New Zealanders
currently represent a sizeable chunk of most NRL clubs’ playing rosters. There has been a Kiwi presence in every grand
final since 1993, while a number of stars from the Shaky Isles rank amongst the
world’s finest individual talents. But
it took many decades for players from Australia’s easterly neighbours to make a
major impact in the Sydney premiership.
Several Kiwis
ventured to Britain following the advent of rugby league in New Zealand and the
subsequent tour to the Mother Country in 1907-08 – most notably Lance Todd and
former All Black Charlie Seeling – and the national side was a formidable
opponent for Australia and England (later Great Britain). The first New Zealanders to play in the
Sydney premiership were members of the trailblazing 1908 Maori side that toured
Australia – Peter Moko (nine games for Glebe in 1909) and Punga ‘Glen’ Pakere
(five games for Norths in 1910). Another
Maori player, Huatahi Turoa Brown Paki, played 15 games for St. George in 1923.
Bill Kelly, a former
All Black who toured Australia with the Kiwis in 1912 and 1913, was lured
across the Tasman by Balmain in 1914. He
became the first player to represent New Zealand and Australia in rugby league
(a feat which has been replicated only by Tonie Carroll, 89 years later) in his
first season in Sydney, playing in the centres in one Test against England for
Australia. The following season he
captain-coached Balmain to the club’s maiden first grade title and the first
undefeated season by a premiership club.
Kelly became a revered coaching figure after his retirement as a player
in stints with University, Newtown, Balmain (including another premiership win
in 1939), St. George and Canterbury.
Fittingly, Australia and New Zealand compete for the Bill Kelly Cup in
the mid-season Test.
But the New Zealand
Rugby League prevented their ‘amateur’ players from crossing the Tasman to play
in Australia for several decades, finally easing that stance in the 1960s –
provided the sought-after player had given satisfactory service to the game in
New Zealand.
Lock Rex Percy, a
veteran of nine Tests and two tours to Australia in 1956 and 1959, joined
Balmain in 1961 and spent three seasons at Leichardt before heading to the
country and captain-coaching in Parkes and Yass. The Kiwis’ success on the international stage
in the early part of the decade – including a 2-0 home series defeat of Great
Britain in 1962 – piqued the interest of clubs in Australia. Manly signed NZ Team of the Century hooker
Jock Butterfield and 11-Test forward Trevor Kilkelly in 1964, but both men had
modest seasons. Butterfield, a veteran
of 36 Tests, played only nine games, while Kilkelly appeared in six in the Sea
Eagles’ disappointing campaign.
NZ Team of the
Century lock and 22-Test Kiwi Mel Cooke accepted a player-coach role with
Canberra in 1965 and skippered the Monaro representative side against the
touring Lions the following season. The
brilliant loose forward also won selection for NSW Country. Another back-rower in New Zealand’s Team of
the Century, 18-Test Kiwi Ron Ackland, finished an admirable career with stints
for Goulbourn and Inverell in country New South Wales.
Many more Kiwi greats
bolstered the line-ups of country clubs in NSW and Queensland – predominantly
in captain-coach roles – including former Test captain Graham Kennedy (Wagga Kangaroos),
Team of the Century five-eighth George Menzies (Harden), 28-Test utility-back
Cyril Eastlake (Narromine, Goulburn), 18-Test prop Robert Orchard (Redcliffe,
Mt. Isa, Mackay, Cairns) and 22-Test centre Bill Sorenson (Glen Innes). Further loosening of the NZRL’s transfer
regulations ramped up the flow of players to Sydney, with Bill Schultz spending
three seasons with Easts in the late-1960s, although the former Test hooker
struggled to cement a regular first grade berth.
Playing
professionally overseas meant the end of the international careers of departing
New Zealand players, but that did not stop several Kiwi representatives joining
Sydney clubs in their prime during the early 1970s. Tough forward Oscar Danielson, the first
Samoan-born player to join an Australian club, played five Tests for New
Zealand before joining Newtown for a three-season stint in 1970. Fearsome prop Bill Noonan cut his Kiwi career
short after just two Tests to join Canterbury in 1970, where he became the first
New Zealander to appear in grand final.
He was part of the side that went down to Roosters in the 1974 decider,
and went on to play 161 games for the club in nine seasons, before joining
Newtown in 1979.
Canterbury also
acquired the services of goalkicking prop Henry Tatana and centre Bernie
Lowther in 1972 following New Zealand’s stunning 24-3 defeat of Australia the
previous season. Tatana, who kicked six
decisive goals in that match, was second in the premiership’s pointscoring race
in 1973 with 159 – the second-highest total in club history at the time. He topped a century of points again in 1974
but was dropped from first grade late in 1974 and missed the grand final. Lowther was similarly unlucky. He was the club’s top tryscorer in 1973 with
13 (fourth-equal in the premiership) and scored four tries in a match against
Penrith in 1974, but was relegated before the finals.
