‘We feel tarnished’: Rugby players vow to help ease Wairoa tensions through sport

by Doug Laing

Leaders of two clubs caught in the middle of a carpark gang melee at the end of a rugby match in Wairoa on Saturday are vowing to do all they can to help resolve gang tensions — using sport as the healer. 

Both Wairoa club and new Poverty Bay Premier champions Tapuae and Hawke’s Bay third division club Raupunga YMP have recently been applauded for stepping up involvement in sport in the Wairoa district and are distraught over what happened after their game. 

Player Wayne Hema, of Tapuae, and captain Jordan Biddle, of YMP, have already discussed what they think they could do to avoid recurrences of such events as the melee. 

Some believe it was an extension of friction between members of gang factions, including an incident at a game in Hastings this winter, after which a van carrying YMP players was shot at as they headed out of town on the way home. 

The Tapuae and YMP clubs have been commended for considerable progress in efforts to highlight sporting opportunities in the Wairoa district, as has the Wairoa Athletic sports club. 

But now, according to a police statement on Tuesday, “additional policing teams are being deployed” to support the community and track down those involved in weekend’s incident. 

Acting Tairāwhiti area commander Inspector Darren Paki described the incident, which involved at least one knife, and a machete or axe and resulted in injuries to at least two people, as an “appalling display following a day of celebration”. 

“Thankfully nobody was seriously injured or killed in this event, but it is sadly another shocking event that our community didn’t need.” 

He said police had identified about two dozen people involved in the fighting, the majority of them gang members of varying ages. 

“But all of them are old enough to know what’s acceptable,” he said. 

“Wairoa is a great town with a strong community and people should be free to go about their daily lives, including watching a rugby game, without fear of gang members causing harm to the wider community.” 

Biddle, who grew up in the Raupunga area and now manages local iwi entity Ngāti Pāhauwera Development Trust, said: “It’s a shame this incident has happened after the game as both clubs have been pushing positivity amongst their communities.” 

YMP recently transformed from being a rugby club to a sport club to make sport more accessible to the community, about 35km south of Wairoa. Biddle said: “Sports has been a huge help in our area bringing unity to a broken community, keeping whānau busy weekly and growing fair competitors. 

“YMP has been working hard to come up with solutions that can better their people. Sports seems to be at the top of the list as it’s proven to bring positive growth throughout its community.” 

Hema said: “While it did not involve the clubs as such, we feel tarnished because it happened at our venue. We are looking at ways to move forward.” 

He said the club had been proactive in contacting police ahead of the game, and he wanted to know why they left early. 

The extra police response includes tactical dog teams, investigators and front-line response staff from across the Eastern police district, which extends from Hawke’s Bay to East Cape. 

“There will be a noticeable police presence across Wairoa to ensure that gang members are held to account for the weekend’s incident and any other offending that they may be involved in,” Paki said. 

“We anticipate that a number of arrests will be made. We are not tolerating this behaviour in our community and police will be making that message very clear to gangs over the coming days and weeks.” 

While numerous recordings from cellphones have been circulating on social media, police still want to hear from anyone who can assist the inquiries.