Manurewa Rugby Football Club (MRFC) has been home to the local rugby community for more than 100 years and is by far the most successful rugby club in the Counties Manukau area.
But to maintain that legacy and ensure it can support future generations of rugby whānau, the club needs to keep a roof over its head, which has turned into quite a project.
Club Chairman Garry Collier says the club recently replaced its roof and painted the exterior of its building. To ensure the building’s long-term safety, the next job is to replace the asbestos ceiling in the main club lounge.
Funding for the work came from Trillian and Wiri Licensing Trust General Manager Kim Green says it was an easy decision to support the club’s grant application.
“The Trust has been a long-time supporter of Manurewa Rugby Football Club, which has experienced exponential growth in the junior space over the past few years and has experienced success both at the highest level and in the youth space.
“The club has a very passionate community led by Garry and Kere, and our goal is to provide safe, warm and inviting spaces for local people, so it’s a privilege to be connected to Manurewa Rugby.”
The Trust and its hospitality venue, Woodside Bar and Dining, have been sponsors of the club for many years, and is proud to have the Trust logo displayed on the sleeve of most of the players’ shirts. This support helps the club to manage its financial demands while still providing affordable and accessible opportunities for the community to engage with sport.
“Our Trustees have been very impressed with the club’s focus on introducing children to sport with its initiative to remove fees for juniors. We want to get behind schemes like that to support our community.”
The free fees model has now been adopted in part by other rugby clubs in Counties Manukau for 2024 with the assistance of the Counties Manukau Rugby Union, who are now subsidising some clubs to help grow the game.
Known affectionately as Rewa, MRFC has won the most rugby championships of any club in the area and has the most international representatives across both the men’s and women’s grades.
Its honours board boasts illustrious names such as Olympics Sevens double gold medallist Portia Woodman, alongside seven former All Blacks, 14 current and former Black Ferns and more than 150 other national, international and provincial representatives.
This season the club has eight senior grades (Premier, Premier Development, Senior Championship, Senior Women, Under 21, Under 19, Presidents and Golden Oldies) and 24 junior teams, with around 400 local children playing rugby. It also has ripper rugby, tag rugby, sevens and touch teams.
Its facilities are used by a host of affiliated sports clubs, including AFL (South Auckland Raiders), NFL (Manurewa Eagles), Softball, Marching Auckland and Para Athletics.
“We have around 1000 members and volunteers under our rugby club umbrella,” Garry says.
The club also offers its venue to the community for functions such as meetings, birthdays, weddings, and funerals.
With such a vital role in the community, the club is very grateful for the support it receives from Wiri Licensing Trust. “It is absolutely crucial to the successful operation of our club. Quite simply, we would be lost without it,” says Garry.
Wiri Licensing Trust wants to connect with local community groups and organisations that are doing great work in our hood to understand how we can better support you – email us on info@wiritrust.org.nz.
