Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Netball: Whanganui High School finally win Manawatu Schools title

By Jared Smith
Sports Editor·Whanganui Chronicle·
26 Aug, 2019 04:23 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

WHS A1: Coach Lisa Murphy, Imogen Flower, Kara Adrole, Sophie Andrews, Montel Vaiao-Aki, Molly Bullock, Rebecca Tamati, manager Kim Flower, Teagan Tapa, Mikayla Heka, Keilani Tyrell, Tima Tuinasoni.

WHS A1: Coach Lisa Murphy, Imogen Flower, Kara Adrole, Sophie Andrews, Montel Vaiao-Aki, Molly Bullock, Rebecca Tamati, manager Kim Flower, Teagan Tapa, Mikayla Heka, Keilani Tyrell, Tima Tuinasoni.

A five year journey has finally culminated in Manawatu Secondary School A Grade silverware as Phillips Electrical Whanganui High School A1 won the championship final in a 34-33 thriller on Saturday morning.

Rematching against Manukura Red, who WHS had also beaten by just one goal the weekend before in their last round-robin match, the travelling team found themselves trailing by five goals in the first quarter.

Coach Lisa Murphy said the offence then began to settle into a groove, with a two goal difference at halftime, before taking control of the match in the third quarter.

"I thought my attacking end did really well. My senior girls, they stepped up."

Goal attack Imogen Flower popped in a few long range shots to take some of the workload off goal shoot Montel Vaiao-Aki, while at the other end, goal keep Kara Adrole was collecting rebounds and slicing a hand through the channels to pluck intercepts.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Montel Vaiao Aki.
Montel Vaiao Aki.

Now leading by four goals heading into the fourth quarter, WHS had to weather a last-ditch comeback by Manukura Red, but kept a one-goal advantage up their sleeve through the final minute to reach fulltime.

"It was a really good final, a close final," said Murphy.

"We knew that [Manukura] were like, they've got a tall shooter.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"They give her the ball, it's an easy game for them. So we worked to counteract that.

"The girls knew they could do it, they just believed in themselves."

It was the second high pressure final for WHS in as many weeks, after they had been upset by Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau A1 in the Netball Whanganui Premier championship game on August 13.

But an outdoor daylight schools final, even with a lot of spectators, does not have quite the same intense atmosphere as an indoor evening game surrounded by rowdy crowd noise, and this time WHS showed the composure to see it through.

Murphy said it was also the "end of an era" as the five Year 13 players will all finish up this season in defender Teagan Tapa plus the entire offence in Vaiao-Aki, Flower, Rebecca Tamati and Keilani Tyrell.

Teagan Tapa.
Teagan Tapa.

All of them have been in Murphy's team for the last three years, as part of a five year campaign where WHS were competitive but ultimately finished third overall in Manawatu for every season until finally breaking through on Saturday.

Over that time frame, Murphy and team manager Kim Flower have seen several talented players, including their own daughters, come through the squad without getting to lift the trophy.

The coach shared a Facebook post her daughter Sammy Murphy sent to another former team mate Renee Butler when they heard the quest had been achieved.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"She said, 'finally, the 'babies' have done it down in Palmerston North'."

Renee Butler was just one of a generation of excellent WHS players that came through the A1 team without getting to win the Manawatu title.
Renee Butler was just one of a generation of excellent WHS players that came through the A1 team without getting to win the Manawatu title.

The WHS squad will receive their trophy at the Manawatu prizegiving this coming Friday.

After that, they will be heading to the ASB Sports Centre in Wellington to compete at the Lower North Island Secondary School tournament, as will Whanganui Collegiate and Whanganui Girls' College, starting next Monday.

The 32 teams will be divided into eight pools of four teams, with the Top 2 from each advancing to a round of 16, followed by quarterfinals, semifinals and the championship game.

While the competition will be "cut throat", Murphy said they wanted to do better than their 10th place finish of 2018.

As well as the Manawatu schools, they played the likes of Hawera High and New Plymouth Girls High in preseason, which just leaves the Wellington and Hawke's Bay squads as unknowns.

"They'll be some strong teams we have to battle with, but will take it one game at a time," Murphy said.

It will also be the end of an era for the coach and manager, as Murphy and Flower are leaving the team this year after eight years at the helm.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Nominations open for local government elections

02 Jul 01:22 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Heavy rain expected for Tongariro National Park

02 Jul 12:53 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Historic homestead welcomes visitors after transformation

01 Jul 06:00 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Nominations open for local government elections

Nominations open for local government elections

02 Jul 01:22 AM

Three mayoral candidates have already declared their intention in Whanganui.

Heavy rain expected for Tongariro National Park

Heavy rain expected for Tongariro National Park

02 Jul 12:53 AM
Historic homestead welcomes visitors after transformation

Historic homestead welcomes visitors after transformation

01 Jul 06:00 PM
'Resurrection of an era': Rangitīkei honours Kiwi Formula One hero

'Resurrection of an era': Rangitīkei honours Kiwi Formula One hero

01 Jul 05:00 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP