Announcing RLN Multikai Cooker Premiership

March 18, 2014| 0 Comment| 10:01 pm

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As the Northland Senior League season is just around the corner, Rugby League Northland has received a major boost with the securing of MulitKai Cookers as a naming rights sponsor for the RLN Premiership. From this point forward the RLN Premiership will be known as the RLN Multikai Cooker Premiership.

“I have seen the growth in profile of Rugby League in Northland over the last three years and as a keen Leaguie I wanted to be able to help make a difference.” said Doug Andrews, Director of MultiKai Cookers. Doug originally from Canterbury, first started his league interests with the Lindwood Keas and went on to represent Canterbury U21s before a move to Northland in 1987 where he linked up the Portland Panthers. Doug is a well known personality around the Masters scene having represented the Kiwi Masters.

“I’m excited about being to help RLN grow their profile – but at the same time I hope that this sponsorship can help grow my business as well. I see this partnership as a good way of assisting Rugby League Clubs across New Zealand raise funds. The Mulitkai Cooker is a great investment and I have witnessed several clubs raise some significant funds through Hangis!” Doug went on to say.

Alex Smits, General Manager RLN, is really excited about the new partnership. “To bring on a nationally recognised brand is an awesome reward for the hard work that the Rugby League Northland community have put in over the last three years. Not only are we attracting some good sponsors but we are attracting sponsors who are willing to put their name on our competitions which goes to show that the business community is taking an interest in what we are doing.” From a product perspective RLN uses the MultiKai Cookers to feed all of their representative teams after games as it’s a low cost and easy solution for feeding masses.

The RLN MultiKai Cooker Premiership kicks of March the 29^th with a 10 team competition. Otaua Valleys have withdrawn to concentrate on their juniors. Teams competing in 2014 will be: Muriwhenua Kuaka, Hokianga Pioneers, Kerikeri Rugby League, Moerewa Tigers, Hikurangi Stags, Otangarei Knights, Horahora Broncos, Portland Panthers, Takahiwai Warriors and the Northern Wairoa Bulls. The Hikurangi Stags are the 2011, 2012 and 2013 defending champions.

A Final Draw will be released early next week.

Junior Swords UpdateJunior Swords Update

Swords 14s

The Swords 14s played Counties Manukau last Sunday and were up 12-10 with 10 minutes remaining. They had a lapse in concentration and unfortunately Counties ran in 3 unanswered tries.

Captain Manny Snooks, led by example topping the tackle count with some bone jarring hits on a much bigger pack, Rex Wiki bent the line every time he carted the ball up and was running like a man possessed. The boys ran to a really structured game plan enforced by coach Jim croft who has done wonders in developing the culture of this team.

Swords 15/17s

The 15s and 17s are having their final training camp in Okaihau this weekend, with the squads who will be participating in the NZRL National Competition in Rotorua later this month, be named at the conclusion of this camp. The boys will be lucky enough to have the expertise of Australian coaching guru Tom McCafferty, at the camp, who is working closely with the boys.

The camp will be held at Okaihau College and the boys are hoping to go over and support the Swords Premiers side who face the Wellington Orcas this Saturday, they will also hope to watch a bit of the Wharerau 9s tournament.

They depart next Sunday (27th September) for the NZRL National championships where the NZ age group sides will also be selected. Several of our players have already been signed or are in negotiations with NRL clubs so they will want to prove their wares.

Do you want to become a coach?Do you want to become a coach?

Check out the courses we have available over the coming weeks/months. If you are already actively involved with a league club then YOUR COURSE MAY EVEN BE FREE!

NZRL Game Plan very well received in NorthlandNZRL Game Plan very well received in Northland

NZRL Game Plan very well received in Northland As part of its process of development and accountability, members of the NZRL management team are travelling around the country presenting the Game Plan update at a series of meetings open to anyone with an interest in Rugby League.

The first for the year took place in Whangarei on Monday night and was presented by the NZRL’s General Manager High Performance Tony Kemp, who was joined by recently appointed Rugby League Northland Zone GM Alex Smits.

The ‘Game Plan’ is the NZRL’s five year Strategic Plan and each quarter the organisation measures itself against the plan and reports on what it has achieved, what is still a work in progress and what is yet to be done. Results are measured in a number of ways including outside statistics, its own internal reporting structure, and feedback from stakeholders. Nine core elements, drawn as jigsaw puzzle pieces, show progress by colour – red for very poor, orange for making progress and green for have met stated goals and continuing to maintain them.

Alex Smits said of the Northland meeting, “The presentation was very well received and it was great to see representatives of our sponsors NorthTec and the local RST joining league supporters and local media in the audience. It was also a real positive to see some of the old faces from the area coming along to hear about what’s happening now. “

Ian Swindells of NorthTec said he’d been very impressed with Tony’s presentation, which he’d found extremely informative and well worth his time. He said, “Jim and Tony and the NZRL management team have obviously done an excellent job. It’s a wonderful story for any organisation which is trying to turn things around. I am now thinking about ways in which our organisation can benefit from this story and whether we can maybe involve Jim or Tony in some sort of mentoring.

“As the manager of a tertiary institution, one which has been partnered with Rugby League in Northland for a while, it’s really helpful to get some context of what’s been happening at NZRL and the aspirations for the game in the regions. I was very impressed and really glad I’d come along.”

Jason Hannah, a Community Sports Advisor with Sport Northland, agreed with Ian’s comments saying,”It was great to see Rugby League in such a positive light after the publicity it has received in the past. It’s obviously so much more professional than in past years and having a presenter people can identify with, like Tony Kemp, a familiar face, was great as people know him with his Kiwis experience and that made a difference.”

Jason says the high points for him were seeing how Rugby League relates to other sports, its progress and how the changes are obviously improving the sport. He concludes “The other thing I found really helpful was the jigsaw puzzle, I’m a very visual person and to see the nine puzzle pieces and the colour coding made it really obvious ‘this is where we’re going and this is what we’re trying to achieve’.”

Game Plan update meetings are being held around the country over the next few weeks and details of these will be posted on the NZRL website as they come to hand.