He made his senior debut, aged 17, alongside his father David Rawiri against Eastern Districts in 1998.
"What really makes our club tick along is that we have such strong family ties," Kuka said. "All we see is blue and black. I would never, ever think of playing for another club and my whanau who play for the club are the same.
"My great-grandfather David Borell helped build the clubrooms where they are now at Maramatanga Park. He was at the official opening (1976) and he had the honour of cutting the ribbon. But an hour or so after that he actually collapsed and died.
"He was invited to trial for the All Blacks but he didn't go because he wanted to stay next to my great-grandmother who was pregnant."
Kuka rates last year's Jordan Cup win over unbeaten Tauranga Sports as special but has one particular game of which he is most proud.
"The 2001 division final against Mount Maunganui gave us the status to move into the premier division. It was my second full year of playing prems and it was a real buzz as the Mount had really punished us twice previously that year.
"We came out and beat them on the Domain and that really sticks out in my mind."
Te Puna's consistent Baywide form is another highlight for Kuka.
"We have shaken off the pretender tag and picked up a contender tag."
Kuka also had a stellar representative career, playing 40 games for the Bay of Plenty Steamers from 2006 to 2010.
He deserves nothing less than to celebrate his 300th game for Te Puna with a win over Rotoiti.
