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Whakawhanaungatanga was to the fore at this year’s Maori Rugby League tournament.
Waikato took home the Lummy Newton Trophy in the waka section after beating Tuhoe ki Tamaki 12-4.
The wahine section was won by Ngati Umutahi.
Organiser John Devonshire says there were more women’s teams at the event that turn up for the New Zealand Rugby League nationals
He says as always the atmosphere was uplifting, as people use rugby league to celebrate being Maori.
"Just the comradeship of coming back every year and touching base with our whanau. Seeing their pride in their uniform their pride in their kids their pride in their haka, they're down there at Wainuiomata on the weekends and theres 50 lines of tents of gazebos where they're congregating as a whanau," says John Devonshire.
Next year the tournament moves back to Rotorua.
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