Napier Pirate Rugby and Sports Club moving from home of 50 years

Napier Pirate Rugby and Sports Club's new home under construction at Park Island.

One of Hawke’s Bay’s oldest sporting clubs is moving to a brand new home after 50 years at its current home.

Napier Pirate Rugby and Sports Club was established in 1886 and has called the suburb of Tamatea home since 1975, based at Tamatea Park.

The club’s next chapter will unfold 1km down the road in neighbouring Poraiti – where the club is building a brand-new clubroom and changing rooms for an undisclosed amount at Park Island, next to the Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union headquarters.

Up to four new fields will also be constructed adjacent to the clubrooms.

The club’s existing clubroom and property at Tamatea Park (behind Pak’nSave Tamatea) is up for sale as part of the move, through real estate company Colliers.

The club is hopeful its new home could be ready in time for the 2025 rugby season, as well as one field, although that is best-case scenario and the club may rely on alternate facilities for next season.

The main reason for the shift has been the claustrophobic nature of Tamatea Park.

As well as 10 junior rugby teams and four senior rugby teams, the club boasts netball, indoor bowls, cricket and rugby league teams and wants a more adequate home and hub.

“The biggest issue for us at the moment is, where we are, we have only got one-and-a-half fields,” chairman Graham Atkins said.

“You get a wet season and you have 10 [junior] teams and four senior teams training on one field, and it gets pretty much cut up.

“Also, on a club day, we have always had to have it split with two teams having to play at Park Island and two teams at Tamatea Park.

“That was part of the vision – that we couldn’t have everyone, on what you would call a big club day, all on the one park.”

An artist's impression of what the club's new home will look like when it's completed. Photo / Pirate Rugby and Sports Club

Atkins said the move was first envisioned in the mid-1990s by life member Derek “Dick” Leadbetter.

When Leadbetter died in 2018, the club decided to have another push at the plans, largely in his honour.

“He’d be happy,” Atkins said of the plans coming to fruition.

“There are a lot of people that can’t wait – it will be good to get there.”

Atkins thanked the generous support of the Rodney Green Foundation, club sponsors, and long-term members who have helped fund the project.

The club’s existing home at Tamatea is freehold, while the new home will be leasehold.

Napier Pirate and Sports Club's existing clubrooms and property next to Tamatea Park is up for sale. Photo / Colliers

That means the club will own the two new buildings and associated floodlights at Park Island, but the land and fields will be owned by Napier City Council.

There will be eight changing rooms and a gym in one building, including separate changing rooms to cater for women’s rugby, while the clubroom will be raised 1.5m to provide ideal viewing.

The club was based at Napier’s McLean Park prior to moving to Tamatea, and was formerly called Colenso Pirate Rugby and Sports Club for a period. The club last won the region’s premier men’s rugby title, the Maddison Trophy, in 2015.

Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.