Can the inspirational rise of Tonga’s rugby league team encourage a love of reading in Pacific kids? The authors of a new book hope so. What started as an effort to help reduce suicides among Tongan youth has led ‘Alisi Tatafu to write a book, aimed at younger readers, chronicling the miraculous rise of the … Read more
Remarks by new coach Nathan Brown and the closed-door discussions by the club around recruiting a man facing sexual assault charges undermines the rugby league club’s values, writes Tiffany Salmond. It’s been a hot topic in rugby league circles for well over a year – but not for the right reasons. Former St Illawarra Dragons … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Big changes coming for how schools are run, highly anticipated OCR decision coming today, and a clear-eyed look at the protests up Ōwairaka/Mt Albert. The government has set up a fight with a dangerous political constituency – highly involved parents at affluent schools. That’s putting it facetiously … Read more
The latest twist in the Warriors tale might be grim, but it comes as little surprise to sports journalist and former Warriors CEO Trevor McKewen. He traces the club’s long and sorry history I know that by now a lot of people don’t care what happens to the Warriors. I’d like to think this piece … Read more
An update to James Dann’s groundbreaking 2016 investigation, now with 25% more shirts. It has been three years since the first Warriors Jersey Power Rankings appeared on The Spinoff, and a lot has changed in that time. They qualified for the finals for the first time in close to a decade, lost their best-ever player … Read more
The NRL’s International Rugby League proposals are a sign that they’re finally waking up to the potential of giving Pacific Island nations something serious to play for. On the face of it, it seems obvious. An Oceania Cup between New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa and Fiji and an international Nines tournament in 2019. A Four Nations … Read more
God Defend New Zealand is terrible. It got exactly what it deserved, argues Jamie Wall for RNZ. Crystal Collins certainly has the name of someone who can sing, and for all we know, she might be able to. It’s just the learning the lyrics part of her repertoire that needs a lot of work. Her … Read more
Tēnā koutou katoa, haere mai ki Te Bulletin, ko Simon Day tōku ingoa. I’m stepping in for Alex Braae this morning and in today’s edition: Winston Peters jumps Fonterra, Spark gives 1900 people five days to decide on their future, and Mycoplasma Bovis spreads in the North Island. Prime minister proxy in waiting Winston Peters, … Read more
What’s in a name? Once again not much, if you’re an NRL commentator. The 2018 edition of the NRL kicked off last night, with a new look St George-Illawarra Dragons drawing a packed house for their clash with the Brisbane Broncos. Things have changed down in the land of the famed Red V, with a … Read more
After ending their dreadful 2017 season with a 9-game losing streak, the Warriors will be looking to create some more positive memories for their beleaguered fans. But where does last year’s abysmal failure sit within the pantheon of poor performances? James Dann looks back over the club’s history since 1995 to rank each of their … Read more
NZ rugby needs to act, and act fast. While it is financially the most dominant code in New Zealand, it could lose the attention of potential athletes fast if they can see that there’s money to be made elsewhere. What will 2017 be remembered for by rugby fans? There’s a couple of strong narratives, neither … Read more
30,003 fans descended on Penrose yesterday for the Rugby League World Cup semifinal between Tonga and England. Despite a heartbreaking two point loss, Tongan fans provided the enduring image of the tournament. Joel Thomas photographed them on the way in. Captions by Jamie Wall. Jacob leads his boys in a song down the street to … Read more
The success of Tonga and Fiji in the Rugby League World Cup is a marker of what might happen if clubs gained more power in rugby, writes Jamie Wall. In a week where World Rugby revealed a bit more of its agenda than it probably wanted to, the controversy of the awarding of the 2023 … Read more
The best rugby team in the world facing down Australia’s league team in Tokyo? All it takes for the ‘might’ to turn into a ‘will’ is someone to stump up with the cash, writes Jamie Wall. This time of year really is the silly-season for the rugby rumour mill. Just last week we were subjected … Read more
Billy Idol’s bizarre 2002 performance in Sydney was a seminal moment in NRL grand final history. Now, 15 years on, a Sydney journalist has commemorated the event by having Idol’s hovercraft performance tattoed onto his leg. Jamie Wall talks to Steve Zemek about his courageous move to immortalise this piece of rugby league history. The Warriors … Read more