Both players left the
club, with Lowther proving a handy buy for Souths over the next two seasons,
while Tatana topped the scoring for St. George in 1975-76. Tatana’s reliable kicking helped the Dragons
to finals victories over Manly and Easts in 1975, but he became the second Kiwi
to suffer grand final defeat when the Roosters hammered Saints 38-0 in the
decider. Tatana left the club following
St. George’s finals exit in 1976, having scored 547 points in five seasons in
the premiership.
Penrith delved into
New Zealand’s rugby union ranks in 1978, luring highly-rated prop Kent Lambert
to the club. Lambert, an 11-Test All
Black, had publicly bemoaned the financial hardships suffered by the
then-amateur code’s players and signed with the Panthers. He penned a three-year contract, but a severe
run of injuries limited him to just one first grade appearance.
More successful were
Auckland’s rugby league Test brothers, Dane and Kurt Sorensen, who joined
Cronulla in the late-1970s. Dane
crossed over in 1977 but suspension ruled him out of the following year’s grand
final, before Kurt linked with the club in 1979. In a mutually beneficial move, the NZRL
allowed overseas-based players to continue representing the national side, and the intimidating
forwards carved out illustrious international careers for the Kiwis. Dane Sorensen played a then-record 216 first
grade games for the Sharks, while Kurt finished his career with a successful
stint in England after 118 games in Cronulla colours.
The trickle of Kiwi
players to the Sydney premiership became a torrent in the early-1980s. Powerful five-eighth Olsen Filipaina, who
regularly outpointed Wally Lewis at Test level, linked with Balmain in
1980. But he was unable to replicate his
international form on a consistent basis and left the Tigers after five patchy
seasons, before spending much of his time in subsequent stints with Easts and
Norths in reserve grade. Tough-as-teak
prop Mark Broadhurst gave excellent service to Manly and Illawarra, but Kiwi
greats James Leuluai (Manly) and Fred Ah Kuoi (Norths) struggled to adapt and
found greater success in English club football.
But the Bears and
Roosters benefitted handsomely from a host of successful Kiwi imports during
the 1980s. Powerful second-rower Mark
Graham’s contribution in eight years with the club saw him chosen in the Bears’
Team of the Century in 2006. A
long-serving Kiwi captain, Graham won a premiership with Brisbane Norths under
coach Graham Lowe in 1980 before linking with the Bears and winning the Dally M
Second-rower of the Year award in 1981-82.
He was named New Zealand’s Player of the Century in 2009 and appeared in
147 games for North Sydney. Tenacious
half Clayton Friend, who played a vital role in Kiwi Test victories over
Australia in 1985 and 1991, played four seasons of first grade for the Bears
and finished third in the 1987 Dally M Medal count.
Kiwi Test regulars Gary
Prohm, robust three-quarter Dean Bell and ultra-talented lock Hugh McGahan
joined Easts in 1985. McGahan was the
most influential signing, captaining the Kiwis while playing for the Roosters
and taking over the club captaincy in the late-1980s. He was temporarily installed as captain-coach
after the mid-season sacking of Russell Fairfax in 1990, before retiring at the
end of 1991 with 118 first grade games and 32 Tests (and a then-record 16 Test
tries) to his credit. Former All Black Kurt Sherlock became just the
second post-World War II dual international and was a valuable utility-back
over six seasons with the Roosters, racking up 88 appearances and 235 points.
Darrell Williams
became the first Kiwi to win a premiership in 1987, playing in the centres in
Manly’s 18-8 grand final victory over Canberra.
In the Raiders side that day was New Zealand Test prop Brent Todd, who
won titles with the Green Machine in 1989-90 and lost another grand final
against Penrith in 1991, before wrapping up his career with Gold Coast. Gary Freeman was Balmain’s halfback in the
Tigers’ twin grand final losses in 1988-89.
After falling out with new Balmain coach Alan Jones in 1991, Freeman moved
to Easts and became the first overseas player to win the Dally M Medal in
1992. A veteran of a then-record 45
Tests for New Zealand, Freeman was a valuable No. 7 in subsequent stints with
the Panthers and Eels, retiring in 1996 with a total of 151 first grade
appearances.
Newcastle dipped
heavily into New Zealand’s reservoir of talent for their 1988 entry into the
premiership. Sam Stewart was the club’s
first captain, while Tea Ropati, Adrian Shelford and Tony Kemp also turned out
for the Knights in their inaugural season.
Kemp’s return to Newcastle in 1989 was initially blocked by the NZRL but
he eventually spent six seasons in Knights colours and played for the Crushers
in their 1995 debut season, while also making 25 Test appearances.
