Downloaded from YTS.BZ
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.BZ
- On the shoulders of giants who have gone before them,
two teams of exceptional women
will experience a moment in history decades in the making.
(BLUES ROCK MUSIC)
- I've never felt...
that power with any other sport I've played.
(BLUES ROCK MUSIC CONTINUES)
- Pretty strong believer in grassroots rugby in New Zealand.
It's the backbone of New Zealand rugby.
It produces All Blacks, produces Black Ferns.
Without it, we're stuffed.
(BLUES ROCK MUSIC CONTINUES)
- One, two, three. - ALL: Southern!
- You've all got mouthguards? - ALL: Yep.
- Jerseys? - Yep.
- Shorts? - Yep.
- Thank God.
- ♪ Still on my lonesome.
- I'm a daddy's girl.
I see the try line, and I'm just going for gold.
It takes about seven people to get me down.
Oh, yeah, I'll celebrate that one.
Look at me - big girl getting a try.
(CHEERING, WHISTLE BLOWS)
- I've been playing rugby since I was 3, and-
- 3? - Yes. 3 years old.
- Oh wow.
- There's definitely potential Black Ferns in this squad.
100%.
- RIKI SWANNELL: It's on New Zealand's side.
England couldn't control it!
And in your life,
have you ever seen anything like it?
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
From the depths of despair
to World Cup winners once more.
- It's safety, it's technique and it's grunt
are the three things that you need to play a sport like rugby.
And I've got all of them. (LAUGHS)
- You know? It's a rough, tough game,
and if you wanna play it,
you play it without crying on the fucking field.
(WHISTLE BLOWS)
Captions by Able. www.able.co.nz
(BIRDS CHIRP)
(TRACTOR ENGINE RUMBLES)
(RUMBLING FADES)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(THUNDER BOOMS)
- Right, we're away. Let's go.
(GIRLS SHOUT INDISTINCTLY)
- We are at the lovely Okaiawa Rugby Club today.
A bit of grassroots rugby - At its finest. Yeah.
Good girl, Kaiomi!
Nice. Good girl!
Good girl, Lib!
Go, Kaya-Jo!
- These girls, they live and breathe rugby -
all of them. They wanna watch the Whio play,
they wanna watch the Black Ferns play -
they just live and breathe it.
- They'll always be at our women's game, you know?
They're always running the ball. They're running the tee.
They'll put their hand up to do the waters,
and they're just always around rugby,
and it's so cool to see.
Go, Liv!
Good girl, Liv!
Grassroots rugby. Gotta love it.
Right. Hustle in, girls!
Come on, Harper!
- Today was
really wet and windy.
Disgusting. Normal Taranaki weather.
We were down at Okaiawa,
and the girls had a game against the under-55-kilo boys.
- Nice, Jassie!
- I back my girls. I've told them, 'Don't pull.'
If they wanna come and play against girls,
you show them what it's like.
- Go, Poppy!
- I want these girls to thrash them.
(CAR HORNS HONK) - Well done, Lily!
Let's go, girls. Amazing. So proud.
- Well, women's rugby is going off pretty good for Oki.
With everything that's going on in society,
rugby has to change and move with the times,
which is what it is - bringing young girls into the game,
or young women. it's just all part of what
the modern game of rugby is gonna look like going forward.
- We won. (BOTH CHEER)
- What was the game like? - It was very good.
We smashed those boys.
- Well done, girls.
Proud of you.
(ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(BIRDS CHIRP)
(MUSIC BUILDS)
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
- So, we're the first club in New Plymouth
to create and dedicate
time, money, resource to a women's team.
It was a huge investment, and it was hard.
You know, starting something from nothing
is way harder than you think it's going to be.
- Welcome to the start of the 2024 club season.
- How are you doing? How are you feeling about the game?
- Good. Good. Excited. First game ever.
- Ever? - Yeah.
- First time you've ever played rugby?
Is it the first time you played? - Yeah, I trained,
I was in a team, but I never got on the field.
And that was when I was 15. So we're going 18 years later.
Nah. (LAUGHS)
- Getting ready for our first game. Whoo!
- I don't know what I'm doing, so this will be an experience.
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
- This is the first time that we've had a rugby team
in, I believe, about 30 years.
- In an exciting moment for the Tukapa Cup,
the first time they've introduced a women's team
for about 30 years.
And some of these players are new to rugby
for their debut match this afternoon,
and they're up against Coastal at Sanders Park.
- We're not up on points, but we're up on spirit.
- When we first started, like, we had our trainings and stuff,
and we're thinking, like,
'None of our team have played rugby before,' like, you know?
Like, that is what we were thinking, like,
'OK, well, we're not in the season to win it.'
(LAUGHTER, CHEERING)
- Go, go, go, go!
- Smile. Smile.
- Did she get it? Cos I can't see.
- I know. (LAUGHTER)
- Grassroots rugby is the most important thing
that we need to be focusing, growing and developing.
And we need to be thinking really carefully
how we keep women in the game
and what playing opportunities we're providing for them.
So working out how we can take away those barriers,
and that we may have to pivot and do things differently.
- I had postnatal depression, which, obviously, is rough,
especially three times. Goodness, cut me some slack.
- Put Tina on the side, and, Grace, come off the back.
- So, what sold me was that
they had free childcare for our games.
So they've got, like, a little babysitter that comes.
Being a single mother of three, I need as much support, I guess,
as I can for the kids, to do something for myself.
- I'm really passionate about women in sport
and having opportunities to play and develop
and continue to play as life happens.
You know, we get busy. We have kids.
Having that, you know, ability to continue to play
and that incredible support of the club behind you to do that.
And, you know, for a lot of our players,
they're not used to putting themselves first
or doing something for them.
So, you know, we turn up, and we're, like,
'It's OK for this to be all about you.'
- Why don't we send a pass back, TJ?
(WHISTLE BLOWS)
- Every aspect of the game has just helped.
Like, you've got your social side, making friends,
obviously keeping fit,
and our team vibe
is unmatched. And it's gonna just attract the people
that haven't played in a few years,
and, like, the new up-and-comers coming out of school.
Like, obviously we're at the bottom of the table,
but our team energy -
top of the table. We're up there.
- We'll just do a quick cheer for Coastal
in our first game as Tukapa Toa.
Tuturu whakamaua kia tina! - ALL: Tina!
- Haumi e, hui e... - ALL: ...taiki e!
- Nah, that was fucking awesome! (ALL CHEER)
(UPBEAT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
- Putting that jersey on, I feel like it's a sense of belonging.
Like you put it on and, you know, you're Southern branded.
You go down there, everybody knows your name.
'Hey, Kate. How are ya?' 'Hey, Kate. Good game.'
'Hopefully you have a good game.'
'Good luck.' Like, and all that kind of stuff.
And, yeah, you definitely have a purpose.
(CHILL BLUES MUSIC)
There's such a rivalry between our clubs.
We definitely have the skill there
and the speed to match Clifton.
We are the two top teams, and they'd have a lot of revenge
to get back on us for winning the final last year.
- One, two, three. - ALL: Southern!
- Yeah, I think we have the upper hand at the moment.
We've taken the comp out three times,
so at this stage I'd say we have a little bit of edge on Clifton.
But, yeah, it's a great, great rivalry.
Some years they get up on us; some years we get up on them.
- Don't let your bro go out by themselves.
You gotta fuckin' have their back. Sorry.
- And, reserve forwards, when you go on,
I wanna see a big impact. - Yep.
- Right? - Yep.
- If you leave, you've got-
well, some of you will have half,
and some of you will have 20 minutes,
so just go out there and impact.
- And waste 'em. Yep. - All right?
- And sink.
- Crouch. Bind.
