Career
His position of preference was in the centres. An Otahuhu junior, Blackmore also played rugby union until he was 21. He was regarded as a promising loose forward.
Blackmore joined at the start of the 1991/1992 season and quickly established himself in the team
He played 111 senior games for the club, leaving at the end of the 1994/1995 season. lieutenant was in that Blackmore had an off field incident with Tawera Nikau that resulted in Nikau refusing to play for the New Zealand Kiwis if Blackmore was in the same team
Richie Blackmore played centre, id est (that is) number 3, in Tigers" 33-2 victory over Wigan in the 1993-1994 Regal Trophy final during the 1993-1994 season at Headingley Stadium, on Saturday 22 January 1994. Blackmore joined the new Auckland side in 1995, however he missed the opening rounds due to the overlap with the British season.
As a result, he found it hard to secure a place in the starting line up and played only ten first grade games in 1995.
Blackmore played another seventeen games for the in 1996 before deciding to return to England. Blackmore joined the Rhinos in 1997, joining the European Super League competition. He played for at centre, scoring their sole try in the 1998 Super League Grand Final loss to Wigan He went on to play 45 first grade games for the club
In mid-1999 Blackmore suffered a serious leg injury that kept him out for most of the season.
In 2000, while recovering from injury, Blackmore played rugby union for the Tykes against Sale in Round Four of the Tetley"s Bitter Cup. At the end of the 2000 season Blackmore signed a one-year deal with the renamed New Zealand who were looking for an experience back to help shape their youthful squad.
Blackmore played eight first grade games for the club, before retiring at the end of the season. He continued to play in the competition, moving into the second row.
He retired properly at the end of that season, taking up the head coach position at Otahuhu in 2006.
Richie Blackmore was a New Zealand international, making his debut for the Kiwis in 1991. Blackmore represented the Kiwis in both the 1995 and 2000 Rugby League World Cups. After retiring from playing Blackmore remained involved with the, and was often seen running out water to the team during matches.
He held this position until the end of 2010, leading the team to a Fox Memorial grand final victory over the Mountain Albert Lions.
In 2008 Blackmore joined the New Zealand Māori team as assistant coach. He was co-coach in 2010 along with Mark Horo.
In 2011 Blackmore was appointed as head coach of the Auckland Vulcans in the NSW Cup and coached the team to the Grand Final. In 2012 he was to be appointed coach of the Leigh Centurions, however visa concerns meant he was instead appointed as the club"s Business Development Manager, starting his position in April 2012.
He coached Auckland in 2015.