Rugby League Club Bridging The Gap

Tu Tangata, Issue 27, 1 December 1985, Page 31

Rugby League Club Bridging The Gap

by Michael Romanos

Henry (Henare) to the left, Henry to the right.

There’s a hole in our welfare society and race relationships that a number of Henrys of the Eastern Suburbs Rugby League Club in Wellington are trying to fix.

The competitive Eastern Suburbs premier league side contains no fewer than eight members of the Henry family all brothers or first cousins to each other within the 17-man squad with another Henry on his way up through the ranks. And the club, formed in 1975, is achieving more in social welfare and race relationship than some specialist organisations.

Last March, the club made a unique move in New Zealand sport. They appointed a tutor in Maori culture to hold weekly three hourly classes for their membership. The tutor, Amster Reedy, is a senior lecturer in Maori studies at the Wellington Teachers College and the club’s public relations officer.

Reedy of the Ngati Porou tribe is from Ruatoria and had no background of rugby league before joining Eastern Suburbs in 1984. A former East Coast rugby union representative, Reedy became disillusioned with rugby union be-

cause of the South African tour issues. Eastern Suburbs has an official membership in excess of 400 and envelopes four senior league teams and four schoolboy sides as well as catering for softball and netball. Reedy says that 88 per cent of the membership are Maori with 10 per cent Samoan.

“It was my idea to start Maori language and culture classes, to put taha maori into the club,” said Reedy. “I felt the need. We have a high Polynesian component and some of our top players, notably our premier team player-coach Whetu Henry, expressed the desire to learn maori language and culture.

“The whole club is right behind the scheme and we have had regular weekly attendances of upwards of 50 people. Pre-league season, myself and Huirangi Waikerepuru taught language and culture straight out and during the league season we concentrated on whaikorero (speech making).

“One of the good things about the game of league is the high Maori participation and when we host other teams or clubs the emphasis is on tikanga maori the welcoming procedures. Eastern Suburbs feel we have influenced other league clubs because each team or club are turning up to our functions now with their speakers, enabling them to reply to our formalities.”

Reedy said most of the Samoan culture and language has been introduced into classes in an incidental manner and the Samoan aspect was vital for everybody as a means of Maori-poly-nesian cohesion.

Whetu Henry said he is most impressed with the very close relationship and understanding the Maori and Samoan have reached within the club especially over the last two years.

“We are visiting each other at home and intermarrying. The past divisions the Maori and Samoan had have now turned the other way,” said Henry. “The Samoan community are right behind our club and the whole Newtown area seem to be involved as members or supporters of Eastern Surburbs.”

It is definite the cultural classes will continue in 1986.

Reedy said the key point of the exercise was getting together in a Maori sense.

“Part of it is to develop the pride of being Maori or Polynesian and this is reflective of the players attitude to sport. This season (1985) there was a marked improvement in game temperament and general conduct.”

Reedy said one of the club's main objectives is to take in and assist the disadvantaged members of the Polynesian and Maori society.

“In this respect everybody is welcomed to Eastern Suburbs despite their background. We have accepted people who haven't got on well in other organisations and clubs. Our membership includes street kids and the unemployed. The club is giving these kind of people some stability which has been lacking in their normal livfes. Eastern Suburbs pick up these people, outfit them, feed them and assist them in their hunt for a job and a home.

“We should receive monetary assistance from the Social Welfare Department, Internal Affairs and others. We are going to make representations to these Government departments during this summer. We have received a small cash assistance from the Maori Affairs Department for our language classes."

The club’s rooms in a central Wellington building were badly damaged by fire last July after having been vandalised and burgled in a vicious attack on property.

It was a devastating blow to the club with a substantial loss of gear and equipment. The club was down but not out. Reedy said the club still doesn't know

the finer details of the attack but he said those responsible were attempting to discredit the club. “There is no doubt. The club has enemies. Our premises have been broken into several times prior to the fire. We were going to vacate the premises anyway because of the high rental ($390 per week).” The club met with Wellington Mayor,

lan Lawrence who offered the Eastern Suburbs club land for building their own clubrooms near their training ground in Happy Valley. Since July, the club has used an old scouts hall and the St George Rugby League clubrooms for their functions. “Long term, we want our own building but it is probably near to 10 years off. Up until now we have made no fin-

ancial provisions for a building fund and we have not landed sponsorship.”

Next season the club plans to share facilities with the Island Bay Life Surf Saving Club.

An even bigger blow to the club's morale was the Lester Epps killing in 1982.

This involved members of the Eastern Suburbs premier team and senior first team and the Mongrel Mob in Newtown.

The Mob were continuously harassing young Eastern Suburbs club players and in retaliation, 14 or 15 members of the league club confronted the gang. Epps, the gang leader, died in the conflict. All the Suburbs players involved accepted the blame for Epps' demise and they all received a similar sentence

Reedy said that one player had absolutely nothing to do with any of the incidences but shouldered part of the blame because he wanted to be with his mates. That fellow is a prime example of the loyalties and close-knit feeling of the club which other clubs and organisations would relish.

Reedy said there is still a stigma attached to Eastern Suburbs over the affair.

“As far as we are concerned we have paid more than our debt to society for the mistakes that we have made. Our involvement in the sporting, cultural and economic development of our club and its members is proof of that.”

Before the Epps business, Eastern Suburbs was consistently in the top four in the premier grade of the Wellington league competition. Without 15 of their top players the club’s premier side still managed to perform creditably and over the last two seasons with most of the players who were imprisoned, back again in Eastern Suburbs colours, the premier side have regained their top four position.

The players kept fit and disciplined in prison because of their resolve to see their club regain its mana.

This season Eastern Suburbs, without a sponsor and without their own clubrooms, were the only local side to defeat Randwick, the national club runners-up in 1983 and 1984 for the Tusk Cup, in the Wellington competition. Another top New Zealand club side, Petone were beaten 36-2 by Suburbs in the second round of the local championship. But just like last season, Suburbs should have gone further.

Whetu Henry thinks the close bond he has as coach with his players is also a weakness.

“I’m not as likely to be tough on my team as I should be,' he said. “Next season I'm giving up coaching perhaps I won't be playing at premier level either and bringing in an outside coach to try and motivate the team to its fullest potential. We have come so close to being the best team in Wellington and therefore play for the Tusk Cup. I know

we should be the winning side."

The nine Henrys are all big, strapping, strong men. Each is over six feet and 15 stone. They are: Whetu, Whare, Toko and Tamihana (brothers); Phillip, Ray, Hopa and Danny (brothers) and Hau.

Apart from the 19 year old Tamihana, all the others are premier players and as many as seven have stepped onto the field together in the 13-man team on a number of occasions during the 1985 season.

When Whetu, Whare, Toko, Dan, Phil, Hopa and Ray form the forward lineup. Suburbs is probably the strongest and heaviest club pack in New Zealand. Five of the Henrys have been in the Wellington senior provincial representative side.

The Henrys all originate from Taupo as members of the Ngati Tuwharetoa tribe. Their true surname is Henare.

Front row props, Whetu and Whare shifted to Wellington ahead of the others and are legends in Wellington rugby league. They first played for the Marist club and have dominated forward play in the capital for more than 10 years. Both played for New Zealand with Whare a player in the 1977 World Cup.

National selector Ossie Butts said he has never seen footballers with so much natural ability as Whetu and Whare.

“They are big, strong, fast and scared of nothing. But all they lacked was commitment to achieve their full potential at the international level," said Butt.

The Henrys' progress has been stunted somewhat by the current controversy surrounding promising 6ft 2in, 16V2 stone middle row forward. Toko.

Whetu considers his younger brother has great potential to make it big in league.

“Toko has an excellent mental attitude on the field,” he said.

Toko, 22, was injured over the latter part of the season but he has already established a fine reputation which landed him a possible professional contract in the English league.

But the problem is his 18 month term at Wi Tako prison which may mean resistance by emigration authorities for him to reside overseas.

The club is going to make representation on Toko’s behalf. Other people with a prison record have been allowed access to other countries.

“Toko has proven himself as a first class citizen with a steady job and a dedication to his sport," said Reedy. “We are hopeful that his cartilage injury will come right and that he is given the opportunity to play league overseas and join Whetu and Whare as a New Zealand rep."

With rugby league taking on a new lease of popularity in this country following the brilliance of the Kiwi side against Australia during 1985 and the tarnished image of Rugby Union, there is every confidence a club like Eastern Suburbs will flourish. In the way this Wellington sports club has taken up the mantle of caring and sharing away from the field, they deserve to succeed.

Eastern Suburbs Rugby League Club's goals of establishing proper club accommodation, winning the Tusk Cup (national knockout club trophy), developing pride in things Maori and Polynesian and to assist the disadvantaged should not fall on deaf ears.

And the chances of a Henry being there to fill gaps are as high as Mt Ruapehu. Incidently, there has not yet been established any links between Wellington's Eastern Suburbs and one of Sydney's top league clubs of the same name.