- My grandmother said there's two people in this world ` Ngati Porou and those who want to be. - Yeah. - (LAUGHS) Eh! - Over 71,000 Maori identify as members of the Ngati Porou tribe, but most live outside the region. The East Coast population is made up of only around 4500, and they're staunch and proud supporters of a particular sporting code. - (CHEERING, GROANING) - Grassroots rugby. - HONE: Love playing rugby together. - Rugby means a lot, actually. I mean, you don't see us playing soccer, do you? (LAUGHS) - PAORA: Rugby is a huge part of this community. - We're the only iwi-based team in the world. - That's all we pretty much talk about is rugby, to be honest! (LAUGHS) - Players who make the Ngati Porou team are heroes and their quest is eagerly anticipated every Heartland rugby season. - However your team's going depends how the community's going in life. - Magical to be Ngati Porou when our boys are winning. - Rugby is the religion, and church will be Saturday at about 2.30 in the afternoon. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2022 - The East Cape of the North Island is home to Aotearoa's second largest iwi ` Ngati Porou. Its rohe runs north along the coast from Te Toka a Taiau at Gisborne to Potikirua and is linked by the 200km stretch of State Highway 35. For the people of Ngati Porou, their isolation and strong sovereignty form the backbone of their community. - TE MARINGI: I think you can tell Coasties ` simple living. You don't really need to worry about what you look like or what you're wearing, what you're driving. Some people drive a horse! (LAUGHS) - TANETOA: Everyone on the Coast is pretty much related some way or another. We all come down from Porourangi, Tuwhakairiora, so it's quite easy for us to come together. - HUBBA: The communities really get behind each other, the people get behind each other; find ways to make things work. - You know, if you could bottle it and sell it, you would be a millionaire. - There's a macho part to us, but we also got big hearts. We care a lot. We love hard. Probably why we're big fighters. - This strong but spread out community is fiercely connected to their team ` Ngati Porou East Coast Rugby. Despite the players being heroes of the Coast, they haven't won a game in eight years, a losing streak that began just a year after winning the Heartland Championship in 2012. - HOSEA: The reality is it's been eight years, 50 games ` if not more ` where we haven't won. OK? Cos we haven't won a game for eight years, how does everyone else see us? - Gisborne-born ex-All Black winger Hosea Gear has come back to the East Coast to change all that. - Rugby on the Coast has, and always will be, a part of, you know, whanau and connecting. So... yeah, we do it, not only because we love the game but, you know, we do it for our tipuna, for our iwi, to represent our people. - Hosea's own rugby-playing days might be behind him, but they're still the stuff of legend. He's played test matches for the All Blacks, Super Rugby, France's Top 14 teams and rugby sevens for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Coaching the Ngati Porou East Coast team back to glory is Hosea's next challenge, and the community are rallying around him as the 2021 season kicks off. - Kia ora, whanau, Paora here. Welcome back to Radio Ngati Porou, and Heartland season kicks off, so it's time to catch up with the coach and, of course, the CE to have a talk about the upcoming season. Welcome to the studio, Mr Hosea Gear and Cushla Tangaere. Kia ora korua. - Kia ora. Kia ora, Paora. - Kia ora, Paora. - Taking on the reigning champs this weekend ` North Otago ` down there in Oamaru. - Yeah, obviously really excited, having been two years since the last Heartland competition, so we get an opportunity to measure ourselves against really good opposition. - Hone Haerewa named as captain again? - Yep, Hone's our captain and our leader, so he's obviously shown good characteristics, you know, the last couple of years, carries himself really well. Been working with him, sort of, since I arrived on the ground and, you know, really impressed with his attitude and just his approach to the game. So, yeah. - There's no greens on your plate! (LAUGHS) - Ko Hone Haerewa toku ingoa. No te whanau a Kauaetangohia ki roto o Whangaparaoa ahau. Me te whanau o Te Aotaihi ki roto o Te Araroa. This is my seventh season with Ngati Porou East Coast. I think it's my third as captain. So, yeah, it's been a while. Uh, still haven't got a Heartland or first class win. But it is a privilege and it is an honour to be able to play for my iwi first and foremost and my family. I think winning that one game will have a massive impact. You just see 2012 when they won it. What that team done, it just brought the Coast together, and they just put everyone on, like, a different high, and that's something that I want to bring back to the Coast, eventually. Our goal this year is to restore mana within our jersey, cos we've lost a lot of mana within our jersey. Everyone's just treated us as the dead weight of the competition. - CUSHLA: Those who can't get along to games, we're