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Rural Sport Legend: Craig Wiggins on world titles, wild rides and life behind the mic
The Rural Roundup • August 31st, 2026 3:33 pm
Photo: Craig Wiggins/Facebook
This week’s Rural Sport Legend is a man who has spent more than three decades with a microphone in his hand, helping bring some of New Zealand’s biggest and often most overlooked sports to life.
Craig ‘Wiggy’ Wiggins has been a sports commentator for 35 years and is one of the most familiar voices behind some of the country’s best rural and grassroots sporting events.
From rodeo arenas across New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United States, to jet sprint boats, fencing competitions, horse racing, Young Farmer of the Year and the New Zealand Rural Games, there’s not much he hasn’t had a crack at along the way.
Photo: Craig Wiggins/Facebook
He has served on sporting boards, coached high school teams, commentated World Finals, is a judge for the Rural Sports Awards, spends around 65 days a year working as the Canterbury Clerk of the Racecourse – and more.
Sport Nation's The Rural Roundup spoke with Wiggins about the highs and lows of a career spent travelling the world and commentating some of the biggest events in rural sport.
We also talk about his advice for young people wanting to get into commentary, why being able to tell a story is just as important as knowing the sport, and where he thinks the rural sports scene in New Zealand is sitting right now.
Listen to the full interview here:
