NRL: Warriors deliver anti-bullying message

Kevin Locke, Sam Lousi and Thomas Leuluai of the Warriors at Crawshaw Primary in Hamilton yesterday to talk about how kids can deal with bullying. Photo / Christine Cornege

Injured Vodafone Warriors players swapped rugby league for acting yesterday as they delivered an anti-bullying message.

And while Kevin Locke, Sam Lousi and Thomas Leuluai seemed nervous performing a skit in front of Hamilton's Crawshaw School, the students were most impressed.

The players were talking about bullying and how children can deal with it as part of the decile one school's recent involvement in the KidsCan charity. They also showed bullies could come in all shapes and sizes and were not just big like the towering 198cm Lousi, but could be smaller like his teammate Locke.

School student Lytrell Taitoko, 12, was impressed that players from his favourite team had turned up to surprise his school. He said he thought Locke had a future in acting. While Skyla Parima, 10, was excited to meet some of the players after watching them play on TV.

The players visited the school while their teammates prepared for their pre-season match against the Wigan Warriors at Waikato Stadium last night.

They also answered a series of quickfire questions, in which Leuluai admitted he watched Coronation Street and preferred steak to chicken; Lousi said he preferred tea to coffee and Locke owned up to having a sweet tooth and being a non-fiction fan.