very fortunate to have Radio Ngati Porou broadcast and live-streamed, so karawhiua, be a viewer, if you can't make it along. - There you go, whanau. That's the CEO from Ngati Porou East Coast and, of course, the head coach, Mr Hosea Gear. - HOSEA: Too much, bro. - Big hopes for the season with Hosea coming on board as the coach. Big hopes that we can rectify a few of the results we've had in the past and get us back to where we know our boys can be. - Tino miharo te hokinga mai o Hosea ki tona iwi. Kei te pai te haere, kei te kite nga hua ki roto i nga kaitakoro i tenei tau, kua pakari haere ratau, a tinana, a hinengaro hoki, na reira kei te tino waimarie matou kua hoki mai a Hose. - Are you going to the game this weekend, kiw? - Yeah! - Just a couple of days till the Heartland season kicks off and remember, whanau, we will be covering the game as live attendance is restricted due to COVID. - So it's gonna be a big season, but I'm sure you can do it. Certainly had the experience from overseas. You've got the coaching certificates, so... - I've come home to coach Ngati Porou East Coast. I guess there's a number of reasons why. I remember when I first left the Coast, 18 years old, I planted the seed that, you know, one day I wanted to... return and do something with` with the community. - I've still been waiting for my new first crop there up in the banana tree. - The first thing I wanna plant back in Aussie is avocado and mango. So I made the move back here to coach and, you know, my family are still in Australia ` fiancee and three kids, so, as much as I wanted to bring them back, as we know, COVID sort of changes the whole landscape of things. So that's what happened. - Being back on the Coast is a reminder of where Hosea's career began. - I've just collected a few posters over the years. This one here's been one of the highlights. One, going straight out of school, two, straight into ITM Cup and then down to the 'Canes. 'I've got goals and things that I'm trying to achieve, obviously, with the team,' with the players, with the union. But being away from the family for a long time is, you know, emotionally... draining. - COVID has kept the family apart for longer than planned. - KID ON PHONE: Hi. - Hey! - Morning, Daddy. - Morena. - Hi, hi. Are you not in lockdown? - No, we're at Level 2. So schools are open and restaurants are open. - Are the borders open? - No. I wish they were. Why do you want the borders open? - Because I want to see you. - Oh, I want to see you too. VOICE BREAKS: 'Been probably the hardest thing, you know, that I've sort of had to go through, 'but, you know, throughout your career, you have to make sacrifices, so, in a professional environment, 'a lot of the time, like, your family, you know, doesn't come first. (SOLEMN MUSIC) 'Yeah, nah, it's been pretty hard, eh.' (SOLEMN MUSIC CONTINUES) - Former All Black Hosea Gear has returned home to instil pride into the Ngati Porou East Coast rugby team. If team belief and fitness weren't enough to deal with, there's also the weather and the roads. - Kia ora, whanau. Paora here. Welcome back to Radio Ngati Porou. Well, it's finally eased, but it feels like it's been raining forever. If you're on State Highway 35, please keep an eye out for those whanau that are working overtime to keep us all moving. - Grit and determination are needed to rise to the challenges that remote communities of the East Coast regularly face. - HUBBA: So my company is Tairawhiti Contractors. We're a roading contract company. I've been in the industry for 12 years now, and I wanted to give opportunities for people on the Coast to be able to start looking after our roads. We've had quite a big rainfall, so we've gotta get all the slush and mud and everything off the road, make sure that it's safe. People can't get to work. The kids can't get to school. Oh yeah. OK, copy that. Are you holding any at your end, Ants? Running a business on the Coast is challenging because we are isolated. State Highway 35 is the state highway that connects all of our communities. There's one way in pretty much and one way out. Because of the geographical nature of this place, it does take a lot of planning, but it also does take a lot of local knowledge. - 4.25... - I'm a ultimate ambassador for women in infrastructure, so I've been really trying to push that on the Coast with, yeah, women really believing in themselves. I mean, to be able to build roads and do things that people think is a 'male job' but isn't really. (CHUCKLES) Rugby's kind of like everything on the Coast. It represents a lot of families, a lot of people, a lot of mana, a lot of hard work. With all these slips that happen on the road, it is a barrier for the rugby boys to be able to get to training, to even get to their game sometimes, and the Ngati Porou East Coast rugby team are legends for us. - As a local himself, new head coach Hosea Gear understands that the issues facing his team are often geographical. - Yeah, it's probably one of the biggest challenges are the training sessions. There's obviously the travel ` everyone lives three and a half, four hours