Set.
We've been in the final every year
since the women's started, and we've only won once.
So that's six since 2018.
So we've only won one title.
But we've been in the final every year. (CHUCKLES)
Yeah. The girls have got a bit of a burning desire
to get another one this year. So, yeah.
- We, like, got the energy this year.
We're, like, 'This is our year.' We lost it last year.
We gotta bring that trophy back this year.
I live and breathe that thought, like,
'We've gotta win this year.'
- This is the first clash between last year's finalists.
The Southern has claimed a win over Clifton.
There was just two points in it.
Let the rivalry begin.
- In the morning, I woke up, and I was nervous.
But I was also hungry, so... (LAUGHS)
Some girls can't eat before the game.
Me? I have to eat.
- It's a repeat of last year's final,
so we're after a bit of payback.
(ROCK MUSIC)
- It's a big game, just cos, you know, like,
they wanna pretty much knock us off the top of the ladder,
pretty much. And, you know,
we wanna come here and prove, you know,
we're the champions from last year, and, yeah,
give it to them, man.
- A little bit of pressure, I think.
Everyone's in good spirits, though, so it's really good.
Um...
there's been a little bit of talk on the bus about the game.
So, main things to focus on for right now -
Get changed, get hissing, and just get out there.
So, yeah, we're ready. (LAUGHS)
- (BLOWS WHISTLE)
- And the match is underway here at the Tikorangi Sports Ground
on a beautiful afternoon for rugby.
And Southern with early possession in the game.
Spinning the ball out wide.
It's good hands, too, and good passing.
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
And she's gonna storm away and score the try.
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE, WHISTLE BLOWS)
Southern, now.
Oh, good little pass out the back door.
- I love my club so much.
Southern's been there for me right from 2018
when we first started the team,
losing 100-0 against Clifton, may I just add there.
- Clifton now with ball in hand.
That's a good run, but a good tackle coming across.
It needed to be made.
Still evading the defence, though, Clifton.
They're up towards the 22.
Quick ball out there. And the handling is good.
Clifton will slide in and score. (WHISTLE BLOWS)
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE) - Yes, Ringa!
- Showing the girls my mongrel that I can bring to the team...
(PLAYERS SHOUT)
...I can tell you this now -
my mongrel comes out when I get a bit fiery and angry
when someone's done something to me.
(INDISTINCT YELLING)
- Quick hands again in the back line. Two on one.
In some space. Down the touch line.
Cuts back in field.
Just tackled short. Reaches out and scores.
- Go, Ashley. - Off the back of the ruck.
Try time. Southern are in again.
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
Down the right-hand side they go, Clifton. Are they over?
The referee says, yes, they are.
Clifton are over again for another try.
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
Jubilation all round.
Phoenix Fraser smashing through people.
Elbow is out. Ooh, that would have hurt.
Clifton are over for another.
(WHISTLING)
- Definitely good for our team.
Character-building for our girls; you know,
we have a lot of girls here that we sort of switched around.
Our backline wasn't our best backline.
(BASSY GUITAR MUSIC)
- So, in 1989,
I started playing for Clifton.
Some of the men were really anti women playing,
but they didn't understand.
I didn't wanna play rugby with men.
I wanted to play rugby with women, you know,
like, so everything was an even playing field, so to speak.
And so that was, I guess, a barrier.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- I 100% believe that if it wasn't for Vicky,
we wouldn't have what we've got today, because she started it.
She was the driving force behind it all.
(INDISTINCT YELLING)
- It was the men's sevens tournament, you know,
for Taranaki. And they asked all the women that wanted to play
to do a lunchtime...
(LAUGHS) 'Show us what you got. Let's play women's rugby.'
And I played in that and scored a couple of tries and thought,
'Why have I waited so long to do this?'
And wrote to the rugby union, saying,
'I wanna start a club team and we wanna play inter-club,
'and we wanna play, eventually, for New Zealand.'
And I got this letter back in September 1988.
It said,
'The NZRFU is most favourably disposed towards women
'taking an active playing role in the game.'
The thought that we needed to have permission as well was,
yeah, just a sign of the social feelings at the time, I suppose.
- I'm sure there are probably a lot of old, grey-headed
white men that thought Vicky Dombroski was a nuisance,
but it should never have been a problem.
It shouldn't have been an issue to get the OK from people
to say that you can play this game.
It's just sport, for heaven's sake.
Just, you know, play it.
- Yeah. - Yeah. Don't overthink it.
I'm well aware of that trio of Mum, Vicky and Geri,
and what they've done for women's rugby in Taranaki,
which makes me very proud, of course,
you know, being proud 'Naki girls that they are.
They're such humble people that, like, you wouldn't have any idea
that Vicky was the first female coach.
Like, I didn't know. I probably did, but forgot.
That's the kind of people they are. They don't wanna, you know,
boast about what they've done with rugby.
It's just the matter of the fact that they play it
and they love it. Not for long. I will talk about it.
I'll boast them up. (LAUGHS)
- When I first met Vicky Dombroski,
that would have been way back in 1989.
Vicky said to me,
she said, 'The first time I saw you, I sort of thought,
'She's not gonna be able to play rugby; she's too pretty.'
I'm, like, 'What?' (LAUGHS)
And she said, 'Then, next time I see you,
'and it's just, like, oh, my God.'
- I mean, in my mind, you know, she's just my mum.
But seeing her in her 20s in a Black Ferns jersey
was, like, 'Whoa.'
That's my mum from when she was, you know, back in the day, so...
Yeah. And her perm. (LAUGHS)
Rugby, for her, was a love. It was a love of the game.
Whereas nowadays,
you get paid full-time to be professional rugby players,
but that's all thanks to what Mum and her team
and that legacy did for us to be full-time professional athletes.
They put rugby on the map,
so it's all thanks to them for where we are today
with women's rugby, and to know that my mum was a part of that
makes me very, very proud.
- Full circle, all these things, you know -
everything comes around, goes around.
They got a legacy.
(LAUGHS) There's been some magical players
come out of this club,
and they've got a legacy to follow, yeah.
(GENTLE GUITAR MUSIC)
- So, my full name, including my middle name
is Michaela Grace Blyde.
My nicknames are MG,
Mini, Michaela Gracie,
Gracie, Legs 11,
Beautiful, Babe,
Mini Mac. Taranaki is MG.
That's about it. (LAUGHS)
Yeah. Whenever I drive home, one of the first things
that I'll look out to is the coast.
And that's when I'm thinking to myself 'Yeah, I'm home.
'I'm back where I belong.'
So very proud to say that I'm from Taranaki.
Like, my fondest memories are
getting chucked into the calf trailer in behind the motorbike,
and then going with Dad in the morning
to go and collect the calves,
even if it was at 5 o'clock in the morning.
And then I also weirdly enjoyed herd testing. (LAUGHS)
(COW MOOS)
When it comes to my parents and working on the farm,
there is no weekends off.
You know, the cowshed doesn't randomly close on a Sunday.
Come here, Dad.
Just give me a hug.
Give me a hug. - (LAUGHS)
Work ethic has been huge. You know, like she's seen Mum and I,
you know, we're still out there doing it now.
So, you know, she realises if you wanna get somewhere,
you've gotta put in the hard yards.
And, you know, let's be honest -
Michaela has put in the hard yards.
She's sacrificed a lot from age 18 to 25, 26.
When kids are going out and having a good time,
Michaela would be training.
And reaping the benefits now, obviously, so...
Nah, I'm very proud of her. Yeah, what she's done,
what she's accomplished from little Lepperton.
You know, you don't have to be from Auckland, Wellington -
you can do it from Lepperton.
- We clearly don't like the city. (LAUGHS)
- She's really stepped up - flying on the outside.
