George Gardiner was a New Zealand rugby league representative player. He played for New Zealand in 1926 becoming the 185th New Zealand representative. He was also a Bay of Plenty rugby representative as well as playing for the first ever Bay of Plenty rugby league team. After he finished his rugby league career he became a professional wrestler fighting mainly in Australia. He fought in World War 1 for New Zealand and fought and died serving in the Australian forces in World War 2.
Early life Tekati George Gardiner's date of birth was April 23, 1898 however it was given as 1 February 1894 on his enlistment papers for World War 1. This was a fake date which enabled him to be accepted into the forces. Later when he enlisted in the Australian forces for World War 2 he gave his date of birth as 3 August 1903. In an article from the Bay of Plenty Times on 16 April 1917 about his special medal during World War 1 he was said to be 19 years old. His obituary also stated that he was playing rugby for Matakana seniors in 1914 aged 16. Both of these articles suggest his birth year would have been around 1898.
Gardiner was born at Rangiwaea, Tauranga. His father was Petera Callighan Te Karehana (Gardiner) (1879–1963, and his mother was Rewa Te Rani Karehana Gardiner (1878–1903). He belonged to the Ngāi Te Rangi iwi and was a member of the Catholic faith. He was a member of the Tauranga cadets until he left the Matakana Native School and became a mechanical engineer, and worked for Herbert Clark of Tauranga before the outbreak of World War 1.
Playing career Junior rugby beginnings Gardiner began playing rugby at a young age, first playing for the Matakana juniors in 1912 aged around 14. He played for them against Star on 25 May 1912 in a 0–13 loss and was mentioned as being "conspicuous" in the losing side. He was a well known local athlete and competed at many local athletic events. In the 1913 season he began playing senior rugby for United and in 2 games for them in June he scored a try in each match against Paengaroa and Rangiuru respectively. He was then selected to play for the Te Puke sub-union representative team aged around 15. He played 3 matches for them, the first being in a 6–0 win against Tauranga. He then appeared in 2 losses against Rotorua (3–23, and 6–10). It was said that he played a "good defensive game… but appeared to be rather weak on attack". The 1914 season saw him starting for the Matakana seniors in a 7-aside competition on 5 June, and then in the forwards for the full side against Rangataua on 22 June in a Jordan Cup match. Then on 8 October he played in a match for the Tauranga sub-union team against the visiting Waihi. Gardiner scored a try in an easy 22–3 win.
World War 1 World War 1 had broken out and Gardiner enlisted for the army. He served in the 1st Maori Contingent. He left Tauranga for Auckland on board the Ngapuhi to go into camp on 20 October. he commenced his duty on 2 February 1915 and spent 1915–16 in Egypt before moving to the Egyptian Eastern Front in 1916, and was at Gallipoli in 1915. He spent time on the Western Front from 1916, 17 and 18. Gardiner sent a letter home dated 2 December 1915 from the Dardanelles saying "we are doing fine here; slow but sure. Mr Turk occasionally breaks out with fresh energy, but it is no use. What we have we hold, and I think the Turks are fed up with it. There have been a lot of prisoners taken including German officers, and if you take anything by looks they seem to be glad to be taken. They are a motley crowd, young and old. Some of them you would think hardly had enough strength to fight, but of course they are driven to it. We are all hoping that the war here will not last much longer, as the Turks are being hemmed in, and their casualties are heavy. I expect everybody at home is quite gloomy in finding no time for holidays, but I cannot see why they should be so. They ought to come out here for a week or two and see the antics of some of the boys. It would liven them up. I went to an open air concert behind the firing lines, and I can tell you there were some good turns, only every now and then the bag of a French battery would upset the programme". He was wounded twice while at war in 1916 and 1917. Word was received in July 1916 by his father George Gardiner (snr) from the Minister of Defence, the Hon. James Allen that he had been "slightly wounded in the head and face on 27 June" but was remaining with his unit. In April 1917 Gardiner's father received word from the Minister of Defence once again however this time it was regarding an award he had won. He was "awarded the Cross of Karageorge, First Class, for gallantry on the Field of action". The cross was awarded by the King of Serbia.
Late on in the war when he "slipped over in a trench and hit his elbow so hard he was forced to recover in hospital". Then in 1918 with the war drawing to a close Gardiner was selected to play in the New Zealand Maori Pioneer Battalion rugby team which played 7 matches in Egypt, 17 in continental Europe, and 7 in England with 29 wins and only 2 losses. Gardiner returned from the war on the Westmoreland in early April, 1919. After it arrived in Auckland he caught the Ngapuhi to the Bay of Plenty on 8 April where they were welcomed home by the mayor. Lieutenant Gardiner was in charge of the men and after the Reverend Waaka spoke to them Gardiner replied "briefly". Many relatives and friends of the men had travelled to Auckland to meet the men and travelled with them back to Tauranga.
He was awarded the 1914-1915 Star "for distinguished services rendered during the course of the campaign", the British War Medal (1914–1920), the Victory Medal, the Cross of Karageorge, 1st Class with Swords (Serbia), and the ANZAC Commemorative Medallion.
