Jack Raharuhi Hemi (23 August 1914 – 1 June 1996) was a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

and

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

player. He was born in Te Poho-o-Tutawake,

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...

, New Zealand on 23 August 1914.

Early years

Jack Hemi was the oldest son of Hineipikitia-ki-te-rangi (Piki) Reiri, of Te Whiti, and her husband, Paraikete (Blanket) Hēmi. There were thirteen children in the family. Hemi attended Te Whiti School. He worked at a freezing works and, when his father died in 1936, Hemi assumed responsibility for his mother and four siblings. Of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

descent, he identified with the Ngati Kahungunu and Rangitane

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

Rugby union career

Hemi played

for the Gladstone club before moving to the Featherston club and first represented

in 1933, aged only 18. He played for New Zealand Māori in 1934 and toured Australia with the team in 1935. He was also an All Blacks trialist in 1935.

Rugby league career

In 1936 Hemi switched codes, joining the new

Manukau Manukau (), or Manukau Central, is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand, centred on the Manukau City Centre business district. It is located 23 kilometres south of the Auckland Central Business District, west of the Southern Motorway, so ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

club in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

competition.Coffey, John and Wood, Bernie (2009) ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909–2009''. . He represented

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 ...

that year against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and also played for

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

.HEMI, Jack Raharuhi – 1936 – 39
''nzleague.co.nz'' He represented New Zealand Māori in 1937, being part of the team that defeated

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

16–5 at

Carlaw Park Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, New Zealand, Parnell, a central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of aro ...

.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987. He toured Australia in 1938, slotting a goal against

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

from 17 yards behind the halfway line. Hemi toured Great Britain in 1939, but World War II ended the tour without a test match being played. Exempt from War duty Hemi continued to play for Manukau. In

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

he scored 206 points for Manukau in all competition matches which was comfortably a record in Auckland Rugby League senior football to that point. He scored 12 tries, and kicked 59 conversions along with 26 penalties during the season. In 1945 he represented

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

alongside his younger brother, Lou.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemi, Jack Raharuhi 1914 births 1996 deaths 20th-century New Zealand people Auckland rugby league team players Manukau Magpies players Māori All Blacks players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand trade unionists Ngāti Kahungunu people People from Carterton, New Zealand Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Wellington Region Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union centres Rugby union players from the Wellington Region Rangitāne people Wellington rugby league team players