Rugby boys chip in to club’s success

By Alice Scott | Posted: Thursday August 14, 2025

Since 2022, a farm shed near Owaka has become an unlikely training ground for the values that underpin Otago Boys’ High School rugby: hard work, community spirit, and self-reliance.

What began as a one-off opportunity for the U15 Blues in 2022 has grown into a full-club fundraiser. This year, the firewood was ringed and split by members of the 1st XV, then raffled off by all players from across the club, with all proceeds going toward club-wide costs - an initiative that reflects the school’s strong “hand up, not hand out” ethos.

The idea was sparked when the Burgess family, who had a large quantity of pine trees on their property, offered the firewood idea to the club. The Dynes family stepped in to handle the transport logistics - carting the wood back to Dunedin and storing it free of charge at their depot.

“The Dynes family no longer has a son at our school, but they still do this for us, which is hugely generous,” says club administrator Kimberly. “We typically raise between $9,000 and $13,000 from this fundraiser each year.”

Many of the players who took part in the original wood-splitting day in 2022 now make up the current 1st XV. With that team’s overheads largely covered by sponsors, the funds raised through the firewood raffle helps to support the rest of the teams.

Each year’s wood is stored for a year, then raffled off the following year. “It’s a legacy each team leaves behind for the next,” club president Ryan Frew said. 

Transportation is one of the biggest ongoing costs for the rugby club. “It’s not as simple as walking across the road to a training field. We’ve had teams getting carted all over the city each week to access quality grounds,’ Ryan said.

Although the 1st XV hasn’t seen the results they’d hoped for this season, their standing within the school community remains strong. “They’re just a good, down-to-earth bunch of young blokes,” Ryan said. “They’ve got their feet firmly on the ground and are well-liked and supported by their peers which I think makes all the difference when it comes to rugby culture in a school.” 

Seeing the players chip in and give back is something the whole club takes pride in. “Some of the boys didn’t know how to use a splitter at the start of the day - but they certainly did by the end of it,” Ryan laughed. Watching them put in a hard day’s work is pretty heartening."

This year the raffle winners were:

A Barker

M Leonard

L Smith

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