The Hunterville Rugby Football Club is a finalist for the Bunnings Warehouse Rugby Club of the Year at the 2025 New Zealand Rugby Awards.
The Hunterville Rugby Football Club is a finalist for the Bunnings Warehouse Rugby Club of the Year at the 2025 New Zealand Rugby Awards.
Two nominees from the Whanganui region are finalists for the 2025 New Zealand Rugby Awards.
Sosoli Talawadua, former Black Ferns player and head of game development for Whanganui women and girls rugby, is a top-three finalist for the Te Hāpai Community Impact Award 2025.
She is joined by the HuntervilleRugby Football Club, which is one of three finalists for the Bunnings Warehouse Rugby Club of the Year 2025.
“I’m not surprised,” Whanganui Rugby Football Union (WRFU) chief executive Bridget Belsham said.
“We have some amazing clubs and some amazing people in our community.”
Talawadua was nominated by Sense Rugby for her contributions to the programme and her work to help get the programme up and running in the Whanganui community.
Sense Rugby is an organisation that specialises in bringing the sport to neurodiverse children who may otherwise not have the opportunity to play.
Sosoli Talawadua is a finalist for the Te Hāpai Community Impact Award at the 2025 New Zealand Rugby Awards. Photo / NZME
Talawadua led the initiative, collaborating with Sense Rugby, the WRFU and Sport Whanganui. She helped on the ground at meet-ups and in promoting and raising public awareness of the programme, along with logistics.
She said the nomination came as a shock to her but Belsham said she was not surprised, having been involved in the nomination process and believing Talawadua was deserving of the recognition.
“She’s very humble,” Belsham said.
Outside her work with Sense Rugby, Talawadua is an active member of the Whanganui rugby community as lead of women’s and girls’ programmes, and as a coach.
“When I see another young girl get into rugby and really enjoy playing the game ... that’s what keeps me going,” she said.
Talawadua felt there were many deserving of the award, not only herself.
“We just do what we do because we love the game of rugby and we want to reach as many people as we can,” she said.
“I feel like I’m receiving it on behalf of everybody that’s involved.”
Belsham said Talawadua was a special member of the union and the award would be a “testament to her work and how inspirational she is and dedicated she is”.
“We’ve had massive growth in the women’s space and it’s because of someone like her.”
The Hunterville Rugby Football Club was nominated for its impact within the community, hosting community events and, in the past year, starting a women’s team, the first in the club’s history.
“It’s a very small, very tight-knit community,” Belsham said.
“For them to be recognised for the work that they do in the community and for them to have their women’s team up and going this year for the very first time was pretty amazing.”
Club president Greg Parkes said the nomination was a wonderful surprise for the town. “We weren’t expecting anything like that.”
The news spread fast through the small rural community and brought pride to the club and its players.
“When we have sports events, our sports teams are really well-followed and supported ... our rugby team is, by exception,” he said.
The club building, situated on higher ground overlooking Hunterville, doubles as a community facility. It features memorabilia relating to Hunterville’s history, such as a flagship poster created 130 years ago, which is on display in the clubrooms.
The facility is used for private functions by community members.
Parkes said when a group of women in town came forward about starting a women’s team, “the club got right up behind it and said, yep. If you guys want to, we’ll support you in every way that we can and go for it”.
In their inaugural season, the Hunterville women’s team made the semifinals in the Tasman Tanning Women’s Competition.
The nomination as a finalist was “a reflection of people putting hard work in and getting right behind the club”, Parkes said.
The club will receive $5000 if it is selected as the winner.
Parkes said the money could assist in further promoting the team, helping to bring in more players, or go towards much-needed maintenance on the club facilities – specifically, a new exterior paint job.
The winners will be announced at the awards show on December 11.
