SIR Colin Meads, the great All Black lock voted as New Zealand’s Player of the Century in the 1999 NZRFU Awards, is being honoured during the Lions tour with a statue unveiled in his home town of Te Kuiti, in King Country.
The 2.9 metre, one ton bronze statue depicts ‘Pinetree’ Meads in his trademark loping run with the ball grasped in one massive paw. The sculptor, Natalie Stamilla, says she tried to capture Meads, “in a way that shows his unique playing ability and what he brought to the game”.
Meads, who is suffering badly from prostate cancer, is treasured ...