Some of the best rugby league players Taranaki has ever produced will this weekend be battling it out for supremacy in one of the region’s smallest towns.
The Bennett Enterprises Taranaki Whanui Māori Rugby League Tournament, now in its eighth year, will be hosted by Ngā Rauru at Dallison Park in Waverley.
The annual two-day event brings together rugby league sides from around the maunga divided along iwi lines.
This year there are four women’s teams and six men’s, said organiser Ngahina Capper, who revealed the tournament draw via livestream on Monday.
In the Gayle Broughton women’s pool, Ngā Rauru will first play Te Ātiawa, while last year’s champions Ngā Ruahine will take on Taranaki Tūturu.
In the men’s Barry Broughton pool, Ngā Rauru will face off against Ngā Ruahine and Ngāti Ruanui, while in the James Tamou pool, Ngāti Mutunga will battle it out against Puke Ariki and Te Ātiawa.
The tournament had grown from a small event into the second-biggest Maori sporting fixture in Taranaki, in part because of its inclusive nature, Capper said.
“The purpose of the tournament is to bring our people together. But it is open to everyone. That’s our whakaaro, different way of thinking, and I think that’s beautiful,” he said.
“It’s a Māori tournament, and we are celebrating being Māori but it’s open to everyone.”
Capper said some top level players returned home from around New Zealand and Australia to play in the two-day tournament, which had serious rivalry between the iwi-based teams.
“We’ve seen some ding-dong classics over the years,” he said, and though a recent knee operation meant he won’t be involved in any of those match-ups for his Te Ātiawa side this year, he had high hopes for 2024.
He said rugby league was not the focus of the event, even though it was a sporting tournament.
Instead, it was about giving people an opportunity to connect, or reconnect, with their iwi in an easy-going and welcoming environment.
“It’s helped people establish their own relationship with their own whakapapa, so it’s bigger than league, that’s just the vehicle,” he said.
The games start at 10am on Saturday, and continue on Sunday. The event is smoke- and alcohol-free.