Michaela Blyde with the first try of the quarterfinal.
- So whenever you see Michaela after she scored a try,
she goes like that. That's to her dad.
- Dad was the person who taught me how to score a try.
He was the one that went to my soccer games
when Mum was with the boys playing rugby,
and so it was just a reminder.
It was meant to be subtle, but now I've scored over 200 tries,
so it's not subtle any more.
Um, a reminder that he's also important.
Just because he wasn't a Black Fern or an All Black
doesn't mean that he wasn't a huge part of my childhood.
- 250 times, Michaela has scratched her nose,
and that's 'Hello, Dad.'
And I've seen every single one of them, so...
Very special. Yeah, yeah.
(ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC)
- Rugby, Southern, Kate Thomson.
(SNAP!) (LAUGHS)
That is so cool. I don't know why.
I just love being outdoors.
I'm a physical person, so I like to,
whether it be on the rugby field,
like, doing everything with my hands. I'm an active relaxer.
Being able to have free range on a farm,
whether it's dairy, sheep and beef or anything like that -
just outdoors is the main thing.
And sitting in an office, like, yuck. (LAUGHS)
I've been there, done that. It's not for me.
Growing up, I've been passed around my family a little bit,
so I've lived with both sets of grandparents,
both of my parents,
and I moved out of home when I'd just turned 17
to go to my first shepherding job.
I'm in the Southern Sharks.
I consider myself an old girl. (LAUGHS)
Or an original, an OG of our team.
I've been playing for Southern for...
This is my eighth year playing for Southern,
and I love it.
I could never, ever wear another team's colours.
(LAUGHS)
Oh, look, here they come. (LAUGHS)
Hey, darlings.
Hi. - (BARKS)
- Scout's a Mini Friesian. (LAUGHS)
When I first started out, when I was shepherding,
I was the only girl on my farm. Definitely felt out of place.
Hey, darlings.
Now, you're ,like, you know, growing in the industry,
being a loud voice for women in agriculture,
I guess you can say that
I'm loud, proud to be a dairy farmer.
I just want to find my friendly cow,
but I can't seem to find her.
I think farming in general is very isolated.
Getting hungry now? (LAUGHS)
Cos it can be very isolating sometimes
when you're talking to your cows.
I think you know, you know, 'OK, Kate, this is not good.
(LAUGHS)
'Time to go for a beer, catch up with your mates,
'or, you know, go to rugby training.'
Once you're out of those farm gates, milking's done,
it's a sigh of relief. Like, 'OK, cool, I can go home,
'light the fire, you know, relax out.'
(SERENE GUITAR MUSIC)
My mum travels over 600km to actually come and watch me play
every Saturday, so just having and knowing
that she's taken that time out of her day
to come watch me play means so much to me.
Yeah. Absolutely does.
Yeah. Especially when you hear her yelling on the field.
(LAUGHS) God damn, she's loud. (LAUGHS)
- How are ya? - I'm good.
OK.
My mum's brought my nana, who's cremated, with her. (CHUCKLES)
Fuckin' weirdo.
Right, then.
I always play for, like, my Nana Sue,
who passed away just recently.
She was a firm believer in women in sport.
She could never come watch me play,
so in finals, you always have, like, a little band,
and you write stuff on there,
like, so, like, my Nana Sue and my stepdad.
They're the ones that, you know, if you're on the ground,
and you don't wanna get up or you're really tired,
you seem to look down at them,
and it gives you the sudden burst of energy,
or ,like, 'I'm playing for them. I've got this,' kind of thing.
So it is extremely helpful... (LAUGHS)
....to do that, cos you don't wanna let them down.
You know, they've put so much of their time when they were alive
with you doing that kind of stuff.
So I think it's important to let them run out
on the field with you. (LAUGHS)
Yeah. And hopefully win. (LAUGHS)
So,
Nana? - Cos Nana.
- Why'd you bring her? - I brought Nana because
Grandad's finished making her wooden box.
- Oh, nice.
- And I didn't stop on the way, so I stop on the way home.
So Grandad can put her in the wooden box.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- Oh, fuckin' hell. She's heavy as.
- Cos she's got all those dogs in there with her.
- I'm scared, like, something's gonna jump out at me.
- My dreams for Kate would be
to find a lovely, lovely man...
and have babies. I want grandbabies. (LAUGHS)
- My mum has wanted me to have kids for a long time.
But I will not be having kids
until I get my 100th for Southern.
I wanna be the first woman in Taranaki
to get a hundred premier women's games under her belt.
And then I can retire (LAUGHS) and start farting out kids.
(LAUGHS)
(COUNTRY MUSIC)
(BIRDS WARBLE)
- What have you got going on in there?
- It's lamb's kidney and lamb's heart.
Did you want to try some? It's good for you.
You'll actually like it.
- I like it, but it's not what I fancy.
- Dad cook for you and that? - Yeah, he cooks most nights.
Cooks dinner for us and lunch.
Breakfast - pretty much cooks for me all day long. (LAUGHS)
He's quite the master chef, so he likes his things,
I like my things.
- What do you like? - I do not like that.
- Maddy - what's it like to coach Maddy?
It has its challenges at times.
They're all like daughters to me in some sort of way.
But...
You know, we have our ups and downs, like any team.
You know, you get your odd catty bitchiness and cattiness
that has to be stood on, you know,
when it doesn't need to be.
But that happens in any team environment.
So I'm sure the All Blacks have that sort of shit going on too.
(LAUGHS)
- Yeah. Playing for Clifton, it feels good,
cos I've played there since I was little.
So, like, putting the colours on just brings back
all the memories from when we're playing.
Even if we're not always playing,
they're always supporting us.
Even though we're girls playing rugby.
Even though people say rugby isn't a girl's sport.
But, yeah, it's cool to see everyone out there,
and it means a lot to put those colours back on.
Yeah.
- Rugby's an outlet for me. It's an interest off-farm,
and you have to have an interest off-farm,
because you'd drive yourself fucking mad otherwise.
Like, you would.
This year's sort of taking quite a toll, like, doing both.
It's sort of been quite hard, but,
yeah. See what happens. (CHUCKLES)
- I'm trying to convince him one more.
So then he'll be there when I get my blazer.
One more season.
(CRICKETS CHIRR)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER, LAUGHTER)
- Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Kia ora.
- What up, big dog? (LAUGHS)
- This week's gonna be our toughest Test, OK?
So we need to sharpen up on what we did wrong on the weekend.
There wasn't a lot. It was a good performance, 100%.
But we need to be, like, right in their face.
Because Southern will capitalise on that, like, big time.
Right. Let's get out there and do our game-day warm-up
and rip into it. (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(WARM MUSIC)
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
Hit it! - Yeah!
- I love being in a women's team.
You can have a bit of fun.
First, get all that giggliness out of you
before you start a serious training.
And the coaches know that too.
So when you've got good coaches that really believe in you,
and if you have a bit of fun and laughter,
it really helps build that team culture
and also build up the team.
- Mereana's a great girl.
Well, she's not a girl - She's a woman.
This year, she's gone leaps and bounds.
She's got even better.
- I've gotta get it!
Wow. I said I will charge at it.
I am a tighthead prop.
My job is being, kind of, the strong pillar of the team
and making sure that I kind of carry, like, the strength,
and kind of bunting people over.
That's my sort of fun when I'm on the field.
That's the kind of pleasure I get out of the rugby game,
is just, kind of, bunting people off
and also running over people,
and then giving them a bit of a big hit at the end.
- Whoa. She's strong. She's so strong!
One, two, three.
- But then, at the same time, I gotta do my job.
So if I'm gonna hurt you, I'm gonna hurt you.
