The Eagles always had an eye for a Shore thing

Ralph and Molly Eagles are the only husband-and-wife pairing to be made life members of North Shore Rugby Club.

Ralph spent 50 years working at the club as a coach, junior boys chairman and committee member, including five terms as president.

Molly, known as the “Duchess of Devonport”, helped out with the junior boys and fundraising, and was an integral part of the club’s ladies committee.

The couple continued their association with North Shore into their 80s, attending junior boys games and handing out ‘best’ and ‘fairest’ awards.

Ralph died in 1997, after which Molly

Club backbone for many years... Ralph and Molly Eagles (above). Above left: Molly starts the season, supervised by son Pip continued going along to matches as North Shore’s perhaps most passionate supporter, barracking from behind the goalposts where she sat in Ralph’s memorial seat.

Her home in Kawerau Ave was decked out with Shore rugby memorabilia and, until her death in 2008, she would drive her mobility scooter out onto the centre of the club’s Vauxhall Rd grounds and kick off the ball to start the season.

She is now also remembered on the Eagles memorial seat.

Jersey girl: Alice took pride in her work

It’s hard to imagine a more dedicated North Shore Rugby Club supporter than Alice Shaw, who not only turned out every Saturday with sister-in-law Elsie Shaw and best mate Dossie Coleman to support the club sides, but also washed the senior team’s jerseys for around 30 years.

Her husband Fred and his older brother Syd played for Shore in the junior grades. After a broken foot ended Fred’s playing days, the couple became keen followers.

Family members described Shaw as a rugby fanatic. It seems she started washing the senior teams jerseys in the late 40s; at first it was by hand, then by machine.

Every Saturday evening, a club member would deliver a basket of 17 usually muddy jerseys to Shaw, who then washed, dried and folded them by midweek. The jerseys needed to arrive early for soaking. She apparently wore out a bathtub washing them, and later a wringer washing machine. Both of which were replaced by the club.

Sometimes the routine could be hectic, especially if jerseys were needed back for a Monday game. On one occasion, she was up until midnight Saturday washing them and rain outside meant they had to be dried in front of the fire. One fell off the mantelpiece and a sleeve got burned. She unpicked its numbers and sewed them onto a new jersey, making sure the green stripes matched up. Shaw became an expert on the mud generated by Auckland fields, describing Stafford Park (in Northcote) as generating “evil-smelling stuff”.

She was grateful to one captain of the seniors – most likely a back – who played with his sleeves rolled up, which saved her some work.

Some weekends Shaw would go through a packet of washing powder, two sachets of enzyme powder and a bottle of bleach.

She died in 1980, aged 86, but her story is remembered in Shore’s club museum.