- The Heartland rugby season is drawing to a close. Despite their first win in eight years... - COMMENTATOR: Tawhao Stewart over the sideline! ...the Ngati Porou East Coast team are reeling from an emotionally draining week. - WOMAN: It's about the living and helping the living process. - The loss of two strong members of their community and having their Heartland Championship chances quashed has forced Hosea into self-reflection, but with powerful motivation. - This is for my mum. She's had a hard journey in life, eh? - And with the biggest match of the year against Poverty Bay coming up this week... (TEAMS PERFORM HAKA) ...the players and Hosea are determined to bounce back. - That's who we are. That's what we do. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2022 - Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au. Nothing could be more true for Ngati Porou coach, Hosea Gear. - This is the Mangatu Awa. All our tipuna have` you know, they believe that our awa has special healing power, whether it's, you know, spiritually, mentally or physically. Throughout my career, I had a few injuries, and, you know, mum reminded me, brought me home, put me in the river. Had a karakia and, you know, sort of come right after that, so you always know that you can come back, have a dip, and then be cleansed. It's the magic river. - For Captain Hone Haerewa, win or lose, every Sunday is spent at his papakainga, Te Araroa, with partner, Te Maringi. - 6 o'clock in the morning or 5 o'clock in the morning, I'll always get up and go for a hunt, whether it's raining, hailing or shining. It's just being out, going for a drive around. If you happen to get something, then that's cool. - First time I shot a gun was with him. We do everything together. Dad is hunter, and... my papa owned a farm, so we were real country kids, and he didn't really get that experience growing up. So he just got out there one day and started hunting by himself, cos my dad didn't want to teach him. - There's a lot of people who want food, so today was all about that. Like, if I've got something and I know there's a kaumatua down the road who doesn't have steaks or something, I'll drop some of there. And that's what everyone else sort of does around here as well. So we're a pretty tight-knit community. We all love each other and all make sure that everyone's living well. - Yeah, well, that's pretty much what our dates are. We go hunting or diving. We don't really go out to dinner, cos it's just not us. Oh, it's cold! Don't push me in! 11 years next year, we've been together. - Hard 10 years. (LAUGHS) Whoa! - (LAUGHS) We've gotten to a point now where we're just comfortable just sitting with each other now. I can enjoy those little moments. - Yeah, nah, I don't think I'm gonna get away from her any time soon. Pretty stuck. (CHUCKLES) I think that's what makes it easy for me. It just happened to be that she likes diving and hunting and all that sort of stuff. Likes getting her nails and stuff done as well, but... I'll never go and get my nails done with her. (LAUGHS) - Big ones down there, eh? - Yeah. - Attah, those were little! - Attah, wake up! - (LAUGHS) It's the weekends that I look forward to, to be able to come home and do those things that set me free. - RADIO DJ: (SPEAKS TE REO MAORI) - Rugby may be the religion on The Coast, but Myles Lardelli Muir-Tawa knows spending time with loved ones is even more important. - Hi, Mum. - Hey, Son. How was your day? - Nah, good. - Oh, that's good. I'm pleased. Mwah! - Yeah, my mum, she'll always be one of my number one supporters. But, you know, back in the day... I actually banned her from coming to my rugby games. - Ready for dinner? - Nah, not really, eh. Got training tonight. - Have you? Up The Coast or? - Yeah. We gotta go up to Rua. - Rua! Ohh. - I'd be playing rugby and next minute, I'd turn around and there's either my mum or my papa halfway on the field like, 'Go, boy! Go, boy!' Making a hua of racket. And as a young fulla, you're like, 'Oh, shame! Shame!' You know? 