Hamilton City Tigers claim Turangawaewae Nines title

The Hamilton City Tigers proved to be the cream of the crop at the Turangawaewae Pat Bennett Memorial Rugby League Nines Tournament last weekend.

The nine-aside concept, which is a faster paced version of rugby league and similar in style to rugby sevens, served as a strong pre-season hit out for some of the Waikato’s premier teams, who were this year joined by a host of out-of-town rivals keen to steal the trophy away in the tournaments 19^th year.

The morning pool games were evenly contested and entertaining affairs, with South Auckland powerhouses Otahuhu and defending champions the Tongan All Stars looking like the teams to beat.

By the time the final rolled around in the late afternoon it was the All Stars and Tigers sides who had fought their way through and, on the back of vocal support from the Waikato crowd, the Tigers claimed an 18-12 victory.

Hamilton City Tigers Nines coach James Tai-Rakena was impressed with the performance of his side, who last year won the 13-aside Waicoa Bay (Waikato Bay of Plenty and coastal) premier title.

“We have been in every (Turangawaewae Nines) tournament since it started, this is great for the club.

“We were just focussing on each game at a time, we kept on progressing and our mind set did change when we made the final.”

In addition to adding another trophy to the Tigers’ clubhouse, the tournament also served as a timely measure of where they are in terms of preparation for the upcoming Waikato season, while also giving players another chance to impress the coaching staff.

“The tournament is always a sign that the Waikato competition is close to starting…it was about seeing where we are and where our fitness levels are.”

Turangawaewae Rugby League Sports and Cultural Club secretary Marae Tukere was particularly pleased with the number of teams attending from other regions, believing it could only be good news for the tournament and the game itself.

“Off and on over the years we have had Auckland clubs come down, but this year was good because we had East Coast Bays, Otahuhu, Rodney and of course the two island teams (Tongan All Stars and Pacific) as well as Pikiao, so half the teams were from out of the district.”

“We were happy with how the day went, our (Turangawaewae) team didn’t do as well as we would have hoped but it was a really good day.”

The annual tournament is managed by the Turangawaewae club committee and old boys comprised of former players and whanau.