Whaingaroa Whai Rugby League Club might only be two seasons in but they are making huge strides both on and off the field.
Club stalwarts Daniel Kereopa and Nardia Morgan, who also play in the club’s senior teams, say the decision to switch from rugby to league has given the club a new lease of life.
“The numbers for rugby started to drop over the years and we found the numbers that we were getting were suited more for league,” Daniel says.
League fields a team of 13 compared to rugby’s 15 and, Daniel says, being less technical, league is a simpler game to play but still highly skilful and competitive.
“Personally, league is a much better game to play because rugby has got a lot of technicalities,” he says.
“Rugby league is a hard contact sport and when you take the technicalities out of the game it’s much more pleasing to the eye as well.”
While junior rugby is still active in Raglan, at a senior level the league club is now fielding a men’s and women’s team and has a thriving junior scene.
And while they’ve had wins on the field, both Daniel and Nardia say the biggest achievement has been in the strengthening of relationships.
“Success isn’t just one thing; the spectrum is huge in our club. As far as success goes it’s about whānau and community coming together,” Nardia says.
“The success of the club, from its foundations to where we are now, has been done as a collective and the wider whānau have got us to this point,” Daniel adds.
Whaingaroa Whai are up against well-established clubs like Taniwharau in Huntly, Hamilton City Tigers and Ngāruawāhia Panthers, but with two seasons under their belt they are holding their own.
“Coming from a rugby club background, there wasn’t the expectation that we’d be as successful as we were. But I think it was the drive and the passion for the game that got us to where we are,” he says.
This season has seen the men’s team finish in the middle of the table and the women’s teams still in the running for the finals.
“We are going into our last game of the general competition before we start heading to the playoffs,” Nardia says.
“We’ve won four games out of five so far in the competition and before that we won two games in our grading.”
The junior teams are also enjoying a successful first season this year, with the Under 11s so far undefeated.
The club is well aware that the long-term success of the senior teams and the game of league in Raglan hinges on fostering the junior players.
Nardia says the club has the potential to keep growing. “The senior teams starting last year inspired our whānau to look into our children because they’re the future and they’ll sustain the club in the years ahead. This year we had five teams, which is very successful for a first-time rugby league club.”
by Janine Jackson
