Riki "Dick" Papakura was a New Zealand

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 ...

player who represented the New Zealand Māori side and Australasia and played professionally for

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

. His position of preference was at fullback or in the centres.

Playing career

From

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

, Papakura toured Australia twice with the New Zealand Māori side; in 1908 with the original touring party and again as captain of the 1909 New Zealand Māori side, he also represented

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

. In 1909 Papakura played for

against an Auckland XIII before playing 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 ...

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 ...

.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009'', 2009. , p.p.26-29. In 1910 Papakura was one of three New Zealanders invited to Sydney to represent Australasia against the touring Great Britain Lions, alongside

Albert Asher Arapeta Paurini Wharepapa (3 December 1879 – 8 January 1965), or Albert Asher as he was more commonly known, was a New Zealand List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballe ...

and Con Sullivan. Papakura played in both "Test" matches at fullback. In 1911 Papakura travelled to England to attend the

Festival of Empire The 1911 Festival of Empire was the biggest single event held at The Crystal Palace in London since its opening. It opened on 12 May and was one of the events to celebrate the coronation of King George V. The original intention had been that Edw ...

. He was recommended to

by 1910 Lion

Frank Shugars Francis John Shugars (22 September 1875 – 16 June 1953) was a Welsh rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s and 1910s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Penygraig RFC, and representative level rug ...

and 1908 All Gold

Massa Johnston William "Massa" Johnston (13 September 1881 – 9 January 1951) was a New Zealand rugby union and rugby league international. He was part of the 1905 Original All Blacks tour and the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britai ...

and joined the club in September. He twice appeared for Warrington A but gave the impression of being overweight and unfit. Papakura played centre for Warrington's first grade team on 14 October 1911 in a 13–8 win over

Broughton Rangers Broughton Rangers were one of the twenty-one rugby clubs which met at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, in 1895 to form the Northern Rugby Football Union. They were originally based in Broughton, Salford, but in 1933 moved to Gorton, Manchester t ...

Wilderspool Stadium Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. History In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year lea ...

.One appearance only
''wire2wolves.com'' This match was part of the

1911–12 Northern Rugby Football Union season The 1911–12 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the 17th season of rugby league football. Season summary Huddersfield finished the regular season as league leaders and then went on to claim their first Championship by defeating Wigan 13-5 ...

. Papakura was New Zealand's first overseas transfer, as he was granted a clearance by 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 ...

on 6 October and

paid a 20-pound fee that was forwarded to the Rotorua sub-league.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987. p.16 After his one and only first grade appearance, Papakura was again named in the Warrington A side. However, he realised he had failed to secure a place in the Warrington first grade team and so he returned to the Festival of Empire in London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Papakura, Riki Auckland rugby league team players Australasia rugby league team players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Warrington Wolves players Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Bay of Plenty rugby league team players