Despite media reports concentrating on sporadic violence in the leadup, the Tonga-Samoa RLWC international on Saturday was one of the best live sporting atmospheres in recent New Zealand history, writes Jamie Wall. And one that could have happened nowhere else on earth. I was excited to see the most stacked Tongan and Samoan rugby league … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Don Rowe reflects on Shaun Johnson’s clutch kick against the Roosters. It takes a special kind of masochist to devote Sunday after Sunday to seeing the Warriors ritually humiliated at home and abroad. But pleasure and pain are two sides … Read more
It was one of the greatest things that has ever happened in a game of rugby league, but at what cost, asks Calum Henderson. Fullback Ben Barba scored two first half tries to lead the Cronulla Sharks to a 26-10 victory over the Penrith Panthers at Pepper Stadium on Sunday afternoon – the team’s 13th … Read more
The Warriors (probably) hold the NRL record for getting their hearts broken by their former players, with James Maloney’s golden point field goal the most recent incident. Jamie Wall recounts the most traumatic ex-Warrior revenge missions. As far as losses go, the Warriors’ latest to the Sharks would have been relatively easy to take, had it not been … Read more
Everybody loves a good bandwagon, and the Warriors one is once again pulling into the station. Experienced bandwagonner James Dann has some sage advice for those thinking of jumping aboard. So the Warriors pulled out their best performance of the season on Saturday, demolishing last year’s beaten finalists the Brisbane Broncos at Mt Smart Stadium. … Read more
Using Tinder for its original intended purpose only brought Jamie Wall bad times, so he deleted it. But with the Warriors’ latest calamity weighing heavy on his mind, he decided to reinstall – this time to try and crowdsource a solution to the rugby league club’s woes. (All correspondents have given permission for their replies … Read more
The NRL may or may not be the greatest sports competition on Earth, but it is definitely home to the greatest fan-made banners. James Dann selects six of the best. Rugby league has given so much to our culture over the years. Mullets. Russell Crowe. The term “Hopoate”. But what has often been overlooked is its contribution to … Read more
This Warriors season seems to be shaping up as a disaster, but still has a way to go before it’s officially worse than 2004, writes Andrew Mulligan. When you lose an NRL game 42-0, it’s bad. When you have to discipline six players for getting so hammered they couldn’t crawl out of bed, pop a … Read more
The Warriors lost badly on ANZAC Day, and now they’re being accused of disrespecting the combatants in a military campaign that happened 101 years ago. That’s dumb, writes Jamie Wall. April 25th, 2016 won’t go down as a day to remember for the Warriors. Not only was the team’s 42-0 loss devoid of any positives, it was … Read more
Why can’t we get rugby or league jerseys with numbers on the back, wonders Jamie Wall. All across the sports world, it’s pretty much common practice to make individual player number jerseys available for rabid fans to buy. So why do the two main footy codes in the Southern Hemisphere refuse to do it? It’s … Read more
Auckland has been awash with praise for the proposed waterfront stadium. Hayden Eastmond-Mein swims against the tide, and argues it’s a really awful idea. Sport has a unique ability to defy reason and distort logic in New Zealand. It’s a proud tradition. We’ve used sport to turn a blind eye to the worst of human behaviour. … Read more
Trouble overwhelming? Panic setting in? James Dann offers a few reasons to stop despairing over the Warriors’ terrible start. After a third successive loss, and on the brink of setting a record for their most consecutive losses, many Warriors fans might be thinking this could be another season to forget. But James Dann’s original 1995 … Read more
The NRL ought to use players like Packer and Greg Bird as ‘What Not To Do’ mentors to help young players avoid making the same mistakes they did, writes Ben Stanley. The Russell Packer redemption song reached its crescendo in Melbourne on Monday. It was sung in hushed tones, really. There he was: just another … Read more
Is there a more depressing NRL team to support than the Warriors? A man who failed 6th form maths has developed a simple formula to find out. The New Zealand Warriors’ season was barely 20 minutes old when an all-too-familiar anguish began to ripple through their fanbase. Trailing Wests Tigers 16-0 in a game they … Read more