Rugby League Hawkes Bay is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of rugby league in the
Hawke's Bay
Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...
region of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. The RLHB run the local club competition and are responsible for the Hawke's Bay rugby league team. They are part of the
New Zealand Rugby League
The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...
's Mid-Central Zone and their players are eligible for the
Central Vipers
The Central Vipers were a New Zealand rugby league team that represented the Mid-Central Zone in the Albert Baskerville Trophy.All GoldsJim Gleeson and
Edward Tyne
Edward "Hone" Tyne was a New Zealand rugby footballer who was part of the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain.
Early life
Tyne was a railway worker, working for the New Zealand Railways Department.John Haynes ''From A ...
.John Haynes ''From All Blacks to All Golds: Rugby League's Pioneers'', Christchurch, Ryan and Haynes, 1996. Former
All Black
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...
David Evans helped persuade three Hawke's Bay clubs; Clive, Ahuriri and Kia Toa, to switch en masse to rugby league and form the basis of the first club competition. Mayor
Vigor Brown
John Vigor Brown (18 June 1854 – 2 September 1942), known as Vigor Brown, was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Napier, in the North Island. He was Mayor of Napier for a total of 18 years. He was a well-known figure in his adopted city, ...
ensured that rugby league had access to
McLean Park
McLean Park is a sports ground in Napier, New Zealand. The two main sports played at the ground are cricket and rugby union. It is one of the largest cricket grounds in New Zealand.
McLean Park is a sports ground of international standards w ...
.David Evans ''stats.allblacks.com'' They were admitted to the
New Zealand Rugby League
The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...
that same year.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987.
In 1989, after many years without regular access to local grounds, the Premier and Reserve club finals were both played at McLean Park.
Among those present were NZRL president George Rainey and chief executive Mike Knowles who with HBRL chairman Kel Lenord met with the Mayor of Napier and other city council personnel that day. It was as a result of the progress rugby league was starting to make again in Hawke's Bay, including access to the park, that the opening game of the 1990 Great Britain tour of New Zealand was played there, against a NZ President's X111.
In the mid-2000s the Hawkes Bay and Gisborne Tairawhiti Rugby League ran a combined club competition called the Eastern Alliance.
Rugby League Hawkes Bay celebrated its centenary in August 2011. Former Kiwi
Kevin Tamati
Kevin Ronald Tamati (born 21 September 1953) is a New Zealand former rugby league representative player and coach. He played at representative level for New Zealand, New Zealand Māori, Auckland, Central Districts and Wellington, and professio ...