Alan Good (12 July 1867 – 30 April 1938) was a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who represented the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

in 1893. His position of choice was wing three-quarter. Good did not play any test matches as New Zealand did not play their first until 1903. Good was born in

Urenui Urenui is a settlement in northern Taranaki, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 3 close to the shore of the North Taranaki Bight, 13 kilometres east of Waitara and 6 km south-west of Mimi. The Urenui River ...

and received his education at Wanganui Collegiate. He was also an amateur athlete and in 1898 won the national amateur

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

title with a recorded jump of 19 inches and a half.

Career

Good mostly played on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

and represented his province,

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

38 times between 1887 and 1899. After appearing in an All Black trial Good was selected for the national side to tour Australia in 1893. Unfortunately injuries prevented not only Good but many of the touring party to play all ten matches and Good himself was limited to just four. He never made another All Black appearance but was heavily involved with his provincial side.

Personal

Good was also a fluent speaker of the

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

, where he earned respect and befriended many members of the

Iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

s in south Taranaki

Family

Good was one of 9 children to Thomas Good and Sarah Gates. A sister, Fanny, was a

botanical artist Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species. They are generally meant to be scientifically descriptive about subjects depicted and are often found printed alongside a botanical description in boo ...

. Two of his brothers, Harry (a forward) and

Hugh Hugh is the English-language variant of the masculine given name , itself the Old French variant of '' Hugo (name)">Hugo'', a short form of Continental Germanic Germanic name">given names beginning in the element "mind, spirit" (Old English ). ...

(also a wing three-quarter) represented Taranaki and Hugh played for the All Blacks in 1894. He married Emily Baker in 1889 and the pair had four known children together. He died at

Hāwera Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of . It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight. The origins of the town lie in a government military base that was establishe ...

on 30 April 1938 aged 70, and was survived by his wife, one son, and two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Good, Alan 1867 births 1938 deaths New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand male long jumpers New Zealand rugby union players People educated at Whanganui Collegiate School Rugby union players from Taranaki Rugby union wings Colony of New Zealand people New Zealand Athletics Championships winners Taranaki rugby union players