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Rachel Smalley: Too soon for Sir Richie McCaw

Author
Rachel Smalley ,
Publish Date
Tue, 3 Nov 2015, 9:12AM
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Rachel Smalley: Too soon for Sir Richie McCaw

Author
Rachel Smalley ,
Publish Date
Tue, 3 Nov 2015, 9:12AM

The government has confirmed that Richie McCaw will be offered a knighthood.

It sparked something of a debate in our newsroom, and among my friends as well.

Some say it’s because of what the honours system symbolises – an outdated and irrelevant reference to colonialism and the British monarchy. But that’s an argument that we could chase our tails on all day.

Others I've spoken to don’t have a problem with that, but they believe knighthoods and damehoods shouldn’t be offered as recognition of sporting achievement – and in particular for sporting achievement where a professional player has simply done their job and been very well paid for it.

Instead, they argue -- and there is some merit to this I think -- that knighthoods and damehoods should be given to those who make a great contribution to the community and give freely of their time.

If you look at some of our sporting greats who have been knighted, many were honoured some time after they retired from sport and crucially, for other work they did as well -- the work they did in their communities.

The likes of Sir Richard Hadlee -- who set up the Sir Richard Hadlee Sports Trust to help sportsmen and women in hardship, Dame Susan Devoy - she has been very active in the Halberg Trust and walked the length of the country to raise $500,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and Sir Wilson Whineray who was knighted many years after he retired, for services to sport and business management.

And so is a knighthood now too soon for Richie McCaw given it is based only on his professional sporting achievements?

I suspect McCaw will go and contribute a great deal to communities and charities -- of that I have little doubt. He is one of our finest young men. Truly. This is not a criticism of Richie McCaw or what he has achieved, far from it.

But the reality is, he is a professional sports player who is worth -- I would suspect - a few million dollars by now. He has been paid handsomely over the years for what he does. And yes, rugby is his passion but it is also his job. It's what he does for a living.

So should he be given a knighthood based on his sporting achievements -- or should we wait and see what contribution he goes on to make in our communities?

Honours, I think, should be bestowed on those who've made a great contribution to this country for no financial return -- and while I have little doubt Richie McCaw will go on to do that, he's not quite there yet.

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