And if you get knocked out, you get knocked out.
And if you hurt your shoulder, you hurt your shoulder.
I mean, strengthen it up.
Maybe. (LAUGHS)
- She'll whack someone in a big tackle really hard.
She'll get up and say 'Ooh, sorry.'
- (LAUGHS) She does. - You know?
So, hey. Yeah, she's got the...
She's got a heart of gold.
- All righty. Room 14, haere mai, haere mai, haere mai.
Who's using their mat manners? Sitting up straight, eyes on me.
- CHILDREN: Eyes on you.
- Looking at me. - Looking at you.
- Smiling at me. - Smiling at you.
- Ka pai. Tino rawe.
- Mereana, she's my oldest. We only had one daughter.
And then we have four other sons.
So she's my highlight, being my first daughter, obviously.
University, for me, is a new thing.
You know, my daughter graduating at high honours.
Those goals she's achieved,
she's done it all on herself and out there by herself. So yeah.
- READS: Sharky McShark and the teency, wee...
- BOTH: ...crab. - Mm-hm.
I feel like in rugby
I can forget about whatever's going on in my work life.
Sprint! Here we go!
Ooh! Shivers!
I have to find a balance between rugby and school.
Because obviously when I'm playing on the field,
I look like I'm an aggressive, angry person.
But then when it comes to school,
I'm, like, this gentle giant to the little ones.
You're making me tired.
That's one thing that school and the kids teach me
is patience. So hopefully I can bring that into the field
as well. (LAUGHS) Patience is key.
(UPBEAT DANCE MUSIC)
(LAUGHTER)
- I can't do that.
Players.
I play, like, in the forwards, so, obviously,
same as everyone, like, you know, I wanna hit, like,
smash people, and I get adrenaline
out of hitting, smashing people.
But then I also think I have the other physicalities
to, like, run and get around people, I guess.
- Phoenix has the capability of doing whatever she wants.
She is not cut out for
Monday to Friday, work 9 till 5.
She's a little bit extra,
they call it these days, don't they? She's a little bit-
Is it? They just call it extra.
She's extra. Yeah.
- Probably, Phoenix probably would excel as a sevens player,
just her speed and strength.
Yeah. Those young girls that come in this year
have all got a big future,
whether it's league or union or what.
They've just... Yeah, They have got a big future.
- The first year I wanted to play rugby, Mum didn't let me.
I was doing gymnastics or something.
- Oh yeah. So, Phoenix was doing gymnastics at the time.
Um, and... (SIGHS)
do I look like a dance mum? No. (LAUGHS)
- And then the next year,
it wasn't Mum taking Neo to the registrations, it was Dad.
So I swooped in there, and I told him to put my name down.
When I started, I was a bit more freaked out
about, like, getting hit and stuff.
Dad would just tell me, like, 'Oh, nah. You're fine.
'You're all good. Get up,' you know?
- Team sports give structure and, like, it teaches them stuff
that I can't teach them as a parent.
And I don't think they learn that young.
They learn how to do cartwheels on a field together. (CHUCKLES)
But as they get older, it changes,
and then they get the real gold from the team sports,
almost. Yeah.
- And it'd be awesome to get paid to play -
like, anyone's dream, yeah.
But, no, I love it, and I hope to make it to the top,
just as far as I can go for, like, women's rugby or league.
- Michaela Blyde, she went to New Plymouth Girls High School,
and so it's good for the local girls here that we've got,
you know, such a representative for women's rugby.
She's a superstar.
(DOWNBEAT MUSIC)
- Nice and loud, please.
- Girls on three! One, two three!
- ALL: Girls! (CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
- Oh, to have a Michaela Blyde tournament that's after me,
like, that's a huge honour.
- Good girl, Rita. Go forwards. Go forwards.
- Amazing. Like, such a phenomenal athlete.
You know, the girls look up to her,
and she's just the athlete
that you want the girls to look up to.
You know, she just does everything so well.
And the work ethic is huge.
So it's cool.
It's really cool to have a cup after Michaela Blyde.
- Nice, Annika!
Good girl!
- To hear people say, 'Oh, yeah, Michaela Blyde's my idol,
'I wanna be just like her,'
Sometimes it's a pinch-myself moment, because to me,
I'm just still a real country kid from Taranaki,
even better, from Lepperton, who just loves playing rugby.
And so it is definitely a reminder
that I have a really massive responsibility
to inspire this young generation to want to be rugby players.
- I got a photo with her. -Yeah, I've seen her.
And she's so short.
- She's very short, yep.
- Just watching her at the Olympics-
- But she's so fast. We were watching her at the Olympics.
- She inspires me, yep. - She was awesome.
She was awesome. - She's inspiring.
- Inspiring.
- She's a very inspiring rugby player.
- Yes. - ALL: Michaela Blyde.
- You know, just having another Taranaki girl out there,
and it's so good to see the Michaela Blyde Cup out there,
and, you know, the name's getting there,
and all the girls are wanting to be like Michaela Blyde
and all that kind of stuff. So It'll be cool.
It's cool for the game.
- ALL: Good game, good game, good game, good game.
Good game, good game, good game, good game.
Good game, good game, good game.
- Well done. - ALL: Good game, good game.
- Well done. - Well done, boys..
(POIGNANT COUNTRY MUSIC)
(ENGINE REVS, RUMBLES)
- It's always busy in the mornings for me on Saturdays.
Getting up at 5.30, going to get the cows and milking,
going straight from work to the game to go warm up,
straight home. I have in the past even gone straight to work
in my playing kit, because I've never been late.
It is actually freezing.
People don't wanna be up at negative-2 degrees
in the morning, you know, can't feel your hands.
Farming can be very deceiving.
I mean, look, the beautiful views that we get,
with the mountain behind me. I'm sitting on a hay bale.
You know, you can almost see the grass growing.
The sun's out. but farmers are the ones that have to front up,
to get that milk into that vat for...
so people can have their coffees in the morning.
So my plan of attack for rugby as of last night,
so we're milking the second herd now,
and then from here,
straight home,
have a protein shake, so I've got something in my tummy,
and then go straight to the field,
start warming up.
(COW MOOS)
(SMACK!)
- For Kate's first proper pair of rugby boots,
it took me about six months to save up to get her a pair,
and I said to her that if I buy you a pair of boots,
you have to look after them.
But she's still not very good at doing that.
She runs around in the morning,
trying to get everything together in a rush.
Yeah.
- And here's the semi-final
between Southern and Coastal Okaiawa
here at Hicks Park in Hawera.
The referee's said 'Let's get underway.'
Coastal Okaiawa kick off. Beautiful day here.
Driving maul to the line. They're close. They're over.
What does the referee say?
Try time. And the disappointment is clear.
- Right now the score is 5-0 to the opposing team,
Okaiawa Coastal.
- Great fend and a power through the defence for Southern.
- Good girl! Stay with her, Mels, stay with her!
- Great run through the defence.
Needs the support. What a great offload!
Stunner for the corner. They'll get there.
Oh, what a great run! Down the sideline.
Needs some support.
(ROCK MUSIC)
- We need to look up, and that's when we know when they're going.
OK? I love rugby. Smart rugby.
Spread out on defence. We're all bunchy.
Bunching hard. Trust your insides and your outsides.
- The semi-final's not gonna roll up and give it to us.
We've gotta keep working. We're working our arses off.
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
(ROCK MUSIC CONTINUES)
- Here's a run down to the sideline by the captain.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
And she's gonna score the try.
That's the match winner!
And Southern are through to the finals.
`- We're into the finals, babies.
- Yeah, we could take it out, 100%.
And, yeah, it would mean everything.
