All Black star spends day in Wairoa

EDUCATION: All Black lock Sam Whitelock visited Wairoa to teach children about rugby and farmers about wellbeing. Photo: Supplied.

Wairoa's community spent a day with All Black lock Sam Whitelock this week thanks to the efforts of a local farmer.

Andrew Powdrell was the winner of the Facebook competition 'Win Sam Whitelock for a Day' run by rural wellbeing programme Farmstrong.

The Wairoa farmer said he first read about the competition in a farming magazine before rushing to submit his winning video with a deadline of 45 minutes.

From the beginning Mr Powdrell said he wanted the All Black's visit to benefit as many people as possible, which is why he organised it around the community.

"The kids, as you can imagine, were doing back flips," he said.

A tour of Mr Powdrell's 456ha farm in south Wairoa was just one part of the Farmstrong ambassador's Wairoa experience on Monday.

After a welcoming haka at St Joseph's school, Mr Whitelock went on to run a rugby training session for the children and attend a charity luncheon that raised money for local community sport.

"It was an excellent day. We had 90-100 people at the lunch which is what we had hoped for," Mr Powdrell said.

Mr Whitelock addressed the lunch attendees and told them that if they made small improvements to their lifestyle they would soon notice big improvements with their ability to cope with the ups and downs of farming.

Research has shown that New Zealand farmers are great at looking after their farms but sometimes neglect their own wellbeing.

Farmstrong is an initiative developed to promote farmer wellbeing by providing advice and tools for farmers on how they can take better care of themselves and stay healthy and productive.

Born and bred on a farm, Mr Powdrell said he has always worked to maintain his wellbeing.

His competition entry was said to tick off many of the programme's recommended activities such as getting off the farm more often, contributing to the community, eating well and exercising regularly.

"Before I even heard about Farmstrong I tried to get off the farm. My wife and I have quite a balance and try to keep it that way. It's just like any job really, you get tired," he said.

What was perhaps the most special part of Mr Whitelock's visit to Wairoa was the engagement the community had with the All Black, Mr Powdrell said.

"It was a thrill to host him. The best thing was that you could actually talk to him. You don't often get that with an All Black. It was big, and that's why we wanted to get him exposed to as many kids as possible," he said.