A vigorous raid on
New Zealand’s rugby union ranks in the early 1990s resulted in several All
Blacks and provincial players switching codes.
The recruitment drive simultaneously elevated the importance of a
quality goalkicker within a first grade side’s make-up. 15-a-side recruits Matthew Ridge (Manly),
Daryl Halligan (Norths), Eion Crossan (Souths), John Schuster (Newcastle) and
Gavin Hill (Canterbury) emerged as genuine match-winners with the boot for
Australian rugby league clubs.
Ridge, enticed to
Australia by Manly’s Kiwi coach Graham Lowe, was joined at the Sea Eagles by
the game-breaking Iro brothers, Kevin and Tony, and Adrian Shelford. Rigde was one of the decade’s finest
fullbacks, winning a premiership with Manly, setting a host of pointscoring
records and captaining his country before heading home to join the Super
League-aligned Warriors. Halligan became
the first player in premiership history to pass 2000 points in first grade in a
decorated career with the Bears and Bulldogs that garnered a premiership in
1995 and 19 Test appearances.
Initially a reserve
grade player at North Sydney, Jarrod McCracken quickly gained a reputation as
fiery, game-breaking centre for the Bulldogs in the early-1990s. A 22-Test Kiwi rep between 1991 and 1999,
McCracken joined the Eels in 1996 and developed into an intimidating
second-rower. He co-captained Parramatta
in 1998-99 and was the inaugural skipper of the Wests Tigers during their 2000
debut season.
Northcote winger Sean
Hoppe was a sensation for the Raiders in 1992-93 but was axed from the club
after he signed to join the Warriors for their 1995 debut. He signed a one-year deal with Norths and
scored 15 tries, while his ex-Canberra team-mates Ruben Wiki and Quentin Pongia
played a crucial role in the Raiders’ 1994 grand final victory. Pongia’s front-row partner John Lomax
suffered the same fate as compatriot Dane Sorensen 17 years earlier when
suspension ruled him out of the decider (see
Suspension Denies Grand Final Dream).
Lomax and Pongia, though outstanding props, had careers littered with
suspension and injury, but Wiki became one of the all-time great Kiwi
imports. An ironman in 225 appearances
for Canberra, Wiki eventually joinied the Warriors (where he originally signed
a contract to play in 1995 before backing out of the deal) in 2005 and became
the first overseas player to make 300 first grade appearances.
McCracken, Halligan
and Kiwi Test winger Jason Williams were in Canterbury’s losing grand final
side in 1994, but the latter two tasted title success the following season,
alongside former All Black John Timu (McCracken was demoted from first grade
after signing with the ARL during the 1995 Super League war). Ridge was in the Manly side that went down to
the Bulldogs in 1995, but combined with another ex-All Black, devastating centre
Craig Innes, in the Sea Eagles’ 1996 triumph.
The Auckland
Warriors’ 1995 entry into the premiership enticed several Australian-based Kiwi
players back to New Zealand, including Hoppe, Hill, Gene Ngamu and Wests’ Kiwi
international Stephen Kearney. The
skilful and intimidating second-rower eventually joined Melbourne in 1999 and
was a vital component of the Storm’s premiership-winning side in his first
season. He left the NRL at the end of
2005 with 264 first grade games and 43 Tests under his belt, before earning a
reputation as a future NRL mentor at the Storm and as New Zealand national
coach which led to a first grade head coach role with Parramatta in 2011.
Despite the homeward
pull of the Warriors, many Kiwi players remained integral to Australian clubs
throughout the 1990s. Inspirational lock
Tawera Nikau helped Cronulla to the 1997 Super League grand final before
joining Kearney and fellow New Zealanders Matt Rua and Richard Swain in
Melbourne’s 1999 grand final celebrations.
Despite spending just two seasons with the Storm, one of the grandstands
at the club’s Olympic Park was renamed ‘The Tawera Nikau Stand’ in 2005. Richie Barnett, Nikau’s team-mate at
Cronulla, was an outstanding backline player for the Sharks and Roosters and
captained New Zealand in 11 of his 26 Test appearances.
Formidable but
suspension-prone prop Craig Smith debuted with Souths in 1995 before joining
Illawarra and representing Rest of the World and Queensland’s Origin side in
1997 under the ambiguous representative rules of the Super League war years. He debuted for the Kiwis the following year
in the first of 12 Test appearances and was part of St. George Illawarra’s
losing grand final side in 1999. Another
valuable front-rower, 16-Test Kiwi Jason Lowrie, played 160 games for the
Roosters, Balmain and Wests Tigers, and was renowned for taking 139 first grade
appearances to score his first try.
