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Kia hiwa rā, kia hiwa rā. Kua riro i a Rotorua te māuri whakatau i te kēmu rīki taketake ā te rua mano, e rua tekau mā toru.
He tuatahitanga tēnei mō te motu tūturu, ko ngā whakataetae o nehe, katoa i noho atu i Ahitereiria.
"Ehara noa i te kēmu anake, he tāngaengae nō tūāukiuki".
Koinā hai tā Jason Sayers te pou whakahaere mā tēnei kaupapa nui whakaharahara.
"Mō te kēmu o Aotearoa anake tana tūranga, ko te aronga, he whakakotahi i ngā iwi taketake. I ngā rā o mua ko te taitara kē o tēnei whakataetae ko te Indigenous Allstars, nā te mana o tōna ingoa i whakapūarengia ai te karanga ki ngā tangata taketake ki te pūrei rīki, wheoi anō ko te rerekētanga kai te pakanga koe mā tō iwi, nō reira ko te iwi moemoeā tēnā e pakanga nei ki te Māori.
"Kia tae mai te whakahau mai i te NRL me te rōpū o NZMRL ko reira e mātau pū ai ahau ki taku tūnga mahi. Engari rā he ahakoa te tūnga ka whakapau kaha tonu ahau ki a rangatira ai tēnei huinga nui."
Māna hoki e whakakotahi i ngā manuwhiri me te tangata whenua ki a māuritau ai tā rātou noho, hai tāna ka pirangitia tēnei tūāhuatanga e te manuwhiri.
"Koinā te mea whakaharahara, ka whakakotahingia ai ngā iwi e rua ka puta te hiahia o te ngākau ki te wānanga me te ako – koinā pea taku tūnga kia tika tēnei tūāhuatanga'. Nō reira ko tāku noa he whakatakoto rautaki kia puta ai taua whakaaro.
"Ka nui te whakapono nā tēnei huinga ahurei rangatira ka puta katoa mai te hāpori ki te manaaki me te tautoko, e hoki ai ki te pepeha, ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi engari he toa takitini, mātua mā Te Arawa e waha, nā reira me kaha kē rā e tatou kia pai tā tātou manaakitanga, ki a aroha nui ki ngā tangata katoa, ko te hunga pioi ka tae ki te kāīnga, he rangatira, kia mau i a tātou taua kōrero nā, he rangatira katoa tātou".
He whakapae nōku engari pea ko te whakataetae nui whakaharahara tuatoru tēnei e ai ki te maramataka kēmu o NRL, tuarua mai ko te Grand Final tuatahi ake ko te State of Origin.
Nō reira he kaupapa nui he mana nui me te mea hoki kua whakaae ki a tū ki Aotearoa nei otīā ki Rotorua nei, nā reira me tika katoa ngā whakaaro' kia rangatira te mahi.
"Kai te rangona e ahau te taumahatanga, e āuē ana ōku pokowhiwhi i tēnei kaupapa nui."
Wheoi anō, i whakaara ake te karapū riki Māori o Aotearoa i te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau mā waru te tau. Nā i tīmatangia ai te whakataetae NRL Allstars i te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau te tau.
Ko te pakanga tuatahi i waenga i ngā tauā e rua nei ara te Māori me te iwi Moemoeā i tū i te tau e rua mano, kotahi tekau mā iwa te tau.
He ahakoa he niho roa te Māori ki te rīki he kaupapa hou kē tēnei. Nā Preston Campbell te whakaaro i te tau e rua mano, kotahi tekau. He toa pūrei riki hoki ia, ā, he iwi taketake hoki ia.
I aua taimā me pūrei koe mā te tīma Allstars engari ka kowhiria koe e te hunga mātakitaki. "Ka whakaaraara he 'poll' mēnā kai te NRL koe e pūrei ana ka whiria tō ingoa nā ka pūrei koe, nā reira ko te mana kai te iwi kai te hunga mātakitaki e tīramarama ai ngā toa taketake ki te whakataetae Allstars nei."
