May 1918. Pere owned her own shearing gangs which working on the eastern coastal stations around Haumoana, Clifton and inland towards Taihape. They had five sons and one daughter together. Robin also had a son from an earlier relationship with Mare Hape, who was raised in Dannevirke, and had two adopted sons as well. Professional wrestling career Athletic and amateur career A noted sportsman as a young man, Robin was "a keen competitor at Caledonian sports days". At one competition in Napier he participated in the shot-put, hammer throw, caber toss, high jump, tug of war and two styles of wrestling. He won many of the events and collected £26 in prize money. He especially began to excel in wrestling and, after winning the North Island catch-as-catch-can wrestling championship at the Taihape Caledonian games on 24 January 1924, he decided to turn professional later that year. New Zealand and Australasia champion Robin, with his powerful strength and "wire and whipcord" build, was easily able to dominate his opponents. His earliest professional match was against the Indian wrestler M. A. Sunni at the Municipal Theatre in Napier on 3 May 1924, whom he defeated in two falls within 15 minutes. In August, he defeated the South Island champion and was from then on regarded as the best wrestler in all of New Zealand. Also during that year, Robin wrestled World Light Heavyweight Champion Walter Miller in the earliest-known outdoor wrestling match in New Zealand. The event, held by the Hawkes Bay Wrestling Association, attracted a crowd of 12,000 among whom included then Governor-General Sir Charles Furgusson. At the end of the season, Robin suffered a serious shoulder injury in a title defence against M. A. Sunni. The match lasted for two hours before scoring the pinfall at around midnight. Although he retained the title, and won the £1400 purse, doctors prohibited him from wrestling for at least one month. On 16 March 1925, he defeated Sunni in two straight falls in Auckland to win the NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship, and a £750 purse, becoming the first champion officially recognised by the National Wrestling Alliance. Four months later, accompanied by former Scottish heavyweight champion and manager Alec Bain, Robin travelled to Australia with Sunni and Japanese wrestler Koraeda where he defended the national heavyweight title in a rematch against the Walter Miller. A side wager was made for £500. In October