“I really enjoyed the environment and the challenge. It was 24/7 for two years at least, until we got structures in place. We have some really good friends there.”

A handful of hand-picked Kiwis he drafted in formed the nucleus of his team. Full-back Lusi Sione and hooker Jonny Limmer became firm crowd favourites, and John Tuimaualuga and Taani Lavulavu added drive to the pack.

One of Stokes’ major achievements came in 2005, when Town beat fierce local rivals Haven 28-8, in the Northern Rail Cup.

The only other teams to defeat Haven that season, one of the best in their history, were Wigan, Castleford and Halifax.

“Some credited us with putting Haven’s year back on track,” he said. “Our win was a surprise to a lot of people but not me, as we’d had a really good off-season.

“I was proud of the fact that we were the only Workington team to beat Whitehaven in a long, long time.”

Stokes was axed by Town in April last year over an alleged row with a visiting supporter during the club’s Northern Rail Cup clash with Barrow two months earlier.

An RFL inquiry in to the incident had cleared the Kiwi of any wrong-doing.

But following a subsequent Town disciplinary hearing he was fired for gross misconduct. Workington later upheld the decision following an appeal.

The two parties announced an out-of-court settlement 24 hours before they were due before the High Court last November.

When he left Derwent Park, wife Deb decided to ditch her job working for the club lottery.

The couple were left with little income for 11 months, surviving by dipping in to savings, and friends were always on hand to give much-needed moral support.

With son Ben a professional cricketer with Durham, they decided to tough it out in West Cumbria.

Stokes lost a little of his lifelong enthusiasm for rugby league over the manner of his departure from Derwent Park, though he refused to be downcast.

“I got myself in to a routine of going to the gym and keeping busy during the day. I also kept myself informed about what was happening in rugby league,” he continued.

“I knew that if I left the game, it was like being defeated by people who kept me out of the game. I decided to get on the horse again.

“It was very tough for Deborah but she’s been my best supporter right through my rugby league life.”

After nine months on the sidelines, he was invited to help out with Cumberland League amateurs Cockermouth. And during his first training session, his enthusiasm for the game flooded back.

Stokes’ big break back in to the pro ranks came when new Haven boss Paul Crarey fell ill early this season.

Haven directors’ first port of call was Stokes, and the Kiwi did not have to ponder long before accepted the post for the rest of the season.

Stokes has his eye on a longer-term deal with the League One club, and his dream is to nurture a squad utilising to the full, Cumbrian talent nurtured in the club’s scholarship programme and reserve-grade.

“The potential in the area is real,” he said.

“We need our senior experienced players right now, but over the next three years, if we can get it right – the board and coaches – we can really talk about a home-grown side.”

MARTIN MORGAN