New Zealand Māori Rugby Board AGM celebrate growth and transformation of Māori rugby

New Zealand Māori Rugby Board (NZMRB) Chair Dame Farah Palmer took the opportunity to celebrate growth and transformation of Māori rugby at their Annual General Meeting in Wellington this evening.

The Māori Rugby Strategy launched in December 2021 and was implemented in 2022, with four strategic pou: Tātakitanga: Uplifting Māori leaders; Puawaitanga: Enhancing Māori through rugby; Hauoratanga: Promoting holistic wellbeing and Angitutanga: Uplifting Māori lives.

“Māori culture, values and people have always played a significant role in New Zealand Rugby and much of our focus in 2022 centred on building our presence in a transforming rugby system, so we can continue to achieve our varied aspirations in and through rugby,” Dame Farah said.

“It gives us great pride to see Māori make up 27 percent of rugby participants, with Heartland Unions in particular demonstrating growth this past year,” Dame Farah said.

Despite challenging times in recovering from Covid disruptions, regional Māori Boards continued to create opportunities for Māori to play, and for the first time, rugby participants could select dual ethnicity when registering, which saw an additional 7,000 participants identify as Māori.

“Providing an option for players to identify with more than one ethnicity enables us to support all players with Māori whakapapa, which is hugely important,” Dame Farah added.

Participation in Whatukura and Mareikura Under 18 regional and national camps continued to grow with four Mareikura alumni now wearing black jerseys and 17 involved in the Bunnings Warehouse Farah Palmer Cup. At the leadership level, more than 80 coaches, managers and volunteers engaged in the Rangatira Workshop in February and proceeded to deliver Māori rugby initiatives across Aotearoa throughout 2022.

Departing Board Member Andre Thompson was farewelled, Warren Alcock and Arran Pene were reappointed, and Dayveen Stephens (Te Waipounamu Chair) was welcomed as the fourth wahine on the NZMRB Board. Dame Farah also reflected it was great to see the Board achieve 40 percent gender diversity. On 31 December as part of the New Year’s Honours list, Dame Farah Palmer was made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM) for services to sport, particularly rugby.

As a three-time Rugby World Cup winning captain, Dame Farah continued her contribution following her playing career, holding many governance roles since retiring in 2006. She is Deputy Chair of the New Zealand Rugby Board, and was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2014.

At the time of the announcement, Doug Jones, Māori Rugby Board Deputy Chair, praised Dame Farah and thanked her for her contribution to the sport and te ao Māori.

“He toa rangatahi, he toa rangatira - a young leader becomes a rangatira (chief). This quote from the late Whetu Tipiwai and the Māori All Blacks haka seems fitting for Dame Farah’s recognition. The New Zealand Māori Rugby Board, on behalf of all the Māori rugby whānau are proud and humbled that she has been recognised for her outstanding work in rugby and Te Ao Māori generally. We thank her and her whānau for the time, effort and leadership she has given to us all.”

To view the New Zealand Māori Rugby Board Annual Report, please click here.

New Zealand Māori Rugby Board as at 26 April 2023

Dame Farah Palmer – Chair
Rob Clark - Te Hiku o te Ika Chair
Andre Baker – Te Tini ā Māui Chair
Dayveen Stephens - Te Waipounamu Chair
Doug Jones – Appointed Member
Anne-Marie Jackson – Appointed Member
Arran Pene – Appointed Member
Warren Alcock – Independent Member
Merewaakana Kingi – Independent Member
Jacob Ellison - Emerging Director

I te hui ā tau o te Poari Whutupōro Māori o Aotearoa i whakanuia te tipuranga me te whanaketanga o te whutupōro Māori.

I hiahia te rangatira o te Poari Māori (NZMRB) a Kahurangi Farah Palmer ki te whakanui i te tipuranga me te whanaketanga o te whutupōro Māori ki te hui ā tau i tū ki Pōneke i te pō nei. 

I whakarewahia te rautaki whutupōro Māori i te Hakihea o te tau 2021, kātahi i whakatinanahia i te tau 2022, e whā ngā pou matua: Tātakitanga: Te whakamana i ngā rangatira Māori; Puawaitanga: Te kuhu o te Māori ki te whutupōro; Hauoratanga: Te whakatairanga i te hauora Māori; Angitutanga: Te hāpai i te ora o te Māori.  

