Napier’s McLean Park has been among options for rugby league test match

Looking to the future: NZ Rugby League chairman and Napier businessman Justin Leydesdorff (left) and Rugby League Hawke's Bay chairman Antz Taueki at McLean Park. Photo / Doug Laing

Napier is in the queue to stage Hawke’s Bay’s first rugby league test match as the sport steers into a new era with a dramatic increase in playing numbers.

New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) chairman and Napier businessman Justin Leydesdorff said the NZRL looked at staging a men’s and women’s Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns double-header, against Samoa, at McLean Park this year.

But it was decided the ground, with just two team changing rooms in the 40-year-old Harris stand, did not meet the event’s needs.

The league will continue discussions in the hope of big matches in Napier, with Napier City Council events manager Kevin Murphy saying the two rooms had been upgraded in recent years, on occasions extra facilities had been provided, there is provision for additional rooms in the future, and if it was a requirement for an event the council would look at the options.

He said one difficulty was the international rugby league “draw” and not knowing about the opportunities early enough.

McLean Park was initially leased for rugby league – and football – as early as 1912, making it one of the oldest grounds connected to the code.

The growth of rugby league nationally, and Hawke’s Bay being a leader in the provinces, is encouraging the code’s administrators to stage some bigger games outside Auckland.

The international opportunities are limited by the small schedule of home matches.

But, with a Napier City Council desire to create wider use, Leydesdorff can see international sides, the New Zealand Warriors and other NRL teams heading to the park.

McLean Park last hosted an international side when Great Britain opened their 1990 tour against a NZRL President’s XIII.

Two NRL matches have been played there in the past decade, featuring the Warriors, Brisbane Broncos, Melbourne Storm and St George Illawarra.

Leydersdorff and wife Andrea moved to Hawke’s Bay about seven years ago, and operated the Stirling Sports franchises in Napier and Hastings.

He was elected to the NZRL board in 2021 on the strength of his rugby league, sports trusts and business experience in Auckland, and was made chairman last year, also becoming a member of the international board.

Participation growth is big, particularly in children and youth grades.

However, Leydersdorff worries about the detrimental impacts – on league, other sports and the social consequences – of Government proposals to license offshore online gaming operations without protection of funding for New Zealand sport.

“This directly affects at least 1.5 million people,” he said.

He said most sports are struggling financially, particularly at the grassroots level. They are funded largely by grants from gaming trusts, and any decline in resourcing would be “disastrous”.

Rugby league player numbers in New Zealand increased by more than 40% at youth and children’s level, and 24% across all age groups.

Leydesdorff said the growth is reflected in Hawke’s Bay.

District chairman Antz Taueki said 113 teams are registered across the age groups, including the men’s women’s and youth age groups starting this weekend,for the region’s spring season.

Alongside this upward trend, opportunities for young players are rapidly expanding, courtesy of representative teams at age-group tournaments at a local level, and NRL expected to grow in Australia.

Senior men’s side the Unicorns are likely to become part of a new national inter-district structure in the next few years.

Hawke’s Bay has in recent years been linked with Taranaki and Manawatū in a Mid-Central zone structure. However, this could end, with a plan being considered by leagues throughout the country, possibly for first-stage implementation next year.

The premier competition opens with matches between second-season outfit Taradale Stallions and long-standing club Maraenui Phoenix at Tareha Recreation Reserve in Taradale, and defending champions Omahu Huia and Tamatea Arikinui at Bill Mathewson Park, Hastings.

Doug Laing has been a reporter for 52 years, more than 40 of them in Hawke’s Bay, at the Central Hawke’s Bay Press, the Napier Daily Telegraph and, Hawke’s Bay Today. He has covered most aspects of general news and sport.