Jugger-naut competition set to hit Whangarei

Whangarei's Black Swords will be playing at the New Zealand Jugger League tournament at Kensington Park. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

What do Blade Runner star Rutger Hauer and a group of Northlanders have in common? A sport called Jugger.

You probably haven't heard of the sport of Jugger before but the national tournament is taking place in Whangarei.

Kensington Park will host the first national tournament in New Zealand as two Northland teams - the Black Swords and Silverbacks - compete with Australian side Drop Bears.

Whangarei's Jugger teams began in 2014 but the sport originated from the 1989 movie The Blood of Heroes starring Hauer before being played on German fields in 2007.

Whangarei jugger player Adam Goddard said it is a tough game.

"Jugger is a team sport of two teams of five players which compete for a jugg (ball) to score a goal on the opponents mound," he said.

"Only one player per team (the qwik) is allowed to touch the ball. The other four players of his team are armed with padded weapons (sword, spars, staff, ball and chain) and attempt to shepherd him to the opponents mound.

"The other team attempt to do the same. Anyone hit with a weapon is down for a count of so many drumbeats. After each goal, the field is reset and try to do it all again.

"One hundred beats of a drum is the length of one half of a game."

It seems far away from your traditional sporting contests but it still requires a similar set of skills and abilities.

Goddard said while it's a game for people "outside of the square", the skills of a good player are fairly transferable.

"A great Jugger player is someone who has a situation awareness," he said.

"Being able to figure when to engage and when to disengage while seeing what others are doing in a quickly changing situation is important.

"Good self control and a willingness to have fun are also helpful."

Jugger has been steadily rising in Whangarei over the past couple of years, culminating in a team heading to Australia for their national competitions in Brisbane and Canberra.

It was there that the idea for an Anzac visit was sparked.

Goddard said they'd love to see plenty of people checking out the action over the weekend.

"People are always welcome to come and try. We joke that we would like to see it established at the suburban level," he said.

"Saturday will be having a bit of a fun, get to know each other day before getting into the playoffs on Sunday."

People are encouraged to head along to Kensington Park from 10am on Saturday.