The Kaitaia College rugby league team were runners up in this year's school rugby league grand final.
The Kaitaia College rugby league team were runners up in this year's school rugby league grand final.
As the first in years to make it to the grand final, the Kaitaia College Adam Blair league team has made a solid impression on rugby league in Northland.
The KC team went neck and neck with Whangārei Boys’ High School at Blue Goose Whangārei sports grounds last Wednesday, leading 12-8 at half-time, before scoring another try, making it 18-8.
Coach J.D. Kelly said that’s when the Whangārei team turned on the heat, using a missed conversion to take the score to 18-all, before scoring another try in the last five minutes, putting them ahead at 24-18.
While the Kaitaia team didn’t manage to regain their lead, Kelly said it could have gone either way and proved the level of talent in his team.
“Our boys threw everything they had in the last five minutes, but they just couldn’t penetrate Whangārei’s line,” Kelly said.
The Kaitaia College rugby league team only lost to Whangārei’ Boys' High School, 24-18.
“The game was so close and our boys had their backs against the wall from the start being a home game for Whangārei, plus there was a teacher’s strike on the same day.
“The game itself was really good and even though we didn’t win, leading 12-8 at halftime was when I think the boys started to believe they could win, so can hold their heads high.”
This year’s team was made up of 15 players, mainly year 12 students, with a handful of Year 11 and 13 boys.
According to Kelly, two of the younger Year 11 boys sat on the bench for the game, mainly to prevent injury.
“I want to mention those two for making it down and that they’re still young, so their opportunity will come.”
Kelly himself has played rugby league since he was 4, was a Waipapakauri Bombers player, and went from KC assistant coach to coach, after his predecessor Vince Rudolph moved on.
This year he was helped by assistant coach Darius Palmer and Waipapakauri Bombers teammate, Pana Matiu.
Coach JD Kelly with his former Waipapakauri Bombers teammate Pana Matiu and assistant coach Darius Palmer.
He said the competition between league and union had always been a battle in the Far North, which had sometimes made it hard to convince the boys’ parents to choose league as their preferred option.
Kelly also works as a youth navigator with Building Safer Communities, which has supported him to coach the boys as part of his mahi (work).
He said given many of the boys had never played league before, it had been a pleasure to watch their growth.
“It’s been good to see when they first came, they came to give it a go, but as we started winning games, you could see they were keen to come and play,” Kelly said.
“I feel like it helped with their confidence and being a team, as they walked around the school, they started being known as ‘the group of boys who played league’ instead of wanting to hide that.
“You could see they were really excited about the grand final, so it was a tough pill to swallow not winning, but was great to get that far.”
According to Kelly, former Warriors and Kiwis players Shontayne Hape and Ali Lauiti’iti attended their team’s semi-final against Bream Bay.
Kaitaia College rugby league player Liva Christie with former Warriors player Ali Lauiti'iti.
He said seeing players of that calibre proved to the boys the potential career pathways available if they wanted to keep going with the sport.
From here, Kelly said after encouragement from Rugby League Northland, he was considering putting together an under-18s team to play in their tournament starting in September.
He said if this happened, he hoped to keep the same group of boys plus some extras from the community ”to give Whangārei Boys’ a run for their money”.