Kāore anō kia puta ngā ingoa o ngā tīma, ki Aotearoa nei ka puta pea ngā ingoa ā te Oketopa. Kō reira mōhio ai tātou katoa ko wai ngā toa kakari.
'He mana nui te kēmu nei ki Aotearoa, he wā e piataata ai ngā toa Māori pūrei rīki me te mea hoki kai te kāinga kē te kēmu, nā reira e itiiiti ai te utu.
He whakaaro nui tēnei he whakaaro roa hoki kia tū katoa ngā toa ki a hoki mai rātou ki Aotearoa pūrei rīki ai.
"He mea nui kia kitea ai e te reanga hou!' He pouwhakaako hoki a Jason nā ko tana whāinga i ngā wā katoa ko te whakaihiihi i te rangatahi ki a eke ai rātou ki ngā taumata nui."
E hoa, e tū ana ēnei toki nui ki te aroaro o te hunga rangatahi kātahi ka taka te kapa ki roto i a rātou he māunga e ekea, he ngaru tūātea e hōea.
"Ko taku wawata kia manaakingia ngā manuwhiri i te wā tae ai rātou ki kōnei e te marea o Te Arawa, kia noho rātou i ngā whānau, i ngā marae kia kāua hoki rātou e wehi ki te hakoke tahi me ngā tangata mātau o te kāīnga nei. Ina hoki te rarahi o ngā pā taunaha, he awa, he roto moana ko te mea nui ki a noho tahi me te tangata whenua.
"Ko taua here te mea nui ā tangata whenua nei, ā iwi taketake hoki me te nanao atu ki ngā rōpū rīki o te takiwā ake, kia whakaharatau pea kia mōhio ai te tangata iti nei ki te wehi o te tuahangata, haere mai te ihiiihi!
"He whakaaro pea, kia puta mai ngā kura nohinohi mō tētehi hāora noa iho he mātakitaki kau nā te mea ka tae te wā o te kēmu nui, tūtū ana te pūehu me ū rātou ki ngā tikanga e kore e tāea te puta e rātou ki te mahi ki te noho tahi me te hāpori'. He whakamihi hoki ki NZMRL ki te pōari e whakapau kaha nei ki a puta te haurongo o tēnei whakataetae mātua ki te tiamana ki a John Devonshire.
"Heke ana te werawera, rere ana te toihau he ahakoa tēnei ko aua kēmu kē atu ka tae ki te takiwā o Te Arawa e noho kokohu nei ki taku ngākau'.
E hoki ana ngā māharatanga ki ngā kēmu nā Rotorua tonu i tiaki ko te mea kātahi ka hori ko te whakataetae a taiohi tāne, tuarua ake ko tētehi whakataetae rīki mā ngā kōtiro, e hoa mā e wha tekau ngā tīma i puta mai, mangu ana te whenua, nā reira e ora tonu ai te rīki Māori, e noho ngākau whakaiti nei ahau!'
Ko ngā hua o aua tukinga e whai iho nei;
■ 2019 34 – 14 ki te iwi Moemoeā. ■ 2020 30 -16 ki te Māori
■ 2021 10 -10 ōrite
■ 2022 16 – 10 ki te Māori.
—Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori
NEWS FLASH: Rotorua to host Māori v Indigenous rugby league match in 2023.
It is the first time this prestigious event will be held outside Australia.
For anyone not familiar with the kaupapa, that is teams of current NRL players who whakapapa to Māori and Australian Indigenous peoples.
"This is not just a game, this is history."
That's the word from Jason Sayers, the Rotorua man who has been appointed community liaison for the game.
"Just for the New Zealand game, it's about bringing our indigenous cultures together, because before, it was Indigenous Allstars anyone that was indigenous could play. But now you're playing for your own indigenous people, so now we have the Australian Indigenous versus the NZ Maori.