“He wāhi nui tō te ahurea Māori, ngā wāriu me ngā tāngata i te ao whutupōro o Aotearoa, ā, ko tētahi aronga nui i te tau 2022 he whakanui i tō mātau kuhu ki tētahi punaha e huri ana, kia āhei tonu ai te whakatutuki i ngā whāinga whutupōro” hei tā Kahurangi Farah. 

“E poho kererū ana mātau he Māori te 27 ōrau o ngā kaitākaro whutupōro katoa me te aha he nui te tipu o ngā uniana Heartland i tēnei tau” hei tā Kahurangi Farah. 

Ahakoa ngā taumahatanga mai i te mate Kowheori, i whai huarahi ngā poari Māori o ngā rohe kia tākaro tonu ai te Māori me te aha mō te wā tuatahi i whakaaea kia kōwhiria e rua ngā tuakiritanga i te wā rēhita, nā tēnei i āpititia te 7000 tāngata he whakapapa Māori. 

“Nā te mea i āhei kia kōwhiri ngā kaitākaro kia nui ake i te kotahi te tuakiritanga, i āhei ai tō mātau tautoko i ngā kaitākaro katoa he whakapapa Māori tō rātau, he hiranga nui tēnei” hei tā Kahurangi Farah. 

He nui te kuhu ki ngā kura whakangungu ā-rohe, ā-motu hoki i raro i te 18 mō ngā Whatukura me ngā Mareikura. Tokowhā ngā ihu puta Mareikura kua mau i te poraka pango, ā, 17 kua kuhu ki ngā taiao Bunnings Warehouse Farah Palmer Cup. I te taumata whakahaere, neke atu i te 80 ngā kaiako, ngā menatia me ngā tūao i kuhu ki te Rangatira Workshop i te Huitanguru me te tuku i ngā hiahia Whutupōro Māori ki te motu whānui i te roanga o te tau 2022. 

I poroakitia a Andre Thompson he mema poari,  i tohua anō a Warren Alcock rāua ko Arran Pene, ā, i pōhiritia a Dayveen Stephens (Tūru Te Waipounamu) te wahine tuawhā ki te poari NZMRB. Hei tā Kahurangi Farah he ekenga nui te eke o te ira wahine o te poari ki te 40 ōrau. I te 31 o Hakihea ki ngā tohu o te tau hou, i whakawhiwhia a Kahurangi Farah hei Kahurangi o Aotearoa (DNZM) mō tana koha nui ki te hākinakina, otirā ki te Whutupōro.

E toru ngā toatanga kapu Whutupōro o te ao hei kāpene, i nui hoki te koha a Kahurangi Farah i muri i tana tākaro, he nui ana mahi whakahaere mai i tana rītaia i te tau 2006. Ko ia te rangatira tuarua o te Poari Whutupōro o Aotearoa, ā, i tohua ia ki te Hōro rongonui o te ao Whutupōro i te tau 2014. 

I te wā i rongo te rangatira tuarua o te poari Māori a Doug Jones, he nui āna mihi ki a Kahurangi Farah mō tana koha nui ki te hākinakina me te ao Māori.

“He toa rangatahi, he toa rangatira - He whakatauāki pai tēnei nā Whetu Tipiwai me te haka o te kapa Ōpango Māori hei whakamihi i a Kahurangi Farah. E mihi nei te poari Māori o Aotearoa, e waha hoki nei i ngā mihi o ngā whānau whutupōro Māori, e poho kererū ana kua tohua tō tātau mareikura mō āna mahi i te ao whutupōro me te ao Māori. Me mihi ki a ia, ki tōna whānau mō tōna wā, mō tōna kaha me tōna rangatiratanga kua koha mai kia tātou katoa”.

Kia kitea te ripoata ā tau o te Poari Whutupōro Māori o Aotearoa, pēhia tēnei

Te Poari Whutupōro Māori o Aotearoa atu i 26 Aperira 2023

Dame Farah Palmer – Chair
Rob Clark - Te Hiku o te Ika Chair
Andre Baker – Te Tini ā Māui Chair
Dayveen Stephens - Te Waipounamu Chair
Doug Jones – Appointed Member
Anne-Marie Jackson – Appointed Member
Arran Pene – Appointed Member
Warren Alcock – Independent Member
Merewaakana Kingi – Independent Member
Jacob Ellison - Emerging Director