apart from each other, so I usually leave three hours before training and pick all the boys up. - But grit, determination and teamwork are key for these East Coast players. - After a long day at work, that's probably the last thing the boys want to do is jump in the car for another couple of hours and go out and train for a couple of hours and then jump back in the car again for another couple of hours, so there's, you know, six hours all up just to train. - Nah, we hit, like, a midfield and then we create a maul. Which one's that one? - Oh yep. So, that's off the... off the W. - Yeah. - We're only together for a short time, so the sacrifices that we'll have to make are gonna be huge in order to be successful. Some of those sacrifices is time away from your family, time on the road. That's a huge challenge for us. - The players know they must commit to the long hours of training if they are to have any hope of a win this season. It's been months since the team have trained together and they and their coach know they have a long way to go. - It's been 50 games, you know, without a win. It's in the back of my mind. I guess the most important thing is making sure that our boys are clear on what they're trying to do on the field. There are a couple of players that I'm really looking forward to that have... I suppose you could say, really taken the bull by the horns and made huge sacrifices with their kai, with their training, have turned up in really good shape, so... Big Myles is a big man with a big heart and has a lot of talent as well. He's shown a lot of dedication, a lot of commitment and has a really high work ethic. I think he's lost 20 kilos. - Roll out, Myles. - I'm really looking forward to seeing what he brings throughout the season. - Good work. (LAIDBACK MUSIC) - 'Kia ora, my name's Myles Lardelli-Muir Tawa.' Ooh, nearly! I'm a therapeutic care worker here at Stand Children's Services Tu Maia Whanau. Yeah, it's cool, bro. It's looking good, Vin. One more knot, maybe? Yeah, hold that. 'I wanted to become a teacher, but I never really got around to it, eh. 'So anything that's got to do with helping kids, that's me.' Being an only child, it was just me and my mum for quite a while, so she was a big part of my life and I like to say she done a good job of bringing me up. I wasn't, like, in any of the top teams or anything. I was always the big boy at the back, always getting looked past, eh. So, I like to think it's quite important to show kids that if you put your mind to it and do the mahi, then you can achieve it. Big kick. - Finally, the first game day arrives. - MARIA: Kia ora, nau mai ra, whakatau mai ra ki to tatau hotaka, Te Kokonga Korero. Ko au ko Maria Leilani ta koutou kaipaho i tenei ra mo to tatou hotaka i runga i to teihana reo Maori Radio Ngati Porou. Righty-oh, whanau, it's game day and a big shout out to our wahine kaha. To you, my cousin Hubba, for cleaning our roads and so that we can be together to watch our boys play their first match in two years, cousin. I love them so much I'm wearing their gears today, whanau. - All the whanau just here. Thought we'd just take in the game all together. As the name says, Ngati Porou East Coast brings everybody together, all the whanau. - I think I was in school (LAUGHS) the last time we won! You know, there's always gotta be something positive in the community and... I think just being in a small town, there's not much opportunities either, like for our kids, sporting-wise and stuff like that. Businesses ` it's hard to get a business running down here. Even if we just win one game, I just feel like everyone up and down the Coast will feel like they can do anything. I'm not even going for one. One's, like, not good enough. Feel like we need to aim for three. So you aim for the stars ` if you fall, you're gonna fall on two or one, eh. - It's the first game of the season and the Ngati Porou East Coast team are in Oamaru to play last season's reigning champs, North Otago. - HOSEA: Once you've received your jersey for the new caps, just get you to remain and just say a couple of words about, you know, what it means. (APPLAUSE) 17, Myles Tawa Lardelli. (APPLAUSE) (PENSIVE MUSIC) - Chur, boys. Um... (EXHALES) VOICE BREAKS: 'This is for my mum. She's had a hard journey in life, eh. So, this is for her today. 'It's for all the kids I look after, eh, like, they're part of my journey this year as well. 