Keith Murdoch (September 9, 1943 - March 30, 2018) is a New Zealand rugby football player.
Video Keith Murdoch (rugby union)
Careers
Murdoch, prop, played for Otago from 1964 to 1972, except for one season each for Hawke's Bay (1965) and Auckland (1966). He represented New Zealand from 1970 to 1972, playing in 27 matches for the All Blacks, including three test matches. He toured with the All Blacks to South Africa on the 1970 tour and to the United Kingdom and Ireland on the 1972 tour, but was plagued by injuries in both series.
Murdoch's career ended controversially after he was sent home from the tour. He scored the All Blacks' only try in their 1972 victory against Wales in Cardiff, but then the same night got involved in a fight where he punched the security guard Peter Grant at the Angel Hotel. He also plays in the famous New Zealand Llanelli v game where Scarlet spectacularly wins 9-3. He was then sent home from the tour by the All Black management, purportedly after pressure was brought to bear by the home rugby union.
Although the reporter waited in Auckland at the airport for his flight to arrive, he instead switched flights at Sinagpore by stopping, and flew to Perth, from where he headed for the Outback, stopping rugby forever. He was always invited to the All Black rugby reunions, and the chair was always left empty for him if he showed up, even though he never did. To this day, when the All Blacks visit Cardiff, they hold an informal meeting dubbed 'The Murdoch Memorial' at Hotel Angel.
New Zealand Rugby tried hard to find it but failed: within 50 years after his departure, he was only tracked by journalists four times. New Zealand rugby journalist Peter Maclean traced him to an oil rig near Perth in 1974, but was ignored and dismissed by Murdoch. Six years later, he returned to New Zealand, working on Otago's farm when he rescued a 3-year-old boy from drowning in a backyard pool by giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. After the local newspaper heard and came to the farm to interview him, he moved back to Australia. Margot McRae, the ABC producer, found it in Tully, a remote town in Northern Australia. When he interviews him, he explains that living a nomadic and ever-moving life is how he wants to live. When McRae returned the next day with the camera crew, Murdoch escaped.
In 2001 Murdoch came to public attention in connection with an investigation into the death of an Aboriginal man, Christopher Kumanjai Limerick, who was found dead in an abandoned quarry. The cause of death is uncertain due to decay, but it seems to have fallen while trying to reach water at the bottom of the mine. The coroner suspected that he might have been forcibly taken from the town of Tennant Creek and abandoned in a mine in the heat without food or water, saying that there was evidence of an attack. The last time he was seen in the city was trying to get into a house where Murdoch and the others lived, and Murdoch allegedly drove him away. Murdoch commented after Limerick's disappearance that "I do not think he'll come back."
Initially, Murdoch could not be found, but was later called as a critical witness. The police finally traced him to a remote farm that was hundreds of miles away, and he came to provide evidence, refusing all questions from journalists. He was criticized by the coroner for the arrogant way in which he gave evidence, and the coroner suspected that he was lying to protect himself and any colleagues from being accused of a crime. No allegations were made for lack of evidence.
A drama, Finding Murdoch by Margot McRae, premiering in Downstage Theater, Wellington in 2007, is about tracking McRae over Murdoch.
He said media madness when he pressed the security guard that "If there is a baddie it will be the media".
Maps Keith Murdoch (rugby union)
Death
Murdoch died in Australia on March 30, 2018.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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