'Oh, whose mum's that?' - Most of it's mine anyway. - Well, this is right. - Her health's been giving her some pretty up and down rollercoaster rides lately, eh? I need to make every opportunity I have with my mum count. Dunno how many more times she's gonna be there to say, 'Oh, hey, Son. How was your day?' I've learnt to really appreciate little moments like that. - They gave me five to 10 years, so that's better than the six months I had to live. But I'll be around for a little while longer. I carry that all the time. I hardly ever take that off. I was proud of him then, and I'm more than proud of him now. It's not just his sporting prowess, it's his personality, the way he treats people, the way he will go out of his way to help others. And that's something that I really cherish. - Oh, you know, she's my best friend. And she's supported me from right when I came out the womb, so least I could do is help out in any way I can. - Bring it in. Bring it in. Mm. Good to see ya. - You too. - After losing to the West Coast, the team's playoff hopes are gone. But the boys still have the biggest game of the season this weekend. Injured hooker and East Coast legend, Laman Davies, keeps the faith. - When we have our coach trainings here in Uawa, I just come down a bit early. Set the field up. A few hit shields out. Sheds, give them a bit of a quick sweep out. Set it up so when Hose and them rock up, just one less thing that they need to worry about, really. Yeah, nah, there's been a bit of banter amongst the team about my role. Sort of started off as a bit of a hydration specialist. Moved into a bit of scrum coaching. Bit of a jack of all trades and a master of none. One of those sort of things. - After a long season and two games left to play, the team is battered and bruised. - So we got a few fullas get shoulders strapped, ankles strapped. We got a couple of knees, Achilles, thumbs. I think, I remember right, there was about 12 on the list. - On The Coast, a can-do attitude fills the gap. - We haven't got that luxury of call-on physios, especially sort of up The Coast. You just gotta go on YouTube and Google and just try and study it. You know, Google qualified. - I just want to touch on just a couple of things from, obviously, from the game. 'Poverty Bay and East Coast, 'probably the biggest rivalry game in the history of both unions. 'Always good opportunity for us this weekend.' - Well, I was brought up through the age grades. Having never` well, not won many games against Poverty Bay, and it's still the same now. So for that 80 minutes, you're not friends, you're not brothers, you're not nothing. (LAUGHS) You have to try and take them out, but they'll be giving the same back to us. - Good. - With the team rebuilding after a horror week, will Hosea be able to weather even more pressure? (CHILL GUITAR MUSIC) - Although Jose is thousands of miles from his partner and kids, whanau time helps put things in perspective. - 'It's obviously massive and means a lot, 'spending time with nieces and nephews.' Get him, Ava. (BOY GIGGLES) 'But at the same time, I wish my kids were here as well to run around with their cousins,' and that's the only thing that's missing at the moment. Oh, you gotta kick, darling. Sorry, we got to kick off. - Just chuck it in the air. - Bloody miss my kids quite a lot. Hopefully one day, we'll be able to get them all together. I'll look forward to that day. Yeah. You can see the old makeshift goalposts, eh? Just made them out of bamboo that were just lying around out the back. Keeps them busy every day. (LAUGHS) Oi! - When Hosea does finally get to connect with his whanau, their sacrifice is clear. (CELL PHONE BEEPS) - Morning. - Hi. - How is everyone going? - Um... - CHILD: Bad. - Bad. (CHUCKLES) - Micah's been crying. - I got a phone call from Kate. She was in tears, and she was struggling for, obviously, for a number of reasons. No family support. - I think... really hard for the kids is... not knowing when you're back. - Yeah. - And for me too. - And I guess that was the... the point where they couldn't go on anymore without me. - You've never seen me as a 10-year-old before. - No, I haven't seen you as a 10-year-old before. (CHUCKLES) You had breakfast yet? - No. - Oh, not yet? - (AUDIO CUTS) ...coming home? - When am I coming home? - Yeah. - Coming home soon. - When Te Maringi isn't engrossed in rugby, she's hard at work in her other passion ` growing the magic of Ngati Porou reo in young minds. - Ngati Porou te iwi. - Iwi. - Tihei mauri ora! - Since we've been here, my daughter's changed a lot. She's grown that little Coastie flair, I would say. (LAUGHS) - Being amongst all her new little rugged friends. So she doesn't like wearing her shoes any more. She pulls her hair ties out. But still like a little princess, though. (LAUGHS) # Anei o mokopuna. # Kohanga reo is a early childhood centre for Maori kids. So it was established by