Ngātapa Rugby and Associated Sports Club will stage what they have called “Damo’s Day” on Saturday as a fundraiser for the families of the three Gisborne fishermen who lost their lives in the Māhia fishing tragedy in late June.
The event has been structured to precede the Heartland rugby game between the Poverty Bay Weka and Whanganui at Paddy’s Park that afternoon.
It begins with a curtain-raiser between a team dubbed Damo’s 15 and the Go Bus Bay Legends at 11am.
That will be followed at midday by a lunch and auction in the nearby Patutahi Hall with special guests sports personality Hamish McKay, All Black Dane Coles and Blues Super Rugby coach Vern Cotter.
The auction items include 30 custom-made Damo Poverty Bay Heartland rugby jerseys, and signed jerseys from the 2024 All Blacks, the Black Ferns and Super Rugby sides the Hurricanes, Highlanders, Chiefs, Crusaders and Blues.
All proceeds will go to the families of Damien Macpherson, Elwood Higgins and Taina Sinoti.
The Heartland match begins at 2.30pm.