That'll be our fourth championship win
that I've had with the Sharky Wahs
if we can pull the season through.
- Finals, baby!
- Yeah the Sharky Wahs. - Up the fuckin' Sharky Wahs.
(PEACEFUL GUITAR MUSIC)
(ENGINE RUMBLES)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
Oh ,my God, it's cold out there. (LAUGHS)
- Well, I lit the fire. - Thank you so much. Hello.
(CHUCKLES) Hi. (CHUCKLES)
`Have you missed me?
- I do worry about Kate,
and there have been occasions where
I have had to just drop everything
and drive the three hours to come to her.
She's had a couple of sporting injuries,
where she needed some support there,
you know, just to help her out of it.
- You're so pretty.
I think it was inevitable
that I was gonna have some sort of knee issues.
It was in a same-tackle motion. My knee went back that way.
- And it wasn't diagnosed to start with,
so she's hobbling around on this compound fracture.
And then we took her back to the hospital,
and they gave her an MRI.
And it was one of the worst compound fractures
that they'd seen.
- They've seen all this black bone, and they're, like,
'Come here, have a look at this.'
And it turned out to actually be dead bone.
So my knee had actually already started really deteriorating.
- That was her worst injury.
And I think her spiral fracture in her finger was another one,
because they were treating it like a sprain.
So they were pulling at it and pushing at it
to try to put it back in place.
- I can't feel it, cos you've put so much...
- But the actual bone down the finger had split.
- I grabbed her with my shirt and my hand,
and she landed on top of my hand like that.
So I dislocated all these fingers,
but this finger here was dislocated,
and the nail was facing towards me.
So, yeah, it was pretty bad.
I don't have a lot of feeling and stuff in it.
- It doesn't matter what position they play either.
There is no safe position.
It's rugby - it's a man's game.
And those ladies play it like men.
They really, really do. Blows my mind.
- I've had a lot of knockouts and concussions.
My worst one was when I was playing in Hawke's Bay,
and I was playing league over there,
and I just got a knee straight to the head
and knocked out cold.
- You see everybody else,
but you don't see that big, blonde head popping up.
- So you wake up and, you can't see anything - ooh.
- And she was calling out for me.
She was, 'Mum, Mum.'
- And I just, like, see my mum popping over.
'Don't you cry, Bobby. Don't you cry.'
- No, it was 'Don't you fucking cry, Bob.'
- I knew I'd cry.
- So the not crying on the field...
is...
I don't wanna say it shows you're being weak, cos it's not-
it's not a weak thing. It's a...
You've gotta have your game face on.
You've gotta be on that field and you've gotta be...
(GROWLS) you know?
The field is a battlefield,
and there's no place for tears on there.
You know? It's a rough, tough game.
And if you wanna play it,
you play it without crying on the fucking field.
(SLOW BLUES MUSIC)
- Growing up on a farm, it's been...
has its good days, and it has its bad days,
especially when the cows break out,
and you gotta go help Dad early in the morning. (CHUCKLES)
Nah, but I loved growing up on the farm.
You just get so many different aspects of life,
whereas, townie, you don't get that much. (CHUCKLES)
(BLUES MUSIC CONTINUES)
- Fuck off. - (GIGGLES)
- You're annoying me. - Naw.
- Get out.
- Yeah, I do feel in the shadows of my brother and sister.
She's a professional league player,
and he's a professional basketball player.
And everyone's, like, 'Oh, what are you?
'You're not nothing yet.'
Like, they're just always asking when and what I'm gonna do.
And I'm, like, 'I don't know yet. I'm still young.'
- I think I was a little bit maybe the trial and error child
and, um,
yeah, obviously being the oldest,
You kind of carry that flag.
Your parents were still learning as you were growing up,
and then by the time they get to the third, it's, like,
'Oh well. Do what you want.
'Live your best life.'
Don't start.
My sister probably didn't have it easy, by any means,
with all the injuries and stuff that she endured.
- And then he goes, 'What are you doing?
'Stop crying. Get up. Just take a concrete pill.'
And I was, like, 'I can't. This one really hurts.'
- No, she wasn't breathing, though - she was just-
- I was hyperventilating. - She was hyperventilating.
And I said to her, 'Stop fucking crying and breathe.
'Like, breathe, and you'll be fine.'
Yeah. She was injured, obviously, but...
- I still tried to play on.
- She still strapped up and tried to play.
So it can't have been that fucking sore.
- I had an ice pack strapped to my arm.
And I was, like, running around like this.
- But nah, she didn't end up getting on.
I didn't let her get on. But I mean, yeah, it was broken. Yeah.
- It certainly was. - (CLEARS THROAT)
Yeah, that's all it was. She was just hyperventilating.
She just needed to breathe, to calm herself down.
That's all it was. So...
Yeah.
- I was only 3 when I was in the cowshed,
and I was playing on the backing gate with my siblings.
(POIGNANT MUSIC)
And I got my arms caught under the wheels
that were on the backing gate that brings the cows forward.
And it's sort of like a train going over a train track -
it's quite fast and sharp.
It rolled over my arms and cut my arm off,
so it was only hanging on by a tiny bit.
And then this one was also stuck,
but my brother pulled that one out.
- Then my mum walked out with Maddie in her arms
covered in blood.
Wasn't a pretty picture.
Basically, the doctor said if she was 9 or 10,
they would have just cut her hands off.
But because she was only 3,
they stitched her up, and...
Yeah.
It was pretty horrific, really.
So it took a long recovery,
a long, long recovery. So...
- When my dad was telling the story to you guys,
I was quite upset. Like, I...
We don't really talk about it much in this house,
cos they know how much it...
can have a toll on me.
But, yeah, it's quite a scary time.
I just... Yeah, I didn't know what was happening.
All I know is I was then in the ambulance.
People cut my pyjamas off. (LAUGHS)
They were my favourite ones.
But yeah,
really scary time.
When people bring it up, I kind of start crying
or I have to laugh it away, so then I don't cry.
When people ask what happens, I say, if I don't like them,
I tell them I got bit by a shark. (CHUCKLES)
- When she was younger, we were always a little
bit more wary of her and what she was doing,
especially on the farm, and where the accidents
can happen and shit like that.
Anyone was gonna break a fucking bone, it was her.
- You're still wary, though. Every time I get in the tractor,
he's, like, 'Be careful.' - Yeah.
- 'Don't hurt yourself.' - Yeah. So it's just...
Oh, it's just the parent thing, isn't it?
- Natural instinct. - Mm.
(RELAXED COUNTRY MUSIC)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
- Semi-finals, those are big-time.
So we gotta keep our head in the game.
- How are you feeling? - I'm all right. Bit hungover,
but that's it. (LAUGHS)
- He went over to the neighbour's the night before,
and what they do on a Friday night,
have a few beers, you know, just to catch up,
cos they'd been away. So Dad was a little bit hungover.
I said, 'Only a few. We've got a game tomorrow, right?'
Nervous. (GIGGLES)
Just, yeah, wanna get it done and over with. (CHUCKLES)
- Did you sleep all right? - No. Slept like shit.
I got home about 10, and then I just couldn't sleep.
I don't know why - just nervous,
but I don't know why for.
(ROCK MUSIC)
(BROOM RASPS)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
- Beautiful day here at the Tikorangi Sports Ground,
the other semi-final between Clifton and Inglewood.
Great to see Vicky Dombroski here -
the only female coach of the Black Ferns.
(ROCK MUSIC)
Anderson fends off a couple of tacklers.
Good momentum here for Clifton.
Stormy run by the number eight for Clifton.
They've got some momentum now.
They've got some space down the edge.
And Louise Blyde scores. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
- Seriously, how bad do you guys want this?
- Very bad.
- Because you're playing like fucking shit.
