On October 9 the Manawatu Cyclones played their Farah Palmer Championship Final against the Hawke's Bay Tuis at CET Arena in Palmerston North and comprehensively won by 55-12 which means they will move to the premiership in 2022.
In a friendly game as a filler before the final Manawatu played Canterbury, one of the top sides in the premiership because it too had no game.
This game was in place of a semifinal as Manawatu was top of the table and North Harbour had to withdraw from the competition due to Covid-19 restrictions. Canterbury played as they also had no semifinal opposition due to Covid-19. The game was a step up over the championship matches but was only lost 25-31.
Kaia-Hayes Walker-Waitoa who lives in Dannevirke but plays club for Feilding (FOBOS).
Also flying under the radar was the role Tararua women played in the Manawatu Cyclones, five players from the Bush team and another from Dannevirke but playing for Feilding (FOBOS), making a major impact on the success of the team.
The most capped player from Tararua is Sam Tipene who is the player/coach for Bush. This dynamic flanker who started her rugby at Tararua College, then played for Wairarapa Bush, has played 49 games for Manawatu since her debut in 2014. She helped form the Bush Women's rugby team in 2019.
Corrineke Windle played first for the Cyclones in 2014 as a half-back and No 12 but then moved over to Asia playing in Hong Kong 2018 and Japan in 2019 before returning to play her 20th game for the Cyclones this year.
Annemieke van Vliet started rugby at Eketahuna and played for Wairarapa Bush before joining the Otago Spirit while studying at university. With Dutch parentage, she played for the Netherlands 2018-20 and would still be overseas had it not been for Covid. She joined the Bush team and has played a season for the Cyclones as a prop.
Another prop, Ruby-May Ngaruhe, began her rugby in Australia playing league as well, before moving to NZ in 2018, playing for Tararua College 2018-19, Kiatoa in 2019 and Bush 2020-1. This was her first year in the Cyclones.
Katelyn Donaldson started playing hooker at Tararua College, played for Eketahuna before it folded and joined Feilding then Bush. She has played for the Cyclones 2020-21.
Flying winger Kaia-Hayes Walker-Waitoa lives in Dannevirke but learnt her rugby at Manukura School before joining Feilding FOBOS. While at school she made the NZ Maori team in the 2019 World Secondary School's Sevens and the 2020 NZ Condoes winning the World Secondary Schools' Championships.
This is her second season with the Cyclones and she has now been selected for a National High-Performance Development Camp.
