It was almost ticking off another item on the bucket list for war veteran Nolan Raihania as he finally got to watch a game of ki o rahi in Flaxmere on Friday.
The 88-year-old Mr Raihania first became aware of the game before he went off to serve in World War II at the age of 17, the longer-serving soldiers had played ki o rahi to pass the time when the desert campaigns in northern Africa had ended.
"I never got any chance to see it played," he said, after travelling from Nuhaka to the dedication of Hawke's Bay's first ki o rahi venue in Flaxmere Park, with its seven outer-circle pou and central, carved Oamaru-stone tupu.
Mr Raihania told a gathering, he was at Te Aute College when a former staff member, invalided out in the war, returned - "all bandaged up" - and told the students about the events abroad, including the game, in which two sides battle for points scored mainly by touching a central post with a ball, or whatever other object which could be used instead.
Mr Raihania then went on to serve in Italy, and is now one of four surviving members the 28th Maori Battalion credited for reviving the game.