Community rallies for injured Mount Maunganui rugby player Joey Ah-Siu

Joseph Ah-Siu is a beloved midfielder for the Mount Maunganui Marlins Premier rugby team. Photo / Courtney Parkinson

• During an Anzac Day rugby match, Mount Maunganui midfielder Joseph (Joey) Ah-Siu suffered a serious head injury.
• The community has rallied, raising more than $12,000 through a Givealittle page to support Ah-Siu and his family.
• Mount Maunganui Rugby Club expressed gratitude for the support, highlighting the community’s compassion and generosity.

A promising young club rugby player is in hospital after being seriously injured in a head clash during an Anzac Day match.

The Mount Maunganui Rugby Club says the community is rallying behind beloved Mount Marlins midfielder Joseph (Joey) Ah-Siu after the “immense” injury.

It happened during a match against Greerton Marist at Blake Park, Mount Maunganui’s home ground.

Ah-Siu suffered fractures to his “skull and face” and was in Tauranga Hospital’s intensive care unit awaiting the next steps in his treatment, the club said on Facebook.

The club posted on social media it was “overwhelmed and deeply grateful” for the wider rugby community coming together to support Ah-Siu.

More than $12,000 has been donated to support Ah-Siu and his family via a Givealittle page initiated by the club.

“We may battle it out on the field week by week, but when it comes to it, you’ve all shown up for us,” a club post said.

“Joey is one of the strongest people we know; he’s continued to show courage and his beautiful smile, we all know, throughout his journey.”

Graham McKean, club captain for Mount Maunganui Sports Club, told the Bay of Plenty Times Ah-Siu is a “really nice, fine young bloke”, aged 20 or 21.

He said Ah-Sui goes about his role as a player in the Premier men’s team with a real focus and contributes greatly to the team.

“He is in his second season playing for the Prem team and is a good rugby player with a lot of potential.”

The rugby and wider Bay of Plenty community have supported Joseph Ah-Sui with more than $12,000 donated through Givealittle. Photo / Courtney Parkinson

McKean said in his 60 years of being involved with rugby, he had not seen an injury of this nature before.

“It’s a very rare thing, very, very rare,” he said.

“Sometimes it’s just a combination of situations, and that is all it was, a clash of heads.

McKean said the rugby community had come together after the traumatic event to provide “massive wrap-around support”.

The Mount Maunganui club had contributed funds, in addition to setting up the Givealittle page, and the Greerton club had also sent a care package.

“The coming together of the rugby community and the wider community shows the good heart and good nature of people,” McKean said.

“On behalf of the Mount Rugby Club, Joey and his whānau, we want to send a heartfelt thanks to everybody – we’ll keep them updated and have the best wishes for a favourable outcome.”

A statement on behalf of the Ah-Sui family posted as a comment on the club’s Facebook page said they were overwhelmed by the way the Mount Marlins and wider community had rallied around the player.

Joseph Ah-Sui is in the ICU awaiting next steps after an injury during an Anzac Day rugby match. Photo / Courtney Parkinson

“It has given us great strength and comfort to know that he is surrounded by such an amazing group of people.

“Thank you for standing by us, your compassion has reminded us that even in the toughest moments, there is so much goodness around us, and for this we are forever grateful.”

The family expressed their gratitude for the club’s “incredible support”.

“Your generosity, kindness, and the love you have extended have meant more to us than words can fully express.”

The Bay of Plenty Times has approached the family for further comment.

Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford, who referees rugby in the Bay, wished Ah-Siu and his family well for his recovery.

“When these sorts of things happen, it’s really important for the community to sort of rally around and support one another,” Rutherford said.

“We go out and we help one another, and that makes me really proud to be from the Bay, to represent it, and in this moment, it’s Joey that needs our help and support locally.”

He wanted Ah-Sui’s family to know there is help and support out there.

“They’re not fighting this alone, they’ve got a whole community behind them, and we just want to see him recover and be back to himself.

“People will always be prepared to help in whatever way they can.”

The incident comes almost two years after the Pāpāmoa Bulldogs rugby league senior player Tere Livingstone suffered a critical brain injury during a game at Mitchell Park in Ōtūmoetai in 2023, dying in hospital days later.

Kaitlyn Morrell is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.