te iwi Maori. And you don't even have to be Maori. You can just have a passion for Maori, and then kohanga reo will take you in. Whoo! Tihei... - Mauri ora! - When I graduated school, I didn't want to be a teacher, cos I just knew how I was as a kid and... Jojo, whakapai. ...I just didn't want none of that. (CHUCKLES) Pukana! But it's a big honour... - Myles has gone through many changes since joining the Ngati Porou team, including meeting his first girlfriend. - Being raised by a woman, I've always been told to treat girls with respect. You see a girl walking through a closed door, you open it. You see a girl about to sit at a table, you pull that seat out. But unfortunately, you know, back at school, you know, girls don't think like that. They're like, 'Oh, he looks ugly.' Or, you know, 'Far, he's got a bowl cut!' Little comments like that, you know, when you're younger, you can take a bit of confidence away. London Street Fish Shop, eh? Not bad. Oh, we were working at the same place, and I just thought to myself, 'Far... who's that?' And I was telling myself, you know, when the opportunity comes... 'Oh. Kia ora.' (LAUGHS) Nah, well, you know, I'm quite a shy person as well, believe it or not. Seen this little fulla who comes into mahi yesterday at the game. Turned around, had this big little smile on his face so I went to go shake his hand - I reckon you're a mean role model for those young boys. - I try to. Yeah, confidence as well is something that I've definitely gained actually since being up The Coast, playing rugby. Looking forward to the game this weekend, hon? - Yup. Hard. - Me too. It's gonna be the biggest game of my life, eh? Ohh, I can't wait! Probably shouldn't be eating fish and chips beforehand - (GIGGLES) - With the game fast approaching, preparations aren't just on the field. Coming together often is just as important. - Even though you sort of get the odd cold shower, and the odd and snoring and a bit of a disrupted sleep, there's something about the bond that you get from just all camping up together. - I kind of worry, cos man can be a bit of a snorer sometimes, eh? But I got the all clear. I was all right. - Yeah. Wake up with the boys. You can have breakfast together. You're already gelling. Then that sort of just rolls on to the game. - I reckon it's good, cos we all start, like, getting in the zone together, eh? Just to build up before the game. - Mumsy's gonna freak out. 'You do wash the dishes.' - Ohh, bro. - # Paikea, hi! # - Ah, it's just the funny thing. Whenever you're on The Coast or whenever you're at a marae, you can connect to it some way or somehow, and you feel that there's someone looking after you while you sleep and while you stand. - The team has gone through some deep soul searching. Will it be enough to overcome their fiercest rivals? - With all the ups and downs of the season, and much to prove, the team heads to Rugby Park in Gisborne for the game of a lifetime. - Boys, one thing that we've always prided ourselves on is we're physical, no excuses. That's who we are. That's what we do. Mixed emotions. Confident. Nervous. Worried. - HONE: I'd be lying if I said that there wasn't any pressure. He Wiwi! - ALL: Naati! - COMMENTATOR: I can see Hone Haerewa leading his team out. 50th game here. - It was special, running out in front of a big crowd and calling out my name. But yeah, nah, it felt weird (LAUGHS) to be honest. (TEAMS PERFORM HAKA) We knew that Poverty Bay would do one. They'd try and get the upper hand and try and finish last. There was a bit there where we held and then they tried to hold at the same time, but I looked at their leader and I told him to hurry up, cos I wasn't gonna budge. I would have stayed there the whole day if I had to. (HAKA CONTINUES) - They'd already crossed the line. I was like, 'OK, we're on here.' - It was a mean feeling to be able to do that in front of that crowd. (HAKA CONTINUES) (CROWD CHEERS) The atmosphere was just... out the gate. - COMMENTATOR: Referee signals time on. (WHISTLE SHRILLS) It's high. It's deep. Looked like it come off a red hand and it's picked here by Destounis. Destounis still going! Destounis will go next to the posts! And get the first points! Parkes. Out to Nonu now. Nonu back infield to McGarvey-Black! McGarvey-Black going next to the posts with a beautiful step! To Smith on the support. Noanoa! Noanoa up the middle! The big man! Oh, he gets a beautiful pass to Smith! - Oh, yeah. K, easy fixes. It's gonna be