Rugby league lost one of its most passionate supporters and contributors when highly-successful former Auckland coach Cameron Bell passed away on Sunday, aged 87.
From a large family steeped in rugby league, the affable Bell’s extensive involvement in the game was highlighted by Auckland’s famous victories over Great Britain in 1988 and Australia in 1989.
Equally he played a pivotal role in his only son Dean – the Auckland Warriors’ foundation captain – going on to become one of the game’s legends.
One of seven brothers and five sisters, Bell senior played for his beloved Manukau in an era when the family name would often dominate playing lineups.
Graduating into coaching, he achieved notable success with Manukau in the Auckland competition, no more so than in 1984 when the club won the Rukutai Shield and Roope Rooster titles as well as beating top British side St Helens 26-10.
His ability to bring sides together was never more in evidence than when he landed the Auckland job which delivered the greatest triumphs of his coaching career – the pulsating wins at Carlaw Park over Great Britain 30-14 in 1988 and the Kangaroos 26-24 in 1989. To ice the 1989 season, Bell’s Auckland side, desp[ite missing several first-choice players, beat the Eastern Suburbs Roosters 26-12 (with Paul Vautin and Hugh McGahan lining up for the visitors).
Among the Auckland players at the time were Warriors-to-be Tea Ropati, Mark Horo, Kevin Iro, Tony Tuimavave and Duane Mann.
With higher honours eluding him, Bell took his coaching craft to Carlisle in England before returning home to coach the Counties Manukau Heroes to victory in the Lion Red Cup in 1996 (Duane Mann, Jerry Seuseu and Clayton Friend among the players).
He was also appointed New Zealand Māori coach through to the team’s historic appearance at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup in the United Kingdom before having a stint coaching Barrow in England.
Bell’s younger brother Ian, Dean and nephew Clayton Friend all became Kiwis, all three of them lining up together for New Zealand against Papua New Guinea at Carlaw Park in 1983. Bell’s late sister Cathy ‘Bub’ Friend was honoured for her stellar service to the game as an administrator and volunteer.
Of his father’s influence on him, Dean Bell said: “If I scored five tries and missed a tackle, Dad would highlight the missed tackle. Kids need praise but it certainly never did me any harm. The same attitude rubbed off on me. That’s why I was so critical of myself as a player. You can trace it back to what Dad used to say. He had a huge influence on me.”
In a piece he provided for his son’s 1995 book ‘Dean Bell – Warrior’, Cameron recounted: “It’s a thrill to have a son who’s achieved as much as Dean – but it is a little bothersome when people insist on introducing you as ‘Dean Bell’s father!’
“That’s why a little story involving Dean and me is one I always bring up, and Dean has never forgiven me for it.
“Janice had returned to New Zealand for a holiday one year when I had the coaching job with Carlisle and, when she flew back to England, Dean and I went to Manchester Airport to pick her up.
“Well, we were waiting upstairs when a guy ran over and asked, ‘Can I have your autograph?’ Dean asked whether he had a pen but the guy said: ‘I don’t want your autograph – I want this man’s autograph.’ Meaning mine. From that day on, Dean believed I set him up, that I found someone at the airport to do it. This bloke wanted the Carlisle coach’s autograph, not Dean Bell’s! And I never did find out that guy’s name!’