Post war club and representative rugby career New Zealand Māori Pioneer Battalion tour of New Zealand In mid May the New Zealand Māori Pioneer Battalion team embarked on a nine match tour of New Zealand. Their first match was against Hawkes Bay at McLean Park, Napier on 17 May. They won the match 8 to 3 with Gardiner playing in the forwards. They then travelled to Otago and Southland though Gardiner not play in either of these two matches lost 6–9 and won 18–6 respectively. Their next match was against Canterbury on 31 May with Gardiner resuming his position in the forwards and leading the side. They lost the game 6–16 at the Addington Showgrounds in Christchurch. He didn't play in their drawn match with Wellington before next taking the field in Auckland against the local side. They again went down 11–22. He played again against Manawatu at Palmerston North where the Pioneers were 22–9 winners. He then scored his first try of the tour crossing the line to give them a 17–6 lead in an eventual 25–6 win over Hawke's Bay in Napier. Their final match of their tour was on 21 June against Poverty Bay at Childers Road Reserve in front of 3,000 spectators. Gardiner scored in the corner from a scrum and he converted his own try with the Pioneer side finishing with an entertaining 24–12 win.
United, Te Puke, and Bay of Plenty Following the Pioneer teams tour Gardiner joined the United club and played against Paengaroa on 30 June. In the meantime he had gone into business with Davis as tobacconist and billiard saloon proprietors. Their business was named simply ‘Davis & Gardiner’ and they were based at the Alliance Hall in Te Puke. He played for United again against Rangataua before being selected for Te Puke to contest the Kusabs Cup against Whakatāne. The home team Te Puke won the match 5–0 meaning they would play Rotorua in the final. The Kusabs Cup final was played on the Arawa Park racecourse ground in Rotorua in front of a large crowd. Gardiner was heavily involved in many of Te Puke's attacks and he kicked a conversion in their comfortable 22–0 win. Gardiner then played against Rotorua again on 6 September at Te Puke. He scored their only try in a 3–6 loss where "from loose play [he] forced his way across and touched down" and was said to have played a "slashing game". His final appearance for Te Puke for the season came in a 29–3 win over Tauranga on 20 September. Te Puke won easily by 29 points to 3.
Gardiner was then selected to make his debut for the Bay of Plenty team in their match against Auckland on 27 September in the "supports" position. The match was played at Eden Park and saw Bay of Plenty upset the local side by 25 to 16 with Gardiner kicking a conversion.
In April 1920 he competed as a runner for Te Puke at the Tauranga sports meeting and was said to be "the most successful athlete at the gathering". He won the ‘sheaf tossing’ event in a field of nineteen, was second in the Returned Soldiers’ 100 yard race, second also in the ‘stepping the chain’ event, and first in the Returned Soldiers’ Maori only race.
He began the 1920 season playing in the Te Puke club competition for Rangataua in a match with Maketu on 8 May. His appearances for them appear limited to the start of the season as the majority of his season was spent playing representative rugby for Te Puke and Bay of Plenty. He played for Rangataua against the Te Puke club side on 29 May and was then selected to play for the Te Puke sub-union team against Tauranga on 12 June. Gardiner shone for Te Puke in the ‘rover’ position, and scored all of their points in a 13–12 win with 2 tries, 2 conversions, and a penalty. It was said in the Bay of Plenty Times that he was "one of the greatest forwards in the Dominion".
He captained the Bay of Plenty side for their match against Poverty Bay at Whakatāne on 18 June. They won 8 to 0 in torrential rain. They then played a trial match with Rotorua and won 9–6 with Gardiner kicking 2 penalties. The purpose of the match was to prepare for their southern tour where they would play Wellington for the Ranfurly Shield followed by a match with Wanganui. The match with Wellington resulted in a 23 to 3 loss on Athletic Park in Wellington. The match against Wanganui on 3 July at the recreation ground there saw a 0–0 draw.
Gardiner's next match was for Te Puke against the Grafton club side from Auckland. The match saw another draw, this time 3–3. He played for Bay of Plenty against Auckland on 31 July with the Bay side winning 17–10 and Gardiner scoring a try at the Tauranga Domain in front of a crowd of 2,000. His try came about after he "secured the ball forty yards out and running at top speed outpaced the Auckland backs and scored the best try of the day, grounding between the posts". A match for Te Puke against Tauranga followed on 14 August which was lost 6–9. Sometime soon after this Gardiner's business interests changed with his business in Te Puke with Mr W. Davis moving solely into Davis’ hands. Gardiner then moved back to the Tauranga area as on 22 October he turned out for Tauranga in their match with Te Puna in the Jordan Cup final. He scored a try, and kicked a penalty and a goal from a mark to score all 9 of their points in a 9–17 loss. He then finished his season with another match for Tauranga against Whakatāne on 29 October which was also lost 6–9.
Disqualification and boxing Controversy marred the beginning of the 1921 season for Gardiner as he had played for Tauranga while under suspension by the Te Puke Union and without a clearance to play for Tauranga at the end of the previous season. Te Puke had disqualified him from playing for 12 months but Tauranga had asked for full evidence. Te Puke then wrote a letter requesting that his disqualification be lifted.