The Manawatu rugby league team are a

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 ...

team that represents the

Manawatu Rugby League Manawatu Rugby League was formed in 1957. They are currently part of the Mid-Central zone along with Taranaki Rugby League. Kiwi Players Only one player from Manawatu has ever made the New Zealand national rugby league team. This was Kiwi number ...

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 ...

competitions. They have the nickname the Mustangs and between 2002 and 2007 competed in the

Bartercard Cup The Bartercard Cup (successor of the Lion Red Cup) was the top level rugby league club competition in New Zealand from 2000 until 2007. For the entire life of the tournament it was sponsored by Bartercard. The cup was administered by the New Zeala ...

as the Central Falcons. Manawatu has a strong domestic scene and clubs compete in the "Western Alliance" region alongside

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

clubs.

History

Rugby league in the region was first recorded in 1924 when a match was played between a Manawatu side against

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 ...

. All Black

Alphonsus Carroll Alphonsus "Fonse" John Carroll (20 April 1895 in Mataura – 1 December 1974 in Palmerston North) was a New Zealand dual-code international rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s, who represented New Zealand in both co ...

was part of the Manawatu team and the following season he was selected for

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 ...

to tour Australia. The match with Wellington was drawn 14-14 and was played at Foxton. However it was not until 1971 that Manawatu had its first ever registered win, against

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

24 - 19. The season remains the team's most successful.MRL History
''Manawatu Rugby League''

Lion Red Cup

In 1996 a Manawatu team was entered into the

Lion Red Cup The Lion Red Cup was a New Zealand domestic rugby league competition that ran from 1994 to 1996 sponsored by brewers Lion Nathan. It was created due to the increase in public awareness of domestic rugby league due to the Auckland Warriors being a ...

, replacing the Auckland Warriors' Colts. They were called the Manawatu Mustangs. This team was coached by Peter Sixtus.

Bartercard Cup

The Central Falcons were a franchise in the now defunct

competition. They represented the Central North Island of New Zealand, playing home games in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

and Levin and were run by the

. They were coached by former Kiwis international

David Lomax David Walter Lomax (born 21 September 1970) is a New Zealand rugby league coach and former player who represented New Zealand. He is the brother of another international, John Lomax. Early years Lomax grew up playing rugby league for the Wainu ...

. They entered the competition in 2002 alongside the

Taranaki Wildcats The Taranaki rugby league team (also known as the Taranaki Wildcats, formerly the Taranaki Sharks and the Taranaki Rockets) are New Zealand rugby league team that represents the Taranaki Rugby League. They currently compete in the NZRL National C ...

. They had a close relationship with the

New Zealand Army , image = New Zealand Army Logo.png , image_size = 175px , caption = , start_date = , country = , branch = ...

and its base at

Waiouru Waiouru is a small town in the Ruapehu District, in New Zealand's Manawatū-Whanganui region. It is located on the south-eastern North Island Volcanic Plateau, north of Palmerston North and 25 kilometres south-east of Mount Ruapehu. The town ...

. In 2006 two

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

were assigned to the club;

Micheal Luck Micheal Luck (born 21 April 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the North Queensland Cowboys and the New Zealand Warriors. Micheal Luck's position of choice was or . Playing career Queensland Whi ...

& Steve Price. Notable players included:

Jesse Royal Jesse Te Ahukaramu Royal (born 22 March 1980) is a professional rugby league footballer from New Zealand who currently plays for the Kurri Kurri Bulldogs in the Newcastle Rugby League. He has previously played in the NRL for the Newcastle Knigh ...

Ricky Thorby Ricky Thorby (born 2 October 1985) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League. He previously played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons. His posi ...

and

Russell Packer Russell Packer (born 9 October 1989) is a former New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who played as a for the Wests Tigers, St. George Illawarra Dragons and the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL, and the New Zealand Māori and New ...

. The side never made the finals and in the final season collected the

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

. The club's best result was in 2005 when it finished Ninth out of Twelve teams.

Squad

On 7 June 2015 the following players were selected to play Hawke's Bay: * Aaron Whitikia * Dylan Winiata * Jordan Kerr * Tanira Cooper * Leon Walker * Manaia Osborne * Haze Reweti * Kahura Cameron * Rakai Tuheke * Denzel Lepua * Dane Cooper * Chevy Graham * Codie Christensen * Kane Kelleher * Tiwana Paringatai * Kele Kose * Gordon Karakaitana * Ihaka Johnson * Joe Ratu * Cory Governor * Leoango Tanginoa * Tereki Peneha

References

New Zealand rugby league teams Rugby league in Manawatū-Whanganui 1957 establishments in New Zealand {{Rugbyleague-team-stub