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
- Phoenix Fraser now, ball in one hand.
Spots the gap and goes for it. What a great run!
Here's Davidson. It's 29-0 at the break.
- Yeah. Somewhat avid Clifton supporter and ex-player.
Still just love, uh,
being here and acknowledging
some of those silky smooth skills
that we see out there today. Yeah.
- The way we're playing at the moment,
there ain't no way we're gonna win the grand final.
I rarked them up. Yeah, I did. (LAUGHS)
- It's a very comfortable lead for Clifton.
And the coach is still not happy.
(ROCK MUSIC)
In possession again, Clifton,
in a really dominant display.
`(WHOOPING)
Quick hands here for Clifton.
Clifton to the corner. They're over.
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
- Yeah, we really needed to dominate the second half,
as they dominated the first half,
and we had to pull our fingers out of our arse
and get our shit into game.
But we finally did it after probably 20 minutes or so,
which was good. That's what we needed.
- Inglewood gave us a good contest, actually.
It was a real good contest. Yeah. That's what we needed.
Yeah. Our girls - probably our worst game we've played,
actually, to be honest.
I just asked them at half-time
how much they really wanted it.
You know? What we've built towards the-
for this whole season, and, yeah.
Just told them a few home truths, to be honest. Mm.
(BASSY ROCK MUSIC)
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE, WHISTLING)
- On-on-one with Nathan. Gonna try and weave her way through.
Gets through Teagan Levi.
And now pushing away and just weaving.
The balance and the pace from Michaela Blyde.
Gets away from Faith Nathan!
That's absolutely sublime
from Michaela Blyde!
- So much adrenaline.
I go into this beast-mode zone,
where no matter who's in front of me,
I'm going to beat you. I'm going to run around you.
I'm going to hit you.
It's a mentality that's,
kind of, hard to describe,
unless you're truly in it.
Um, and...
when I've got the ball in my hand,
no matter who we're up against or what game it is,
whether it's an Olympic gold medal final
or the first game
of our pool matches at a World Series, my mindset is
'I'm gonna catch the ball, and I'm gonna embarrass you.
' I'm gonna make you look worse than me.'
Yeah. I call it my, um,
IBM - Inner Beast Mode.
- Are you kidding me?
That is sensational stuff from Michaela Blyde!
- I've been in the Black Ferns sevens since 2012.
I was 16. I'm nearly 29,
so it's been nearly 13 years of
professional environments and professional training
and sevens - just sevens.
There's obviously a lot of women who have transitioned
into league and it has become their job.
So I just wanna be a part of something
that's growing each and every year.
And for me, the Warriors are giving me the opportunity.
And so I can't wait to put on a Warriors jersey.
And just to be a part of a group of females who play league
for the love of it but are also very, very young.
I'm, like, the third or second oldest in the team.
(GROANS) And so I'm gonna be like one of those nannies.
(LAUGHS)
And I'm gonna be relying on these young 18- to 20-year-olds
to teach me how to play league, which is exciting.
Like, I can't wait to be a student again and learn -
like, I haven't learnt in, like, three or four years now,
just because of my experience in the sevens game now.
And so I'm ready to be a student again and to be the one that's
asking questions rather than the one that's answering them.
- Good girl. Shot.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- I've been over to Australia just recently for league,
in a little mentoring group, just to have a look at the
facilities over in Australia and what they're like over there.
(DOWNBEAT ROCK MUSIC)
And so I think that's definitely
opened a few doors for me
potentially just to have a look at and, um,
be interested in.
- She's got some speed, that girl.
- Yeah. Not quite Michaela, but yeah.
- I see Phoenix as getting to the Kiwi Ferns
more than the Black Ferns. (CHUCKLES)
But yeah. Oh, either, either.
They could definitely make either, either. Yeah.
- Like, it was kind of just a Saturday sport.
But now, like, it's pretty much my whole life.
- It's small steps. We're taking one step at a time.
And each step is amazing.
It's phenomenal. And if we don't get to the next step or,
you know, it stops there,
just to have those opportunities and experiences
for these young girls is pretty epic.
- Phoenix Fraser. (APPLAUSE)
(UPLIFTING MUSIC)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- So make sure we get out there, girls; and your starting -
you start hard. We need you off the blocks nice and early.
- Phoenix and her dad talked about league a lot, a lot.
And so it's Phoenix's...
It's a big thing for her
and what her and her dad talked about
as a goal together.
Yeah. Yeah. So it's pretty special.
(SOLEMN MUSIC)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
- A few days before, we got into an argument,
but that was about league,
and I had not done what he told me to do.
And so when he got mad at me, he wouldn't talk to me.
No, It was just this thing.
And, like, I knew it wouldn't go on for very long.
But then that day, I woke up, and we, kind of,
started talking again. And so it was, like, good.
I knew he was going surfing, and then, I was babysitting,
and then Mum called me and told me that...
she was gonna be- Oh, she texted me, sorry,
and she told me that she was gonna be a little bit late,
cos something had happened.
And I'm really good at picking up on things like that.
Like, when something's wrong, I just get these massive, like,
you know, feelings.
(SOLEMN MUSIC CONTINUES)
- Dad had caught a wave and just put his hand, like, you know,
he was, like, 'Yeah, yeah.' Cheering. And then he went,
paddled out, caught another wave,
and then put his hand up, and then...
that was him.
It was probably one of the biggest paddle-out I've ever
seen. There was, like, 200 and something people there.
`Everyone kind of circled around us.
There was a group of us in the middle, which was me,
my brother and my sister, and then his closest friends.
- One,
two, three!
(ALL WHOOP, CHEER)
(SOMBRE MUSIC)
- I can just feel him. Like, in my heart,
in my body. You know, like,
even in the back of my head, I can hear him yelling,
just cos he was such a big mouth when he was here.
It doesn't really go away -
his voice. Yeah.
- Dan had a tone, and so Phoenix would hear the tone sometimes,
and she would give him the look,
is it, you know, 'You'd better shut up.' Like, that's what she-
And then he'd not shut up. And so that was his support.
But I think in hindsight,
for what's happened,
that's the voice she can hear now.
That voice, that tone - she can hear that.
And that's what drives her.
- But, yeah, no, I think he'd be so proud of me,
if I made it that high.
Or made it that far with my rugby and my league.
So that's what I aim to do,
just purely for him and for my mum.
(PLANE WHOOSHES)
(WATER RUSHES)
- My dad's my biggest idol. He doesn't know that.
Won't tell him - unless he watches this.
But it's definitely my dad, I think, cos,
like, he's really helped me push myself in rugby.
And he wants to get the full potential out of me.
So he's definitely my idol.
I mean, I could say,
other players
that played for the All Blacks, but, no, it's my dad.
`He's cool.
He'd love to see me be in that Black Ferns jersey.
You know? It would make him proud.
- (SLURPS)
- Yeah. So, I got an email. Had no idea who it was,
what this thing was for,
and when I finally told my parents,
they knew who the coach was
that was gonna be taking us, but I had no idea who he was.
Everyone else did but me.
- So, here in Auckland, running the first ever
Black Ferns scrum camp, or scrum clinic,
I think this morning when I mentioned that
I'm here to find Black Ferns, it might be the first time
that they've actually thought about that.
When you see the look in their eyes,
it's pretty cool.
- And I was sitting on the chair, like, 'Huh?'
Oh, I got a bit emotional with that one, cos I was, like,
'Oh, my gosh, are you serious?
'I'm just, you know, a girl from Taranaki,
'doesn't even know anything,
'only been playing rugby for three years,'
and then come to this camp, and then all this...
all these opportunities are arising. So I'm, like, 'Yep.
'I'll take that.'
