Don't blame my haka - composer hits back at critics

The Kiwis perform their new haka at the start of last weekend's game, in which they were rolled by the Australians. Photo / Richard Robinson

The man who composed the Kiwis' new haka, Ko Wai Ra, says it has become a convenient excuse for the national league side's big loss last weekend.

The team will revert to Ka Mate tonight for the Four Nations final against Australia in Brisbane after the Kangaroos beat the Kiwis at Eden Park last week 34-20.

Captain Benji Marshall said after the loss his teammates admitted they focused more on getting the new haka right than on the game.

Talkback radio callers have questioned the relevance of it.

Former television sports journalist Bailey Mackey, also a passionate haka man, wrote the piece for last month's one-off test against Samoa.

"If you listen to the team, they're not blaming the haka - they are more having a look at themselves," he said.

"Was it a big burden? Only individuals can answer that."

Asked if three weeks was enough time to learn the piece, Mr Mackey said he believed the team were practising it in their downtime.

New Zealanders had a strange talismanic relationship with any sports haka.

"If the Kiwis had won, everybody would have been saying 'man, this new haka's fantastic'.

"Because they lost, it becomes the convenient excuse.

"I was part of the 40,000-something fans that were there. It got a massive cheer, the biggest of the game. I was happy those people bought into it.

"What irks me is that the people who are taking potshots at the haka and saying it's an excuse for them losing are the same people in some dungy suburb in London taking their shirt off and doing the haka at 4am."

For the past three years the side had been talking about a new haka that spoke about the country and the team's make-up today.

Led by Marshall, Adam Blair and and Isaac Luke, Ko Wai Ra (Who Are We?) was about competitiveness and performance.

It also acknowledged the multicultural origins of the team's Pacific Island, Pakeha and Maori players.

Mr Mackey said Tongan and Samoan action styles were incorporated into the haka, making it uniquely different from any other.

That was led by players such as Manu Vatuvei and Frank Pritchard.

A spokesman for New Zealand Rugby League said it would be up to the team to decide when to use the haka again.