The Tasman rugby league team are

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 ...

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

Tasman Rugby League Tasman most often refers to Abel Tasman (1603–1659), Dutch explorer. Tasman may also refer to: Animals and plants * Tasman booby * Tasman flax-lily * Tasman parakeet (disambiguation) * Tasman starling * Tasman whale People * Tasman (name), ...

. They have previously been nicknamed the ''Orcas'' but in 2010 adopted the ''Titans'' nickname. The district was previously known as ''Nelson/Marlborough''.

History

Early years

Nelson held one of the first New Zealand rugby league competitions in 1910 and the region produced four New Zealand representatives between 1910 and 1911; Charles James,

Pat Hannigan Patrick Edward Hannigan (March 5, 1936 – December 11, 2007) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played five seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers b ...

, Dave Mason and Bert Feary. In many parts of New Zealand, rugby league went into recess with the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1991 Nelson, who were coached by former Kiwi Kevin Dixon, played a three match series against Marlborough, winning the first 30-20 before losing the second 24-32 and drawing the third match 26-all.

Tasman district

A Nelson-Marlborough side first played as an independent district in 1977, who played Otago, Southland, West Coast, Canterbury etc but it was not until the 1997 season that the Tasman name was adopted.''Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1995'', New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1995. p.180''New Zealand Rugby League Annual '98'', New Zealand Rugby Football League, 1998. p.141 In 1998 they won the Central Zone of the National Provincial Competition Second Division before losing to

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

in the semi-finals. In 2000 the team competed in the Mainland Super 10 against other South Island district teams and clubs from the Canterbury Rugby League. The Orcas made the final and defeated Hornby 20-0 to win the championship. In 2001 Tasman won the

Rugby League Cup The Rugby League Cup is a New Zealand rugby league trophy that is contested between districts on a challenge basis. The trophy used to be known as the Northern Union Challenge Cup. It is the oldest rugby league competition in New Zealand. Histo ...

, defeating

Coastline The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

. They lost to trophy to

in the first game of the 2002 season. In 2004 the Orcas defeated the touring Russian national team 32-16. In 2010 the Tasman side lost two matches against the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

, 4-36 and 14-56. In 2011 Tasman will compete in a South Island home-and-away series against West Coast, Canterbury, Otago and Southland.

Notable players

During the 1990s and early 2000s Tasman were coached by Paul Bergman who later went on to coach

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 ...

and be an assistant coach of the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

. Former internationals

Phil Bergman Phil Bergman (born 12 February 1971) is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand Māori and played professionally for Paris Saint-Germain in the Super League. Playing career Bergman signed with the Auckland Warri ...

(Paul's brother) and

Simon Angell Simon Alexander Angell is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played representative level for New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand and Canterbury Rugby League, Canterbury, ...

have also represented Tasman.

References

{{Rugby League in New Zealand Rugby league teams in New Zealand Rugby league in the Tasman District