"I was brought up without my father and said I'd follow my boys, whatever they did.
"They play all sports - rugby, boxing - and have made rep teams," he said.
Moki played rugby at school and then socially for the extinct Huia club. He loved it. "It was a bit of a family thing. I loved meeting people, the social part and then all the physical stuff in the game.
"I loved pain, the harder I got tackled the more I liked it. I thrived on the pain. The sorer I got, the better I played."
Guessing Moki's position in his playing days proved wildly inaccurate. His current physique suggests he played close to if not in the scrum.
That conjecture brought a hoot of laughter. "Nah, I played on the wing," he said.
"I was hard, not fast but when I got going I knew how to hit someone when I was carrying the ball."
A few patched Mob members played for Huia and coach Norman Wade was still involved in rugby, running the Waitete B side.
The men were involved when their children played at Huia but gradually the club membership dwindled and the club closed down about a decade ago.
Some, like Moki, have stayed in touch with their sport.
There was not much league in Te Kuiti, so rugby was their winter choice.
Moki, a regular at practices and games involving his children, has also done some coaching.
