Patea back in league competition after 25 years

Will Johnston

Photo: Patea Warriors Rugby League Club

For the last 25 years, Patea was an omission from Taranaki’s premier rugby league competition, until now.

On Saturday, the South Taranaki side played the Waitara Bears in Saturday’s opening round.  

While the team lost 36-18, club chairman Tere Diamond couldn’t be more chuffed to have a team back representing the town.

“For the old Patea players and the community, it’s humbling for them to see the blue and yellow jersey back on the paddock again. It’s exciting,” he said.

Entering a premier team in the competition has been in the works since Diamond set the junior club up in 2018.

Numbers soared from 49 players, including three teams in its first year, to 98 players last year.

It was always a goal for the club to enter a premier team into the competition.

“We wanted to give the kids something to strive for and to give them role models,” he said.

Diamond said the club kept promoting its premier intentions and the numbers gradually increased enough to have a team back in the competition.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing ahead of the first game on Saturday.

“We had some guys pull out due to work commitments and we only had 16 players,” Diamond said.

“It was a valent effort for a team that’s been out on the park for 25 years.”

He said Patea was a strong rugby league community. A lot of the players turn to rugby when the club dissolved in 1997.

He admitted a number of players use the short-sharp season as pre-season for union.

“If were going to play our season at the same time, we probably wouldn’t get the numbers. We will make do with what we’ve got.”

Mid Central Rugby League development manager Alan Jackson was pleased to see Patea front with a team.  

“It’s been a long time since they’ve played in a premier competition and it’s great to have them on deck.”

He said the region was close to having a six-team competition, but Coastal struggled for players.

But with the enthusiasm high, Jackson said there is plenty of interest since the competition was reintroduced last year, for the first time since 2018.

“The timing seems to suit our community.”

One full round will be played with semi-finals on Saturday, March 19 and finals the following weekend.

Last year each club hosted a round but Jackson scrapped that amid Covid-19 gathering limits.

“We were getting good numbers [to watch], but it was better to go back to one or two games at a club a day.”

In the other game Bell Block Marist beat Western Suburbs Tigers 28-24 in the repeat of last year’s final. Hawera had the bye.