Dave Tomkins is the very definition of a life well lived. At 87 years young, he oozes vitality and wisdom that’s clearly been gained through a lifetime of adventures in motorbike racing and rugby league. Not one to do things by half, his racing has taken him all over the world, while his love for league has seen him shape the history of that sport in New Zealand. “I’ve crowded a lot of living into my life. I’ve done some mad things,” he smiles.
Dave’s talent for bike racing as a teenager developed into a passion that spanned 33 years and saw him crowned National Champion an incredible 14 times. From road races, grass tracks, mud trails and hill climbs he progressed to speedway solo riding. At Western Springs he has raced solos, three-quarter midgets, midgets and sidecars, and is the only person to have won in all classes. He also had a talent for racing sporting trials, an offroad motor sport involving riding along the tops of cliffs, across logs and through rivers, losing marks if you put your feet down.
Beach racing at Muriwai
Midget at Western Springs
“When I first started racing motorbikes, the guys used to tell me I was crazy and that I’d never live to see 21. But I’m still going!” laughs Dave. In 1965 he suffered a serious crash in a midget, breaking his neck and vertebrae. Despite the seriousness of his injuries and a five-week stay in hospital, he returned to racing for another twenty years. “I’ve had heaps of crashes over the years. Some of them were massive – I’ve hit concrete walls at 120kmh on bikes but I’m still here,” he laughs.
Dave’s love of speedway led to many official roles at the Auckland Speedway Riders Club, including committee member, secretary and president, culminating in his appointment as a lifetime member for his contribution. In 2016 he was inducted into the Speedway Hall of Fame.
In his later years Dave would go for road rides every Sunday on his Ducati motorbike with a group of ex-racing friends, where they would ‘go like crazy’. “I promised at my 70th birthday that I wouldn’t go over 200kmh anymore, but a few weeks later one of my mates said that I was still doing 195kmh so it really wasn’t much of a difference!” he laughs.
In 2015 Dave and three of his racing mates took bikes over to Italy for an international rally. They flew the bikes into Munich and spend seven weeks riding through 14 countries, including up the steepest pass in Switzerland. Since turning 80 he has been awarded four trophies, two for being the oldest rider in rallies.
But Dave’s biggest passion is rugby league. He has been a player, coach, club captain and chairman of the Pt Chevalier Rugby League Club. He is still a member of the management committee, as well as patron and a lifetime member.
Dave says he never intended to be a league coach but stepped up because there was no one else and he wanted to give the boys a purpose. In the 1970s he coached a young Mark Robinson, now owner of the NZ Warriors. “I brought him into rugby league from soccer when he was 13,” he explains. “He’d been a soccer player but didn’t make it onto the Pt Chev soccer team, along with about six others. I had to make a quick decision and I didn’t want to turn any of them away. So I took them on and ended up with two teams in that under 13 grade.” Two years later both teams travelled to play against six Australian clubs in the Parramatta area. “It was a great experience for the boys and for me, and I even got invited to one of the Parramatta club meetings,” says Dave. “And the following year we won the Under 16s Auckland Championship at Carlaw Park!” That year when they won the championship, Dave had seven players in the Auckland reps and two in the NZ Kiwis. He was awarded the NZRL Coach of the Year, the only coach from Pt Chev to receive it.
“Stacey Jones always played for us, and he has stayed loyal to the club when he retired from international football,” says Dave. “When I was club chairman 40 years ago, Stacey was about eight years old and he’d come up and I’d shake his hand for player of the day,” says Dave. Stacey was the catalyst for Pt Chev winning the Fox Premiership after a 60-year dry spell, bringing in some colleagues to build up the team.
In 2022 Dave was diagnosed with terminal bowel and liver cancer. “I had a big motorbike rally coming up at the end of that year so I asked the doctor if I’d be ok for that,” he says. “The doctor said I’d be all right for about six months and after that I’d be in a lot of pain.” Two and a half years later, he typically isn’t showing signs of slowing down. While Hospice is coordinating his care with his oncologist, managing his medications, and providing regular physiotherapy, he remains comfortable, active and just as involved in his passions as always.
And there is much Dave is looking forward to in the world of rugby league, including the growth of women’s league both in New Zealand and Australia. “With women’s teams coming through it’s amazing, it involves the whole family,” he says. He’s also looking forward to the NZ league team playing Australia in October. “We beat them last year, so we’ll have to see if we can do it again. It’s a sellout crowd.” And although the Pt Chev Pirates weren’t successful in the Fox Premiership this year after losing players to Australia and the Warrior’s reserve grade, Dave is confident they can come back next year.
It’s wonderful to see that Dave is showing no signs of slowing down. He is about to do a road trip to the upper North Island with a friend in their 1937 Olds Mobile – a car the same age as he is! “I think it will get us there,” he laughs. Dave’s impact on motorbike racing and rugby league is incomparable, a legacy of taking very opportunity to live life to the fullest.
