logo
NZ Warriors rookie Maarire Puketapu choses league career over softball

NZ Warriors rookie Maarire Puketapu choses league career over softball

RNZ News5 days ago
Maarire Puketapu enjoys family support at her Warriors NRLW debut against Sydney Roosters.
Photo:
Mark Kolbe/www.photosport.nz
Maarire Puketapu can probably thank the Covid pandemic for diverting her sporting career towards the NZ Warriors NRLW programme.
As a teenager, she represented New Zealand as a softball centrefielder and even had a US college scholarship lined up at Division II Florida Tech.
"I played softball my entire life and was supposed to head over to America on a two-year scholarship, but unfortunately, because of Covid, I wasn't too keen on heading over there.
"I didn't think softball was going to be the sport for me."
Ironically, the very phenomenon that forced the Warriors women's team into a five-year hiatus was also the thing that steered Puketapu down that sporting pathway.
In 2021, while visiting relatives in Queensland, she played a game for the local Kawana Dolphins, whose coach invited her to move back for the entire season.
The following year, she chalked up air miles back and forth across the Tasman, sharing time between her Te Aroha Eels club and Wellington reps, and Kawana in Queensland.
Last year, Puketapu secured a fulltime spot at Sunshine Coast Falcons in the second-tier Queensland BMD Premiership, where she popped up on the radar of new Warriors coach Ron Griffiths.
"After some time, I got the big phone call and I was in shock," she said. "I hung up and screamed, 'F**k, I'm going to be a Warrior!', but I was at work, so I had to tone it down real quick."
While the nuggety second-rower began this season with zero NRLW experience, her efforts at the next level down at least put her ahead of those arriving from local clubs or other codes.
"Coming from BMD, I was only in that competition for one year, so I only got a small taste of how the competition can be," Puketapu said. "Taking that next step up to NRLW was pretty massive.
"I knew it was going to be hard, so before I came here, I just trained as hard as I could to the standard I thought would be similar to NRLW. I was training with our local boys team in Australia, hoping to up my skills and fitness.
"Obviously, I still died in pre-season, because that's what it's all about, but if I hadn't had that training prior, I wouldn't have been as good or I would have had injuries."
During her stay with the Warriors, she has been housed with sevens superstar Michaela Brake and former Black Fern Shakira Baker, who are both still feeling their way into rugby league and admit to picking their flatmate's brain.
That education cuts both ways.
"Honestly, it's been a big learning curve for me and I've added so much to my basket since being here," Puketapu said.
"I'm learning so much from our Black Fern girls and grateful to be living with two of them, so every day, I'm learning and growing as a player and a person."
"The biggest thing I've learnt is coming across the professional girls and seeing them on TV all my life... we're all on the same level. They didn't give off this energy that they're too cool or too good for us - you really do feel like you're part of the whānau here."
Puketapu doesn't lack for whānau of her own, many of whom made the trip across the ditch to witness her NRLW debut against Sydney Roosters.
"Running out of the tunnel and seeing my family there is a feeling you can't really describe."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Cricket: Matt Henry guides Black Caps to Tri-Series final triumph
Cricket: Matt Henry guides Black Caps to Tri-Series final triumph

RNZ News

timean hour ago

  • RNZ News

Cricket: Matt Henry guides Black Caps to Tri-Series final triumph

Matt Henry celebrates a wicket for the Black Caps. Photo: AFP New Zealand seamer Matt Henry restricted South Africa to three runs from the last over to seal a dramatic three-run victory in the Twenty20 International Tri-Series final in Harare. Chasing 181 for victory, South Africa needed eight off the last eight balls with six wickets in hand, and seven from the final over, but brilliant catches in the outfield by Michael Bracewell and Daryl Mitchell helped restrict them to 177-6. Dewald Brevis looked as though he had won the game with 31 from 16 deliveries and was an inch or two from completing the job as he launched Henry towards the square-leg boundary, only for Bracewell to juggle the ball as he stepped over the rope back into play to complete the catch. Mitchell took a superb diving effort at long off to dismiss George Linde, who looked as though he would win the game for the South Africans with a big hit down the ground. Senuran Muthusamy could not get bat to ball on the final delivery of the game from Henry, who finished with figures of 2-19 from three overs. "As a group we have been playing some really good cricket and to get over the line in a really tight game, I am proud of the guys," Henry said. "It is credit to the attitude of our team, making sure we stay in the fight and knowing that wickets can change things." New Zealand were sent into bat and amassed 180 for five. Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra both scored 47. Teenager Lhuan-dre Pretorius scored 51 from 35 balls in South Africa's reply and they looked to be coasting home before Brevis' dismissal and the excellent final over from Henry. "We played a pretty good game, it was a match of millimetres," South Africa captain Rassie van der Dussen said. "We have had guys making debuts and experimented a bit (in the series), so for the young guys to come in and get so close, we will learn a lot from this." Zimbabwe were the third team involved in the Tri-Series, but lost all four group games. - Reuters

Netball: ANZ Premiership final - what you need to know
Netball: ANZ Premiership final - what you need to know