Although Nathan
Cayless was born in Sydney, he identified with his New Zealand parentage and
represented the Kiwis 39 times, captaining the Kiwis to an historic World Cup
final victory in 2008. Installed as
Parramatta captain as a 21-year-old, he became the first player to captain one
club in 200 first grade games before retiring in 2010. His brother Jason won a premiership with the
Roosters in 2002 and played ten Tests for the Kiwis.
Powerhouse winger
Lesley Vainikolo (Canberra) and classy centre Willie Talau (Canterbury) managed
to slip the Warriors’ net to debut during the 1998 NRL season, with Talau
forming a right-side combination with Halligan in a Bulldogs side that powered
to the grand final. Explosive forward
Tony Puletua made his debut for Penrith a year earlier and was a mainstay of
the Panthers’ pack, before forming one of the modern era’s best second-row
combinations with former Warrior Joe Gulavao as the club won the 2003
premiership.
Nigel Vagana began
his first grade career with the Warriors but was a tryscoring sensation at the
Bulldogs, topping the premiership in 2002.
Subsequent stints with the Sharks and Rabbitohs took his career tally to
140 tries and the devastating centre remains the only overseas player to break
the 100-try barrier.
Three young Kiwis –
Benji Marshall, Sonny Bill Williams and Karmichael Hunt – took the NRL by storm
in 2004, although Broncos fullback Hunt pledged his allegiance to Australia and
represented Queensland and the Kangaroos with distinction. ‘SBW’ was the complete package: sublimely
skilled, fast, and strong, he was one of the game’s biggest hitters, best
off-loaders and most damaging ball-runners.
The centre/back-rower was part of the Bulldogs’ premiership-winning side
in his debut season, alongside fellow Kiwis Matt Utai and future South Sydney
captain and Test skipper Roy Asoatasi, but infamously walked out on the club in
2008 to play rugby union in France, before becoming an All Black in 2010. Meanwhile, Asotasi was at one stage
recognised as the world’s best prop and 2002 Dally M Rookie of the Year Utai
scored 71 tries in 127 games for the Bulldogs before joining the Tigers in 2011
after a season in the NRL wilderness.
Marshall, the only
one of the aforementioned superstar trio to remain in rugby league after Hunt’s
2010 switch to AFL, stamped himself as one of the decade’s most dazzling
individual talents. The Tigers’
unheralded squad, which contained New Zealanders Paul Whatuira (previously a
premiership-winner at Penrith) and Dene Halatau, rode Marshall’s brilliance all
the way to grand final glory in 2005.
The mercurial pivot emerged through several injury-riddled seasons to
star in the Kiwis’ 2008 World Cup triumph and take over the New Zealand
captaincy in 2009. He became arguably
the game’s premier match-winner in 2010 after spearheading the Tigers return to
the finals and the Kiwis’ stunning upset of Australia in the Four Nations
final.
Melbourne’s champion
side of the late 2000s, which has been sullied by revelations of salary cap
breaches that resulted in the stripping of two premierships, contained a strong
Kiwi influence. Forwards David Kidwell
(a 25-Test Kiwi who played over 200 games for five NRL clubs), Jeremy Smith,
Adam Blair and Sika Manu each played a key role in the Storm’s on-field
dominance during this period. After
switching to the Dragons in 2009, Smith was one of seven Kiwi Test players in
the 2010 grand final. Jason Nightingale
and former Warrior Nathan Fien accompanied Smith on the Saints’ victory lap,
while young stars Sam Perrett, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Frank-Paul Nuuausala and
Jared Warea-Hargreaves were in the Roosters side that went down 32-8.
New Zealand’s brazen challenge
to Australia’s world rugby league supremacy – which included the Kiwis’ upset of
the Kangaroos in the 2008 World Cup and 2010 Four-Nations finals – was exacerbated
by the Warriors’ memorable charge to a second grand final appearance in 2011. The gallant Warriors were beaten 24-10 by a Manly
side featuring Kiwi stars Galuvao, budding superstar five-eighth Keiran Foran and
centre enforcer Steve Matai. The Warriors’
Under-20s outfit took out their second straight title, while feeder side Auckland
Vulcans also qualified for the NSW Cup decider in a momunmental year of achievement
fcor the club.
Many other Kiwis have
had a massive impact on the NRL with Australian clubs in the last decade –
Frank Pritchard at Penrith, Bronco and Bulldog Greg Eastwood, Tigers bulldozer
Taniela Tuiaki, former Cowboys captain Paul Rauhihi and scores more – ensuring
that there will continue to be a sizeable New Zealand presence in the NRL
outside of the Warriors. Australians
joke (or complain) about the hordes of New Zealanders in general that move
across the Tasman, and that influx is also reflected in the proportion of Kiwis
starring in the NRL. From the humble
beginnings when the Kiwis in the premiership could be counted on one hand,
there is now at least a handful of New Zealanders at every NRL club – and the
competition is all the more richer for it.