- Oh, there's no front-row Barbie. You know? There's no...
Not many girls grow up dreaming of being a tighthead prop.
So giving it a go, and then realising that, 'Hey,
'I'm actually good at this,' and then, actually, 'Hey,
'I might get paid to hang out with my mates
'and travel the world and play footy,'
is a pretty awesome prospect.
- Father's dream is to see, you know, your kids
to achieve the Black Ferns.
- The next couple of years, she's gonna be a really,
really good player.
She's critical to our scrum and forward pack.
Justin, like, treats them as his daughters, eh.
And you would. I'd do the same.
You know, you treat them as your daughters, you know,
cos that's- we call it a pounamu, a treasure.
That's his pounamu, you know, that's his treasure,
that he's gotta hold every game, every training.
He's gotta take that home.
(BLOWS WHISTLE) - Nice, that's good.
(APPLAUSE)
(SERENE MUSIC)
(BIRDS CHIRP)
- I mean, it's always good to
get off-farm and catch up with my uncle.
Like, he's always in a good headspace.
And then when you get taken out hunting,
you know, it's a special thing.
So, still coming straight to your work?
- Yeah. I'm here now. - Oh yeah. Sweet.
Won't be too far away.
- I've got some scones and a bit of slice, and-
- Oh shit. Aren't you sorted?
- Yeah! - (LAUGHS)
- Kiwis, bro. Trying to sort for everyone.
(SHEEP BAA)
(CLIPPERS BUZZ)
- Growing up with Uncle Aran, he was always, like,
everyone was always scared, but us kids would all, you know,
'Oh, I'll kick you up the bloody arse,' you know,
if we were in trouble, but, I mean,
he was also the coolest person to hang out with as well.
And now, you know, we have a bond that's quite strong.
I spend a lot of time with him.
Probably not as much as I should,
but I spend more time with him
than probably anyone else in my family,
to be fair.
- How's everybody have their drinks?
Two lots of milk. - (LAUGHS) Two lots of milk.
This season's been quite rough on me,
mentally and physically. Being a farmer as well,
you can't show your emotions and be sad or cry all the time.
There's no time for it.
That's really yummy.
- Yeah, there's been quite a bit of loss in Kate's life.
My partner of 14 years committed suicide.
(SIGHS)
Um...
Cos, I mean, there's been a lot of loss for Kate.
- Like, losing my stepdad was huge for me.
Aw.
(SNIFFLES) Um...
He just had so much input in my life and my rugby.
So it was really hard when he passed away.
But, like, mental health is so huge.
And especially playing rugby,
getting head knocks all the time.
There is obviously more of a chance
that you're gonna fall into those spots.
So my mum always worries that...
that I'll fall into something like that.
- I'll always be there for Kate, you know -
I think her of one of my own, really.
And she had troubles, she had struggles,
and you just had to pick her up and help her along some days.
'Oh no. Don't.' You just pick her up, and you help her.
'Come on, babe,' you know?
And you just gotta be there for them and support.
If you give somebody support,
there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
(DOG BARKS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- Oh. A fucking bee came through the window.
- Cool - Ugh! Not again!
No, cos I react really bad for this shit.
- Do ya? - Fuck off!
Why does this shit have to happen to me? (GROANS)
- (LAUGHS)
Aw. Even your dog's abandoning you.
He's, like, 'Fuck that! I'm over here.'
- It really hurts. - Aw.
- Brings out the best in you, don't it, babe?
Somebody with no support, well, they just go backwards,
out the back door,
and you forget about them - see you later down the road.
So rugby and what it's instilled in her
and things that she's learned has really helped her.
I can see it, eh, right from the get-go.
She's amazing.
(GENTLE MUSIC)
There's two deer.
(GUNSHOT)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
- Oh, look. There he is.
Fuck yes, Uncle.
At 57, fuck, he'll be tired.
I feel so bad for him.
Shit, you're a beast, Uncle. - I gotta...
practise what I preach. - Huh?
- When I tell the young people never to give up.
- (LAUGHS)
Well. - Nearly there, girl.
Nearly there. There's the fucking fence.
No! Fucked it up! - Oh, fuck.
- Just like in a rugby game.
One more push, and you're over the line!
Auē! We've got it. We've got it.
Yep. Just lean against the fence and drop it on the other side.
- Fucking hell.
- If you can't pick things like that up,
and you're not willing to go that extra mile
for these individuals,
well, you might as well throw grassroots out the window,
cos that's what it's all about. It's about empowering them,
right from when they are young and mobilising them,
to get them moving. You know? That supports.
You know? I'm pretty heartfelt on that situation, really.
(BIRDS CHIRP)
(PERCUSSIVE MUSIC)
Whakataka te hau ki te uru.
Whakataka te hau ki te tonga.
Kia mākinakina ki uta,
Kia mātaratara ki tai,
hei hī aki ana te atakura.
He tio, he huka,
he hauhū. Tihei...
mauriora.
Finals. Emotional day, you know?
What are we playing for? Who are we playing for?
Our koro. The maunga.
It's dressed up today, cos it's got the snow.
When you see the cloak, that's our korowai,
that our koro puts on,
making it beautiful for the day.
(BASSY MUSIC)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- Coming into finals, the more I think about it,
the more I get a bit 'giggity' in my tummy about it.
(POP MUSIC)
- So now we start pushing on.
Better just do with everything we do, OK?
And we're fucking hissing. Let's push.
(LAUGHTER)
- This will hopefully be our fourth championship.
And Clifton have only won once,
so yeah.
I just wanna rub it in their faces some more
that we've got four and they've only got one.
- Thank you, driver.
- Nothing is ever guaranteed at all.
But it's always who wants it more on the day,
for sure.
- We definitely wanna win this year.
There's a burning desire. The girls want it.
This is what we've worked towards on our team goals,
right from the word 'go.'
I guess losing the final by two points last year
has probably egged them on a little bit. But, like I say,
finals footy is a different kettle of fish,
but we're definitely confident.
The girls and ladies are confident that they can do it.
So it's all it takes, really.
As long as they're confident in themselves and doing the job,
they'll get out there and do it.
(CHEERING, APPLAUSE)
- Everyone was hissing at the start.
Everyone was, you know, getting ready,
feeling confident - I was feeling confident.
- Go, Kate! - Get it, Kate! Get it, Kate!
- I call Kate the bulldozer when she's on the field -
'Yeah, big girl. Yeah, Dozer.'
- Wahs on three. One, two, three.
- ALL: Wahs!
- Wow. I mean, she's a bulldozer on and off the field,
and I'm hoping that's the mindset she's got today.
Just bulldoze through, and maybe get the ball
and maybe get a bit of a run.
I was fine walking down the stairs,
and in warm-up, boom.
Straight away, as soon as I turn my neck, sharp pain.
Being told that you can't play in a rugby final,
I mean, that's horrible.
So, yeah, I was very emotional.
So, I was starting and at the turn,
and it just- I got sharp pain down the side of my neck.
So not allowed to start.
I'll be brought on at half-time,
but I don't know how long I'll be allowed to play,
but yeah.
And for me, not playing is not an option.
I need to play. I love it. So, you know, yeah.
- And we started with five clubs dotted around Taranaki.
Tukapa - the new kids on the block.
Great to see them boost the competition.
Coastal Okaiawa combined Inglewood,
and it's now down to the final two clubs,
Southern vs Clifton here at Stadium Taranaki.
A massive rivalry has developed over the years
between these two teams.
Southern won the final last year by just two points,
but Clifton's been training hard,
and they've had a really good campaign to date.
(CHEERING, SHOUTING)
(WHISTLE BLOWS, CHEERING)
- There was a few times when I had the ball.