RNZ News

timean hour ago

  • RNZ News

Netball: ANZ Premiership final - what you need to know

Donnell Wallam of the Mystics shoots. Photo: Joshua Devenie / Photosport The ANZ Premiership winner will make history in Auckland on Sunday. Either the Tactix will win a maiden title or the Mystics will win a three-peat, something no other team has done. Mainland Tactix v Northern Mystics 4pm Sunday, 27 July The Trusts Arena, Auckland Live blog updates on RNZ Sport Since the competition began in 2017 three franchises have lifted the trophy - the Steel twice, and the Pulse and Mystics three times each. The Mystics will become the most successful team in ANZ Premiership history if they win Sunday's final and claim a record fourth. The Mystics have home advantage having finished on top of the regular season. This will be the Tactix' third ANZ Premiership grand final. The side lost to the Pulse in 2020 and the Mystics in 2021, where they lost by just two goals. Six of the eight previous ANZ Premiership grand finals have been won by the team who finished top of the regular round and claimed the minor premiership. The only two occasions the top team after the minor round hasn't won was in 2018 when the Steel defeated the Pulse. And last year when the Mystics beat the Pulse, but that can be attributed to the fact that strike shooter Grace Nweke was out injured for part of the season, which saw the Mystics slip down the ladder in 2024. The Mystics have won every grand final they have appeared in. When the teams last met in Round 10 the Mystics defeated the Tactix 70-56 in Auckland . The Tactix won the Round 4 meeting 61-50 in Rangiora, but the Mystics were without star shooter Donnell Wallam in that game. But the Tactix are coming off an impressive 57-52 victory over the Pulse in the Elimination Final . Coach Robyn Broughton and captain Bernice Mene after Southern Sting beat Canterbury Flames in the 2001 Coca Cola Cup domestic final. Photo: Photosport Two ANZ Premiership grand finals have been decided by one goal; Last year the Mystics pipped the Pulse by one goal in the dying seconds. In 2018 the Steel overcame the Pulse 54-53 , incredibly the same score as last year's grand final. The Tactix would claim their region's first National League title if they can defeat the Mystics. The Tactix and their National League predecessors, the Canterbury Flames, have not won a title since the introduction of franchise netball in 1998. The Flames played in four Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup finals but lost all four to the Southern Sting. If they take the win, the Mystics will become the first New Zealand team to claim three consecutive titles since the Southern Sting, who won six titles in a row between 1999 and 2004. Donna Wilkins has led the Tactix to the grand final in her first season as head coach. Tia Winikerei is the most recent head coach to claim the title in her first season, when she led the Mystics to the 2023 title. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

Warriors let opportunity slip with defeat to cellar dwelling Titans
Warriors let opportunity slip with defeat to cellar dwelling Titans

RNZ News

time12 hours ago

  • RNZ News

Warriors let opportunity slip with defeat to cellar dwelling Titans

Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad of the Warriors goes in for a try (file photo). Photo: Andrew Cornaga / The NZ Warriors could find no miraculous comeback on Saturday, as they slumped to a 24-16 defeat against the bottom-of-the-table Gold Coast Titans at Auckland's Go Media Stadium. Early tries to centre Adam Pompey and second-rower Leka Halasima put the home side in prime position, but they conceded the next 24 points, including try doubles to Titans centre Jojo Fifita and winger Phillip Sami, to lose control of the contest. They lost hooker Wayde Egan to concussion in the first half and then had to play short-handed, when winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak was sent to the bin for taking out a player without the ball on his goal-line. With their next possession, Fifita scored his second to put the game beyond reach for the Warriors and not even a try to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck could spark a revival. The result is a blow to their chances of a top-four finish - they remain in fourth on the NRL table, but are now vulnerable to those chasing. Victory means Gold Coast coach Des Hasler can celebrate his 500th game in a season, when he has been under threat of losing his job. The Warriors now meet the Dolphins on Friday at Mt Smart, desperately needing a better performance to restore credibility to their championship hopes. See how it unfolded, with RNZ's blog: Warriors: 1. Charnze Nicoll‑Klokstad, 2. Dallin Watene‑Zelezniak, 3. Adam Pompey, 4. Kurt Capewell, 5. Roger Tuivasa‑Sheck, 6. Chanel Harris‑Tavita, 7. Tanah Boyd, 8. James Fisher‑Harris (c), 9. Wayde Egan, 10. Jackson Ford, 11. Leka Halasima, 12. Marata Niukore, 13. Erin Clark Interchange: 14. Te Maire Martin, 15. Jacob Laban, 16. Demitric Vaimauga, 17. Tanner Stowers‑Smith Reserves: 18. Taine Tuaupiki, 20. Samuel Healey, 21. Bunty Afoa, 22. Ali Leiataua, 23. Eddie Ieremia‑Toeava Titans: 1. AJ Brimson, 2. Jaylan De Groot, 3. Brian Kelly, 4. Jojo Fifita, 5. Phillip Sami, 6. Kieran Foran, 7. Jayden Campbell, 8. Moeaki Fotuaika, 9. Sam Verrills, 10. Jaimin Jolliffe, 11. Chris Randall, 12. Beau Fermor, 13. Klese Haas Interchange:14. Jacob Alick‑Wiencke, 15. Reagan Campbell‑Gillard, 16. Iszac Fa'asumaleaui, 17. Josh Patston Reserves: 18. Arama Hau, 19. Sean Mullany, 20. Tom Weaver, 21. Ryan Foran, 22. Alofiana Khan‑Pereira

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store