a grind. We gotta go to that dark place. We gotta get up and go again, and again and again. - He Wiwi! - ALL: Naati! - COMMENTATOR: Ngarohi McGarvey-Black to get us back underway. He sends it high. They keep going sideways here. They're still going as they get driven out. They break infield through Skudder! - HOSEA: We're struggling to get into the game at the moment, and to get anything going, to get some` to get any momentum. - Gives it up to Hoani Te Moana. Oh! - I said to them when you're tired, you gotta get up and you have to dig it in even more. - They got numbers here! It'll be Ngarohi McGarvey-Black They do well, but they don't stop him. - Line Myles up now. There was always a plan for Big Myles. When he came on, the impact that he had was huge, in the mauls and on defence. - Can they get it over here? Just on the line. They go down. Try! They fight their way back into this one. 21-17 with a kick to come. They've stolen here! Out to Tangaere. Tangaere will go in! Beautiful work there from McGarvey-Black. He's five out from the line. Parkes all over the top. Referee's got advantage here as Big Man Broughton driving again. Can they get it down? Pressure coming from Poverty Bay, but they get it out. Out now to Fraser. Fraser sends it wide to Stewart. Stewarts got Verdon Bartlett with him. Bartlett. McGarvey-Black down the sideline! He's got Parkes with him! He steps back infield! Throws the pass to Parkes. Parkes will race away behind the posts! He scores a beautiful try! They dropped the halfback, though. It's a seven-man line out. - At the end of the game, where they had a line out 5m out, every time throughout the season when we'd been in that position, we've been scored against every single time. - They go again! Walker driving. And he's taken down. - They were D'ing for a little while... - They come again out to number 19! - ...but that was probably the highlight of the game. - We're gonna have to dig deep, breethas. - Our defence was unreal. They were throwing everything at us. - Plucks it out again! - You could tell how much the boys wanted it. They were working all the way up to the 80th minute. - They get him just before the try line. There's a penalty to Jorian Tangaere! - Tap and kick it out. (CROWD CHEERS) - It was a pretty unreal feeling once we kicked it out. It was just a mean sense of relief. All my emotions came. - I guess it was just a proud moment of all of the work that I've done, and just knowing that the boys have done the same. - Ngati Porou, toru te karanga mo Poverty Bay. Ana! - ALL: Hi! - Ana! - ALL: Hi! - Ana! ALL: Hi ha! - He Wiwi! - Naati! (CROWD CHEERS) - It's just given me confidence in ways no one would really be able to understand. As a person, physically, mentally. You know, I was always, yeah, bit overweight and not making this team, not making that team. And to now, looking in the mirror, feeling a bit more comfortable with what I'm seeing. - Must've been my good luck. - Ah, kia ora, whanau. - The thing I love about Hone is that he epitomises everything about someone from, you know, Ngati Porou. You know, he has a big heart, really strong and his Maoritanga. He's hugely family orientated. - No reira, tena tatou. - Torona kei waho! ALL: Kei waho! (PERFORMS HAKA) - He Wiwi! - ALL: Naati! - Shot, brothers. - A nice end to the season for the team, but the celebrations are short-lived, as Hosea has some bad news for the boys. - I think you fullas know how, you know, how difficult it's been, you know, for me being away from the whanau and, you know, I got the call from Mumsy, 2 o'clock in the morning on Monday, and you know, she's` (SNIFFS) (CLEARS THROAT) she's just struggling without me, so... so I'll be flying back home on Wednesday. It's taken two years, you know, but through all the sacrifice, through all the hard work, the dedication, you know, this feeling that you feel today, that's what it takes. And, you know, I couldn't be more proud of the effort, you know, that every single one of you have put in. So let's just enjoy this win. Enjoy this moment, cos we deserve it. You deserve it. Yeah. Meke. Proud of you boys. Mean. Oh, the community's been awesome, as they always have been, as they always are. Full of support. Full of love. And that's the special thing about rugby, and the reasons why that it's more than a game to us up The Coast. And to see the smiles on their faces, and there were a few tears on some of their faces as well. It was just a really proud moment for me,