John Greengrass is a New Zealand former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

and 1975 World Cups.

Playing career

A Linwood Keas player, a

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

representative Greengrass made his debut for the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

in 1970 at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. Greengrass also represented Southern Zone in matches against Northern Zone. He played in 35 games for New Zealand, scoring six tries. This included 18 test matches for New Zealand. He was also part of New Zealand's squad at the

and 1975 World Cups and toured Great Britain and France in 1971 and Australia in 1972. He was unavailable for both the 1972 World Cup and the 1975 Australia tour. His international career was ended in a World Cup match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Greengrass had just scored a try when Jim Mills stomped on his head. Greengrass went to hospital and received 15 stitches. Mills was suspended for six months by the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

and banned for life from playing in New Zealand by the

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

. In 1976 Greengrass moved from Linwood and joined the Kaiapoi club.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987.

Personal life

Greengrass became engaged to Christine Joy Ellis in February 1972, and the couple married in Ashburton later that year. Chris Greengrass became active as a community leader in the

Kaiapoi Kaiapoi is a town in the Waimakariri District of the Canterbury region, in the South Island of New Zealand. The town is located approximately 17 kilometres north of central Christchurch, close to the mouth of the Waimakariri River. It is con ...

area. From 1974 to 1984 she was involved with the local

Plunket Society The Royal New Zealand Plunket Trust provides a range of free services aimed at improving the development, health and wellbeing of children under the age of five within New Zealand, where it is commonly known simply as Plunket. Its mission is "t ...

, serving in roles including chair, secretary and treasurer. Following the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

, she was a Waimakariri Earthquake Trust team leader, supporting local families. She was elected to the Kaiapoi-Tuahiwi Community Board, serving as chair from the 2019 election until she stepped down due to ill-health. She died in Christchurch on 15 May 2022, having been awarded the

Queen's Service Medal The Queen's Service Medal is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or appointed public office. It was established in 1975 and is related to ...

for services to the community the previous day as part of the 2022 Queen's Birthday and Platinum Jubilee Honours.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greengrass, John Living people New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players Canterbury rugby league team players Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Linwood Keas players 1940s births Northern Bulldogs players