Eight teams from Australia joined more than 100 from Aotearoa for the junior Māori rugby league tournament in Rotorua over the weekend.
New Zealand Māori Rugby League chair John Devonshire says it was a huge success, with more than 2000 players and many thousands of supporters.
He says despite the cost, increasing numbers of Mossies are keen to bring their tamariki over.
“Well, one, it’s about the cultural connection, and they come back and they play football and some have never been on a marae. Some have never had communal living, which we here in Aotearoa sometimes take for granted,” Mr Devonshire says.
The tournament is about whanaungatanga rather than naming champions, and teams take pride in participating rather than their win-loss records.