My goal was just to run it up the guts
and not hold back.
- Oh, some big hits going on in this game.
- So even if I was fending or
pushing any of the little girls,
big girls off, I had to do it, and it was for my team.
- Watch out, Hannah!
- But also get the crowd going,
because I like it when I hear the 'Ooh!'
- Let's go, Mereana!
- Yep. He was sure yelling for me on the sideline, so, yeah,
you could hear him and everyone else that was yelling.
(YELLING) - Go, Alesha!
- For finals, It's gotta be a forwards' game.
Keep it in tight. Pods hit out.
The old rugby style - one off the ruck, pick it up.
- Keep the pressure on. Keep it on. Make it work!
Make it work!
(CROWD SCREAMS)
- Start coming out, Southern!
- Long pass over to the sideline.
Clifton score the try.
- How good, eh! (CHEERING)
- Go, Hannah!
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING) - Yes! Yes!
- Come on, Southern! - Clifton sells the dummy.
Finds the gap. But a great tackle from Southern,
and Phoenix Fraser is there in support to score.
(CHEERING)
- No matter what I do, having my mum there,
it just makes everything better.
I don't know if it's just a mum thing or my mum thing, but,
yeah, she makes me feel better
and makes me wanna push harder. I think that's probably why,
um, I did want to go on.
But also not wanting to let my mum down either,
uh, is a big thing for me.
So making sure that I was on the field at some point,
you know, I can at least say that I played in the final,
instead of sitting out and not doing something.
- As a mum - oh, God. I can't even.
(SIGHS)
VOICE BREAKS: As a mum, I'd like her not to,
but, um,
that's her call - it's not my call.
It's Kate's call.
- 40 minutes of this final to go.
As the second half gets underway here at Stadium Taranaki,
here's Kate Thomson, her first touch of the afternoon,
and Clifton say, 'Welcome to the final.'
- I definitely feel like I made an impact in the scrums.
I love the scrums. Scrumming is my thing.
I think I tackled two or three people.
I probably shouldn't have played at all.
No.
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
- Here's Clifton on the charge again.
Breaking through and bumping off a couple of tackles.
What a try!
Clifton now with ball in hand.
Oh, great stuff. Clifton putting their head down
and going straight through to the defensive line.
Solid platform here for Clifton. Here's Blyde.
Sells the dummy, spots a hole and goes straight through.
And she'll score under the bar, effectively untouched.
Clifton - the momentum going their way.
(CHEERING)
Here's Mereana Anderson. Another strong carry.
She's a promising player, this one.
Down the sideline they go, stretching out and scoring.
Are they over? Yes, they are. The referee has the arm up.
And the final whistle blows.
Clifton win the women's final and their second title
by beating Southern 55-0.
- The girls played fuckin' awesome.
- Well, they wanted revenge, and they got it.
- 55-0 was the score.
You don't need to put that in there, though. (LAUGHS)
You don't need to highlight that. (LAUGHS)
- Yeah. It was pretty gutting, to be fair.
Felt for the girls.
Obviously, it's gut-wrenching,
to even have a final like that,
but kudos, absolute kudos to Clifton.
You know, they started putting in the mahi right from January.
And you can see their class the whole way through the season.
Yeah. Unbeatable from the start. And they 100% deserved to win.
- ...hui e... - ALL: Taiki e!
- Oh, there was no way I expected that score.
I was expecting the same score as last year,
cos I knew that Southern were gonna bring it.
- Happy! - We're here.
We're happy!
- (LAUGHS) - We won.
It was exciting. It was exciting to get the championship.
It's what we've been working for from the start.
- We had one goal at the start of the year.
We had a few goals, but that one ultimate goal
was to get that trophy back.
And next thing you know,
we were lifting up that trophy,
and all the hard work that us girls have put in,
you know, that's the reward we got at the end of the day.
(ALL CHEER)
(GENTLE, PERCUSSIVE MUSIC)
(SYNTHESISER SOLO)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
- It's just a passion. Like, you get it from a young age.
If you find the sport that you wanna play,
you'll keep going, striving for anything.
I found rugby when I was little, and..
I've never stopped playing it.
Yeah, when I coach rugby, like, my little girls,
they are so good.
Like, looking up to me. Like, I get a lot of the girls
coming to me and saying, 'We wanna be like you.'
I love that. It makes my heart go, 'Ooh.'
- Yeah. What it means to me to play rugby
is just that whole whakapapa.
And, you know, using my tūpuna as a way to guide me.
They are your pillars of strength,
and you can always use them.
When you put on any jersey,
I just feel like they're just there with you.
The support and love I get from my own whānau members
is probably the best thing.
And they're basically my why of why I play rugby.
- My favourite time of the year is the rugby time.
Getting off-farm, doing what I love.
- One, two, three. - ALL: Sharkys!
- Being social, you know,
having a few too many beers. (LAUGHS)
Hanging out with my friends.
I mean, I can't imagine my life without rugby.
Rugby is everything to me,
and I think I'd be lost without it.
(PERCUSSIVE MUSIC CONTINUES)
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(MUSIC FADES)
Captions by Able. www.able.co.nz
(POP MUSIC)
- ♪ Show me what you like. I could be your type.
♪ See you every night; we could be tight.
♪ Meet me at the bar. Show me your guitar.
♪ Throw it in the car. We could go far.
♪ I get what I want, what I want.
♪ What I want is you.
♪ Can't stop, won't stop. Can't stop, won't stop.
♪ I haven't slept much lately.
♪ You've been running through my mind.
♪ I think I'm going crazy.
♪ I think about you all the time.
♪ I want you, I want you, I want you to...
- I'm loving my rugby at the moment,
but unfortunately, this year, Clifton don't have a team,
so I've come to join the Sharks.
So, I'm real excited about that.
And at least we now know that we're not gonna get thrashed by
Clifton in that big doughnut again, so... (LAUGHS)
- I love you.
- Crouch. Bind.
- Oh, this is weird.
When you got attacked by a cow and thrown
in the fuckin' ground.
I'm actually gonna have a black eye. Fuck me.
So, this season I'm finally injury-free,
and I'm absolutely chasing that 50 games for Southern.
So watch out, because I'm back! (LAUGHS)
- When you start off in a club, you're pretty loyal.
We started at Tukapa.
Dan played for Tukapa, and his dad played for Tukapa.
Maybe Phoenix will go back there one day. Who knows?
- ♪ Meet me at the bar. Show me your guitar.
♪ Throw it in the car. We could go far.
♪ I get what I want, what I want, what I want.
(INDISTINCT, EXCITED CHATTER)
I watched this documentary about men's rugby -
black and white - and I'm, like,
' Where's the girls?'
- ♪ I haven't slept much lately.
♪ You've been running through my mind all the time,
♪ I want you, I want you, I want you to be mine.
♪ I get what I want, what I want, what I want.
- It'll be very weird when that changes to Brake.
The good thing is is that it's only, like,
those three letters that are changing,
so it will still look the same. (LAUGHS)
- From Blyde to Brake.
Walk her down the aisle. - In gumboots.
- I don't think I'll be allowed to wear my gumboots.
- I said you can. I said 'I think it's funny.'
- Mum said, 'I don't think so.'
- Here's Brake again. This is what she loves.
(CHEERING DROWNS OUT SPEECH)
And for 10 years, one name has stood at the top
of the try-scoring stats.
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe changed the face of women's rugby.
Michaela Brake has taken that legacy to a new level.
The all-time leading try scorer
in women's sevens history.
- Playing rugby is a different old game. You get to...
legally... (LAUGHS)
you know, just bash people over,
and there's no other feeling quite like it.
You get to learn your power.
♪ What I want, what I want is you. ♪