Historic day for Maori/Pasifika Rugby League communities in New Zealand

The Pasifika Aotearoa Collective which was formed last year bringing together rugby league bodies from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, NZ Maori, Samoa, Toeklau and Tonga, have now joined forces with the One New Zealand Warriors in an historic partnership.

On Tuesday 13th December 2022 they officially signed an exclusive alliance aimed at providing a range of football and commercial benefits for both parties in a ceremony at Mt Smart Stadium. 

PAC representatives signed the deal in front of the One New Zealand Warriors NRL squad, trainers, coaching staff and management and were each presented with a Warriors NRL jersey by different players within the squad. 

They were then given a tour of the training facilities by Our New Zealand Warriors CEO Cameron George and watched the NRL squad train.  In his opening address he said it was immensely significant for both the club and the Pasifika Aotearoa Collective.  

“The impact Pasifika and Māori players continue to have on rugby league is phenomenal. We’ve just seen that again through what Toa Samoa did last month in becoming the first Pasifika nation to make the Rugby League World Cup final.

“And we saw further signs of potential on Sunday when the first PAC representative team – an under-15 combination – beat the Sydney Roosters under-15s wearing One New Zealand Warriors colours.

“Together with PAC we will provide as many opportunities as possible for players of Pasifika and Māori heritage to come into the game by delivering pathway options.”

Representatives from the Pacific bodies were also excited about the deal and acknowledged it was an important step in the right direction for all involved across different levels of the sport.

Niue Rugby League NZ leader and Pasifika Aotearoa Collective coordinator Phillip Tasmania (pictured in yellow shirt below) said that for Niue to be acknowledged as a Pasifika Aotearoa Collective partner, it opens the door to commercial opportunities and football for their administrators, coaches and players but also for opportunities back in Niue. 

"This is the first Niuean sports organisation to partner with a professional sports organisation and we look forward to the day we can take the Warriors back to Niue to run a clinic.  That is the goal to look after the people on our motu.  Now our people have resources and another network we can use." he said.

We've been doing this for many years with no money, we're volunteers - we don't get paid but we love our community and we love the game of rugby league."

Tonga Hakula representative Edwin Fusitu'a (Former Warriors winger David Fusitu'as father) says the partnership is important for Tonga because it now allows them to do things that they've always dreamed to do but haven't had the resources or backing or people behind them to be able to do those things.

"We see a lot of gaps between getting kids through the door and into an NRL system.  Getting them on to the big stage you know?  In between there we see there's been a gap and we feel that with this (partnership) we can plug the gap and really it's for the boys to help them along and help fulfill their dreams and aspirations." Fusitu'a added 

One of the smaller nations represented in the Pasifika Aotearoa Collective is Tokelau and like Tonga, they're feeling like their dreams are starting to be realised with this new partnership.

"Tokelau has always been a bit late to the party because as a people we're quite passive and like to sit in the shadows but the more we do that the more our kids don't get a chance to show what they're worth on the international stage. 

So this partnership gives birth to concepts that we've dreamed of 40-30 years ago as players ourselves.  The hope is that we'll have systems in place to capture our kids and to start that development for them.  Having representation on an international level would be the ultimate for us" 

Ex-head coach Andrew McFadden, who is now back at the club as general manager recruitment, pathways and development, welcomes the united approach between the club and PAC as all competitions and pathways run by PAC’s five member nations and the New Zealand Māori Rugby League will lead to the One New Zealand Warriors.

We want to change the perception and let people know that our priority is our players here in New Zealand and give them the opportunities that other NRL clubs are offering." 

Chairman of Auckland Cooks Rugby League, Henry Turua agrees and says the partnership will give them an opportunity to firstly connect their communities with rugby league but also connect in to the Warriors as a genuine pathway and not just for the players - for the coaches and managers as well.

"Some of the opportunities the Warriors are offering is going to give us that opportunity to make the organisation stronger right throughout."

"I think also the connection between the Maori and Pacific nations and the Warriors is important for them and for connecting them with the communities.  It's been tough on everybody but in particular the Warriors because of Covid and them being positioned over in Australia so I think it's going to go a long way into helping them in that area."

Paepaetele Geoff Muliaga Brown, President of Rugby League Samoa in New Zealand says for Samoans it's about coming together and working within a community that understands language, our Pasifika culture and also what we're about just as people and believes that the success of Samoa and Tonga over the last two World Cups has been huge in pushing the partnership forward.

"It's the only avenue that we come together as Pacific nations.  It gives us strength in terms of our numbers but more importantly we're able to communicate right across NZ."  

"Back in 2010 we initiated what we did in Samoa just to re-emerge the Pacific nations and we played the kiwis, we played Tonga and we took the opportunity.  Over the years Samoa and Tonga have been the dominant Pacific nations and then Tonga took a whole different step in terms of committing to their nation and putting that as a priority and representing Tonga.  It's been the biggest increase in Rugby League that I've seen in the 10 - 12 years I've been involved. 

Now off the back of the Rugby League World Cup and what the (Samoan) boys have done in the UK - once again it's committing to playing for their families and culture and also carrying our community with them." 

Right now we're in a whole new phase of the International Rugby League space and I think Samoa and Tonga have been a big part of that." he added

Phillip Tasmania credits the Warriors for the vision - seeing the future and partnerships.   

Looking forward, the Indigenous Australians have also requested to join PAC and the group are looking to include Papua New Guinea as one of their fellow Pacific Islands nations.

"Culture, community - we can resonate with that ... it's a momentous day for us to move forward and we expect registration numbers to grow now."

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