Hosea Gear – Fitter, Faster, Stronger

By Mere Takoko

It takes little more than a moment to score a try, but it takes commitment and perseverance to become a Rugby World Cup champion. Even as a Gisborne Boy’s High School student, Hosea had a talent for doing everything out of the ordinary. While his peers were out partying on a Friday night, Hosea was out running laps around the local rugby field or training at the gym.

That meant a lot of sacrifices for Gear who says that while his social calendar was full of empty spaces, his training program was dotted with one gruelling training session after another. “I was always big on trying to be the best player out there. You don’t want to go out there and be just another player, you want to be the best.”

At sixteen years of age, Hosea had already mapped out a plan for his life and was not about to let anything get in the way of his goals. And although it got tough at times, the commitment and discipline that he learnt early paid off. “I think if there’s something you really want to be or do, you can’t let anything stop you. If I went out partying with my mates, that was going to stop me from training the next day.”

By the time Hosea burst onto the international rugby scene in 2003, he had clocked up hundreds of hours of training. That training, as well as the support of his brother Rico and parents, Annie and Riki, have put him in good stead to become one of the most deadliest finishers in the game. “My success has had a lot to do with my upbringing through my parents. From a young age, dad would get us up at six in the morning to go to trainings. That was non-negotiable so by the time I got to high school, it was normal.”

Today, almost seven years later, Hosea is a man going places. Some of his notable career achievements to date include scoring 14 tries for the Wellington Lions in 2008, making him the Air New Zealand Cup’s top try scorer. He has played for the New Zealand Mäori Rugby team since 2004, has represented New Zealand Under-21’s and has over 50 Super 12/14 caps with the Hurricanes. With his All Black selection in 2004, Hosea became a household name – and made it a family double with his brother Rico who also wore the All Black jersey that same year.

But despite his considerable achievements to date, one can’t help but get a sense that there’s more to come from this talented Ngäti Porou born and bred athlete. With his power and pace on the wing, he is a nightmare for any defense and despite the Hurricane’s continued string of dismal performances when it counts, including being eliminated from this year’s Super 14 quarterfinals, the fact is when Hosea gets the ball, great things happen. After being hindered by a knee injury earlier in the year, he say’s he’s back in top gear.
“Obviously one of my goals is to make the World Cup squad but there will be stepping stones along the way. There’s the Tri-nations Cup at the end of this year and next year, so I’ve got a few goals to make before the final squad is announced.”

While his main focus at the moment is to stay injury-free and perform at a 100% for any team that he plays on, the 26-year-old is also gearing up to play for the NZ Mäori Rugby team who are currently celebrating their centennial. If there’s a Mäori kaupapa out there, then Hosea says he is always willing to help out. With the New Zealand Rugby Union struggling financially, that’s the kind of support and initiative that the team will need, after being told that they have to bring in other sponsors in order to field a team.

And that’s where the increasingly influential Mäori business sector could play a pivotal role, says Hosea. With groups like Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd sponsoring the team, there are signs that the financial plight of NZ Mäori Rugby could in fact be just the kind of opportunity that the Mäori business sector has been waiting for. In fact, Hosea says he hopes NZ Mäori Rugby could be a rallying point in which to grow the sector by getting players involved in promoting business initiatives, particularly those that also focus on growing Mäori communities.

“I look at playing for the NZ Mäori’s as being an honour. You ask any of the Mäori boys; they don’t do it for the money but knowing we’ve got the financial support behind us brings a lot of confidence to what we do.”

With his strong whanau background and passion for all things Mäori, Hosea provides a strong image and the right kind of leadership to help NZ Mäori Rugby through turbulent times. Among his many career goals are future plans to return to Gisborne to give back to the community. That’s something he’s already started to do with his brother Rico and former NZ Mäori player, Rua Tipoki. The Gear brothers are currently involved with Tipoki’s mentoring program which is being administered by Te Rünanga o Ngäti Porou. The aim is to get young people in Gisborne off the streets and into the line up of talent that can be found in Iwi throughout the country.
“I was never the most talented growing up at school in my team. It was all my mates out partying—they were the superstars at the time. But I had a game plan and I stuck to it. It’s just about growing those players to where I’m at.”
As the countdown begins for the NZ Mäori Rugby team to take to the field in a new era that could bring a wealth of opportunity for the Mäori business community, Hosea says it’s also about promoting Mäori culture on a global stage. While the NZ Mäori Rugby program during the six week duration of the Rugby World Cup is yet to be confirmed, there is no doubt amongst many that the team has a powerful role to play in showcasing an authentic Mäori face to the world.
“The rest of the world loves the haka. That’s all they want to see when you go overseas so it would be nice to use the World Cup to build their knowledge more around our culture. Thinking on that side of things, NZ Mäori Rugby gives us an opportunity to explore ourselves overseas.”

Gear is definitely not a man to let an opportunity go by. He says that after seeing other players’ careers progress, while he has been sidelined because of injury, he now has a mentality of always achieving his short-term goals.
“A lot of guys take things for granted and the next minute they can’t play because of an injury. I want to take advantage of every opportunity. I always push myself to be fitter, stronger and faster.”

Gear Up
It’s Time For Business

There’s more to Hosea Gear than his passion to succeed on the international rugby stage. He’s a man going places off the field as well. KOHA editor Mere Takoko, spoke with Hosea about his vision to build a culture of saving among young people which he says is an important part of succeeding as a professional rugby player.

How did you get into the practice of saving money?
Growing up we didn’t have a lot of money so when I made the professional levels I had all this money coming in. It was obviously going to be hard for me not to spend it, but I guess because I appreciated it – and I wanted to buy a house – every bit of money I saved. I did that for about five or six years and eventually brought a house at the end of last year.

Do you see saving as an important part of succeeding as a professional rugby player?
Definitely, because when you’re at that highest level getting paid all this money, you need some knowledge on what to do with your money. I was lucky that we had a guy in our Hurricanes setup who helped us through financial planning. What we did is we planned out how much I was spending on food and rent, and then how much I had left over and then I put a lot of it aside to save. If you’ve got a plan you’ll be okay but if you’ve got no plan you’re just going to spend everything.

You recently bought a house, what’s the next step?
My first goal was just around buying a house, which I did at the end of last year, so I’ve got that out of the way and now I’m just looking at getting involved with some investments. I’ve started thinking about commercial property. That is definitely going to be the next step for me and will help to give me the freedom of time to do what I really want to do when I finish rugby.

What are your plans for retirement from rugby?
I’ll probably move to Gisborne and have a family by then. I want to bring my kids up in Gisborne and do a bit of coaching and work with our youth so I guess that mentoring program is a good start. I’ll probably try to grow Poverty Bay rugby because of all the talent I see. I was never the best rugby player in my high school team and there are a lot of players who aren’t reaching their potential. It’s just about growing those players to the level I’m at.

Do you think Iwi have a role in growing our youth through savings?
I definitely think Iwi have a role to play to support the youth because they’re our tamariki, they’re our whanau. I guess things always start with our youth and it would be good to see Iwi investing a lot in our youth. Rua Tipoki has started a mentoring program through the Ngäti Porou rünanga and has got me involved and eventually we’ll also start teaching them about saving their money because it really is a key part of succeeding in life.