The Blues and their young Whangārei fans show some love for the sport.
Young Whangārei rugby fans got a surprise when they saw Blues players wielding paintbrushes and doing odd jobs at a grassroots club.
The backs, including Northlander Sam Nock, were sprucing up the Onerahi Rugby Club on Thursday afternoon.
They painted a storage container, put up some gib boards and worked on the club’s hāngi room.
While the forwards, featuring Whangārei’s Josh Beehre, packed and delivered food donations at Whakaora Kai food rescue.
The pre-season training camp endeavours were part of the team’s Fill The Blues Bus campaign, which collected more than 50,000 donations of food.
The campaign aims to ease food insecurity for families this Christmas.
The team made the journey north to the Northland Rugby Union’s training ground, where school kids gathered to watch their practice and nab an autograph or two.
After which, it was out into the community to lend a helping hand and to take on the local kids in a game of touch.
Nock, who calls Kerikeri home, was excited to show the boys around.
The 28-year-old halfback said they had been pleasantly surprised by the union’s flash training facility.
But the highlight was connecting with the fans, the pool of which was growing – with many wearing replica shirts.
“I haven’t seen too many Blues jerseys in the last eight years until the season just gone that we won,” Nock said.
The Blues dominated the Chiefs 41-10 to claim this year’s Super Rugby Pacific title.
The victory broke not only a 21-year Super Rugby title drought but also rewrote the record for the largest winning margin in a final since the Chiefs trounced the Sharks 37-6 in 2012.
“It’s cool to see people representing us now and proud to represent us,” Nock said.
A bunch of school-aged kids were blown away to find the Blues players at their local rugby club.
Their excitement turned competitive when the young novices took the pros on in a game of touch.
The encounter reminded Nock of the start of his rugby career, when as a kid he would head to the field after school each day to play.
“When I was little I definitely dreamed of being involved in the Blues,” he said.
A feat achieved in 2016 when he debuted in the jersey as a replacement against the Hurricanes. Since then he has been a familiar face on the team.
Nock’s presence on the squad is noted by both the old boys of Northland rugby, who tell him how much it means to them, and the kids who want to be like him.
“Which is surprising to me because I feel like I’m just a small-town boy playing rugby where he’s from but to them it means a lot,” he said.
Nock hoped that the addition of Northlanders to Super Rugby inspired the next generation of Tai Tokerau players.
His advice to the dreamers: “Keep at it, keep working hard” and “listen to your parents.”
Nock, a dad himself, said his parents had always been his number one supporters.
And you needed your parents to help out, he explained.
“Especially up north, it’s a lot harder. You have to travel about two hours to play a rugby game.
“So your parents make a lot of sacrifices for us, so the least you can do is work hard,” Nock said.
But most importantly, “have fun”.