Born: December 25, 1937
Died: September 16, 2016 - Greymouth
Test record: 11 Tests (1957-60, 1962) - 1 try (3 points)
Tours: 1956 tour of Australia, 1957 World Cup, 1959 tour of Australia, 1960 World Cup, 1963 tour of Australia
West Coast winger/centre Reese Griffiths played 11 Tests for New Zealand and made five overseas trips with the Kiwis - the first as an 18-year-old.
The nephew of Runanga's first Kiwi, Norm Griffiths, he was only 17 when he represented West Coast against the 1955 French tourists.
The following season Griffiths was a bolter in the New Zealand squad to tour Australia, playing seven minor matches. He scored three tries in his second outing, a 60-22 win over Central Queensland in Rockhampton.
Still only 19, he was a late replacement for Neville Denton in the 1957 World Cup squad and made his Test debut on the wing in a 29-21 win over Great Britain at the SCG, as well as playing in the post-tournament clash with an England-France team that was granted Test status. He lined up in both Tests against the Lions at home in 1958, this time in the centres.
Griffiths reverted to the wing for the 1959 series in Australia, playing all three Tests and scoring his lone Test try in the 28-12 win in the dead-rubber third encounter in Sydney. He also crossed for five tries in six minor tour games.
In 1960, he was in the centres for both home wins over France and played on the wing in the World Cup win over France at Wigan.
Griffiths' last Test appearance came in the 1962 series opener against Great Britain - replaced in the centres by Roger Bailey for the second encounter - but he made another tour of Australia with the Kiwis in 1963, turning out in seven minor matches and scoring three tries.
Griffiths and Graham Kennedy were named in the centres of a 'Best Kiwi Coast Side' in 1989 to mark WCRL's 75th jubilee.