[2] He captained the New Zealand Māori side which won the 1975 Pacific Cup.

[4][5] During this time, Bolton also served on the New Zealand Māori Rugby League board between 1983 and 1984.

[6] Bolton served as the manager of the New Zealand national rugby league team in 1992 and 1993 under coach Howie Tamati.

[7] In 1994, Bolton was employed by the New Zealand Rugby League as the national development officer.

In this role, he is credited with establishing the national secondary schools competition.