'Show them that there's something else out there, eh, and whatever they put their mind to, 'they can achieve it. That's us, brothers, we need to kill it.' (APPLAUSE) My mum, she's a current heart patient. I came pretty close to losing her. She knew this was a big goal of mine to get in the jersey and to see me achieve it, I think she'll be very proud. - The East Coast team have spent some much-needed bonding time in the lead-up to their first game. (RECORDING OF HAKA PLAYS IN THE BACKGROUND) - As soon as I opened my eyes this morning, it was just that emotion of, you know, nervousness, excitement. Probably getting more calmer now we've had our walkthrough. Jersey presentations are now behind us. - E hikaka ana, kua ahua roa matou e aro ana ki nga rautaki o te whira, no reira ko te painga atu pea o te noho tahi penei i nga rangi tata nei, kua aro pea ki te taha wairua me te taha tuhono o te tima, no reira i tino rongo i tera ahuatanga, moku ake i te mutunga iho, koira pea te wehenga o Ngati Porou East Coast ki era atu tima, a, ko te nui o te aro ki te ahuatanga o te tuhonotanga o te tangata me te ngakau me te wairua Maori. I runga i tera ahuatanga e tino hikaka ana. - I believe the boys are capable of beating defending champions North Otago. These boys can go out there and beat anyone on their day; it's just a matter of putting it all together and getting them to believe that they can do it. Whakataka te hau ki te uru, whakataka te hau ki te tonga. Kia makinakina ki uta, kia mataratara ki tai. Kia hi ake ana te atakura. He tio, he huka, he hauhu. Tihei... - ALL: Mauri ora! - Nice brothers. Final word on Hon, and we out there. - HONE: Everyone's ready. Everyone's good to go. One thing I will ask, bro, is just to have fun, eh? - Now, what we play for, eh, what do we play for? Bit of success ` bit of success in life. What would it be like to send a photo back to Hose's kids in Aussie, saying, 'We won. This is for them.' If you need a why, think about that. He wiwi... - ALL: Ngati! - He wiwi... - Ngati! - He wiwi... - Ngati! - Back home, their supporters are driving them on. - Right, here we go. Here we go. - ALL: Me tukuna koutou ki raro ra. - He wiwi... - Ngati! - (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) (EAST COAST BREEVAZ'S 'BELLY OF THE BEAST') - I was definitely hopeful that we could do well and set a standard for the rest of the season. (PLAYERS CHEER) - We've started off pretty well. Intensity's high. It's exciting. - (ALL CHEER, YELL) - PAORA: They've come up with the ball there. Emery heading for the corner! Last m` Oh, beautiful on-field pass there to Matthews in support. 17-10. Te Rangi Fraser, he catches` Te Rangi Fraser heading towards the corner! Try coming for Te Rangi Fraser! Quick hands to Proffit. Proffit towards the line. Right next to the post! - (YELL, CHEER) - Time up on the clock, 24-17, halftime here at Whitestone Park. - I'm hoping we win. I feel like we'll win by a penalty, if we do win. Yeah. - HOSEA: Ears on. So 40 to go. Challenge for us now is they've got the wind. Gonna have to fight to get out of our own half. 'Yeah, there are different ways of how I deal and cope with pressure, I guess,' and during a game, you know, it can get quite emotional. You get angry at times. You can be happy. So it is a bit of an emotional roller coaster. - He wiwi... - ALL: Ngati! - You know, just trying to stay calm, make sure that my mind is always clear and that I'm not controlled by my emotions because we can win this. - PAORA: Te Rangi Fraser, though, kicked off. It's twisting, it's turning. Can they get it down? Referee's got a try there. We're locked up again, whanau. 24-24 here at Whitestone Park. Another charge at the line here from North Otago. Referee's... - No, no! - North Otago back into the lead here ` 31 points to 24. Player's on the inside. Sammy Parkes will go in here for Ngati Porou! Nicely done there for Ngati Porou... - (ALL CHEER, YELL) - 31 points all. - Myles to warm up, Leroy. - Matthews digging in for the ball. There's a penalty coming, though. 34-31, North Otago take the lead back. What a game we've got as we head towards the end of this one. Substitutions coming here for Ngati Porou. Looks like a debut here for Myles Lardelli Tawa. He's got Hone Haerewa at first receiver. Haerewa takes it into contact. Strong defence there from North Otago. Big clean-out there from Myles Tawa Lardelli. Dummy throw and, oh, the pass not quite going to hand. There might be a little knock-on there. It's popped up for Emery. Emery, the kick through for North Otago! Emery, he's got it! Emery gets the bounce! Emery'll go over the line! - (GROANS) - (ALL GROAN) (WHISTLE BLOWS) - That's it, whanau. Full time here at Whitestone Stadium. What a great game of rugby. Big mihi, of course, to North Otago. 39-31. - TE MARINGI: What a great game. That was awesome. Yeah, I feel like everyone should be on a high. That's a real big accomplishment for us. - Yeah. We'll celebrate our boys tonight. Ngati Porou hard. - Yeehoo! - Ngati Porou, e toru nga karanga mo North Otago! Ana... - ALL: Hi! - Ana... - Hi! - Ana... - Hi ha! - Tahi mo te whanau. Ana... - Hi! - He wiwi... - Ngati! - HOSEA: I guess my first feeling was... was that I was proud of the effort that the boys had put in. Thought it was a good start to the season and it was good to see a performance that you could be proud of, even though, you know, we lost the game. A good, sort of, sense of belief that we can compete with one of the best teams in the competition. So, you know, everything is there for us. We need to be able to take the opportunities when they come, cos we are creating them. - Next time on East Coast Rising ` - Another opportunity to achieve on our whenua. - can an emotional milestone for a team stalwart... - (APPLAUSE) - ...and powerful community support... - (ALL SING)