"Once I get my directive from the NRL and NZMRL, on what my actual role is, I'll be making sure that when we have the team across here to Aotearoa, that they have the best cultural experience."
He will also have a guide then on how to incorporate tangata whenua in the event to help our manuhiri and give them that journey, that special connection. Jason believes the teams would want that connection of iwi taketake.
"That's the biggest thing, when you bring two cultures together you want to learn about each other. That's going to be my role, helping to make this happen.
"So now I'll have to figure out what that is going to look like, how it's going to work and how it works in with the teams' schedules.
"I'm sure this will be an event where everybody in the community will come together to make this happen.
"It's not just one person doing this, it's so many people all coming together.
"And really it will be promoting us as Te Arawa first and foremost, and show our manaakitanga, our aroha to each and every person that comes into our rohe, our township, our hapu and our whanau."
That's what Jason is planning on, the hapū, iwi and waka getting behind the kaupapa.
"I think this is the third biggest game on the NRL Calendar, behind the Grand Final, and the State of Origin.
"So when you are given the third biggest game and they take it out of Australia and bring it right here to Aotearoa, (Rotorua) you know we got to make sure that we do the mahi, this is the first time ever it has been taken out of Australia,
"So that's why this is such a big deal.
"There's a lot of expectation on me to deliver a really good experience for our indigenous whānau and especially us here at home. "New Zealand Māori Rugby League has existed since 1908, and the NRL Allstars started in 2010.
Even though the Maori have been going for a long time, this is a different concept.
It was started in 2010 by Preston Campbell who was an Indigenous Australia player. At the time you had to play in the Allstars and be selected by the public.
"They used to do a poll and if you were in the NRL everyone would poll your name and you got to play in that game, so it gave the people a chance to see their Indigenous Allstars on the stage."
Teams have yet to be announced and in Aotearoa New Zealand's case, that is likely to be around October. Then everyone, including Jason, will know more.
"These games are so important to Aotearoa. As Maori we get an opportunity to see our stars in action because a lot of our whanau are not going to make it over there to back our team.
"Being here and being able to attend is the long term goal and we want to make sure that the team have the opportunity as well to come back and play this game.
"This is especially for our up and coming generation." As a coach, Jason thinks we'll always want to inspire our rangatahi to have goals and dreams.
"When these players are in front of them, they'll be able to see that anything is possible and they can strive for their dreams.
"I personally would love to see the Indigenous being embraced by us as Te Arawa, when they arrive, and I would also love to see them take part in community activities, and go out and maybe stay at a marae, actually experience what it's like to live over here, and what it's like to be immersed in our marae way of life.
"There's plenty of marae around here with so many awa and springs next to them, that they can go swimming with the locals and stuff like that, and that's something I would love to see.
"Creating that connection as Indigenous, and also connect with rugby league clubs here, to have an experience of local way of training, and everybody be a part of it, also to see what it's like to see the superstars of today, I think that'll be awesome.
"It may be that our local kura come down for an hour or so to watch them train etc, because come game day everything is going to be hectic and everything is very tightly scheduled."
Jason paid tribute to the NZMRL board for the work it continues to do to promote the game, in particular the chairman, John Devonshire.
"They've all been working tirelessly, but it's all the other games that they bring to Te Arawa that stand out for me."
He referred to tournaments hosted by Rotorua, the most recent one for young boys.
About a month ago they had another tournament for young kotiro.
"There were over 40 teams, it's just massive, and they are keeping keepin Maori rugby league alive. I couldn't thank them enough."
The first game between the Maori and the Indigenous was in 2019. The results from their encounters are:
■ 2019 Indigenous 34-14 over the Maori.
■ 2020 Maori 30-16 over the Indigenous
■ 2021 was a draw, 10-10
■ 2022 Maori 16 – 10 over the Indigenous.
A woman, 25, has been charged with assault.