Kevin’s the king of Canterbury supporters | Canterbury Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Canterbury

There’s keen Canterbury supporters. Fanatical Canterbury supporters. And then there’s Kevin Lundon.

This 64-year-old is unique, even by Red and Black standards of passion.

And forget Mehrts, Fergie, Dan & Co – no one in Canterbury has had a closer involvement with the Ranfurly Shield than this guy. He even slept with it for a year or two – but more of that later.

Mr Lundon hasn’t missed a Canterbury shield match since 1950, when he watched Canterbury take it off Otago at Carisbrook.

He doesn’t remember anything about that game – he was only five. But he remembers several from the great 1953-56 era, when his dad Ronald took him to see them all from the bank.

He makes the total 10 successful challenges, 108 defences and nine matches where Canterbury has lost the log. And about half a dozen unsuccessful challenges.

His devotion to the team doesn’t begin and end with the shield. In the 20 seasons from the start of NPC rugby in 1976 to the dawn of pro rugby, he saw every Canterbury match – home and away.

"That included the South Pacific competition games and Fiji," he said. "I went to Australia 31 times!"

Mr Lundon – not surprisingly, he’s a bachelor – was Larry the Lamb for many away matches in the 70s and 80s, while his Canterbury Supporters Club mates John Whitworth and Lyn Hocking were Larry for the home games.

He remembers youngsters in Hamilton stuffing grass cuttings down Larry’s mouth.

"And in Wellington when I did a lolly scramble at halftime, a kid who was not much higher than my knee and must have missed out thumped me really hard in the nuts."

In Canterbury’s record 1980s reign, Mr Lundon used to pick up the shield from the team hotel late on Friday nights for the shield processions that used to be held on Saturday mornings.

"I’d take it home and sleep with it under my bed!" he said.

Great occasions he singles out are Canterbury’s 1982 win in Wellington to end a long spell without the shield, Derek Mayo’s legendary try against Otago to earn a 9-9 draw and save the shield in 1954, the epic 1985 match with Auckland and the 2003 match with Wellington when Canterbury came back from 20 points down and Ben Blair scored in the corner in injury time to keep the shield here.

"But as far as challenges are concerned, the game against Wellington this season was the most comprehensive victory we’ve ever achieved," he said.

"The 1953 one when we beat Wellington by over 20 points in the days when it was only three points for a try must also have been pretty comprehensive."

It was a lot harder to have a long shield run now because in the past, defenders could pick who they played, and there was uncertainty over the availability of players with the Tri Nations tests on at the same time, he said.

A member of the Metro committee, Mr Lundon’s contribution to rugby is more than just loyally following Canterbury. He’s also given 44 years’ continuous service to club administration, including spells as club captain at Suburbs and, at present, MLU.