ENDACOTT INDUCTED INTO NZRL LEGENDS OF LEAGUE
Canterbury Rugby League and New Zealand Rugby League Life Member Frank Endacott has had yet another prestigious honour bestowed upon him, named this week among 12 new Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns inductees into the NZRL Legends of League.
The Kiwis receiving the NZRL’s highest accolade along with Endacott include his former Test and premiership football charges Matthew Ridge, Sean Hoppe and Nigel Vagana, plus 1970s and ’80s icons Fred Ah Kuoi, Dane Sorensen and Graeme West, and more recent New Zealand captains Nathan Cayless and Simon Mannering.
As well as joining 2022 inductee Graham Lowe as the only member of the Legends of League based predominantly on their international coaching record, Endacott adds to the exclusive club‘s contingent of Canterbury representatives, alongside Mel Cooke (1995), Lory Blanchard (2000), Jock Butterfield (2001), Pat Smith (2007), Alister Atkinson (2013), Mocky Brereton (2013), Mark Broadhurst (2013), Jimmy Haig (2013) and Quentin Pongia (2022).
After carving out a highly successful coaching career at club, provincial and junior representative levels, Endacott set new standards for longevity and success as a New Zealand Test coach – while simultaneously handling demanding professional Warriors gigs in both hemispheres, in Auckland and Wigan.
A Schoolboy Kiwi in 1963 who played club football for Addington and Hornby, Endacott later led both clubs to Canterbury Rugby League premierships during the 1980s. Endacott assumed the Canterbury reins in 1989 and lifted the provincial side from a low base to a period of unprecedented and sustained success, including wins over Great Britain and Auckland in 1990, and culminating in an iconic 36-12 thrashing of a star-studded Auckland line-up in the 1993 First Division Grand Final at a heaving Addington Showgrounds.
Meanwhile, Endacott guided the Junior Kiwis to a historic win over the Junior Kangaroos in 1992 and on a highly successful tour of Britain the following season. He took a New Zealand Residents side to Australia in 1994 before his initial Kiwis head coaching assignment, a two-Test tour of Papua New Guinea where his charges overwhelmed the Kumuls in both Tests.
After modest mid-1995 results against France and Australia, Endacott moulded a dangerous and resilient combination at the Centenary World Cup at the end of the year that went within an ace of rolling Australia in the semi-finals, ultimately going down 30-20 in extra-time.
The New Zealand Test team developed impressively in 1996, carving out comprehensive cleansweeps of the touring Kumuls and Lions. After losing the first Anzac Test to Super League Australia in Sydney 34-22, the Kiwis achieved a stunning 30-12 turnaround at North Harbour Stadium in the return clash in late-1997. That notable victory was trumped just seven months later, however, when the Kiwis defied an injury- and suspension-hampered build-up to beat the first full-strength Kangaroos line-up in four years in 1998. The 22-16, come-from-behind win at North Harbour stands tall as one of New Zealand’s greatest performances.
The Kiwis lost two post-season Tests to the Kangaroos in 1998, before going within a whisker of an unprecedented series whitewash in England – winning the first two Tests against Great Britain before drawing the third. Endacott’s team beat Australia again during the 1999 Tri Nations but lost a pulsating final to the green-and-golds 22-20.
‘Happy Frank’ handed over the reins after a spirited 2000 World Cup campaign, where the 40-12 scoreline in Australia’s favour at Old Trafford did not reflect the competitiveness of the final. Endacott’s seven-season, 35-Test tenure shattered New Zealand international coaching records.
The Auckland Warriors’ inaugural reserve grade coach in 1995, Endacott steered the team to the following season’s grand final – a narrow loss to Cronulla – before succeeding John Monie as first-grade coach midway through 1997. He held that role until the end of 1998 before taking over at Wigan in 2000, claiming Super League Coach of the Year honours and leading the club to the Grand Final.
Endacott later had a season in charge of Widnes Vikings in 2005 before returning to Canterbury and focusing on his successful player management business. Beloved countrywide but especially in his home region, Endacott continued to put countless hours back into the game at grassroots level, mentoring several junior teams and returning to the senior coaching ranks with Northern Bulldogs in 2020-21, and serving on committees.
Awarded Life Membership of Canterbury Rugby League and New Zealand Rugby League, Endacott was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to rugby league in 2007, and has also been bestowed with a Lifetime Achievement award (2017) and Sporting Legends of Canterbury status (2018) at the Canterbury Sports Awards.
Canterbury Rugby League congratulates Frank on this richly deserved Legends of League call-up.
