{"id":187077,"date":"2025-12-16T20:35:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T20:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/187077\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T20:35:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T20:35:06","slug":"nrl-all-stars-hamilton-double-header-players-visit-hamilton-ahead-of-special-matches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/187077\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL All Stars Hamilton double-header \u2013 players visit Hamilton ahead of special matches"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt being in the Waikato<\/a>, my home, is just extra special,\u201d Butler said.<\/p>\n

She said the atmosphere at games in larger cities like Sydney was \u201cawesome\u201d but not as intimate as Hamilton. <\/p>\n

This smaller setting was an opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we need to get the mahi done too and prepare for the battle, but all in all it\u2019s about culture,\u201d Butler said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBringing people together, and letting them see their stars in real life, and hopefully spark those little hearts to strive.\u201d<\/p>\n

M\u0101ori All Stars player and fullback for the Warriors, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, echoed Butler\u2019s sentiment.<\/p>\n

\"M\u0101oriM\u0101ori All Stars Harata Butler and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad with NRL fan Daxton Graham. Photo \/ Malisha Kumar <\/p>\n

He said the match will be about celebrating culture and provide an opportunity for the indigenous people of Australia to \u201ccome to our homeland, and learn a little bit about our culture\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201c[For] people, children, communities, we\u2019re role modelling that you can be proud, proud to be M\u0101ori, proud to be indigenous, and it\u2019s something that\u2019s gonna be really special.\u201d <\/p>\n

Gearing up for the Australian side is Grace Kemp, who said she is excited about playing in Hamilton. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur M\u0101ori brothers and sisters are really strong in their culture, and footie\u2019s so big here, so I can\u2019t wait to see the crowds all coming to support them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s also going to drive us a little bit harder as well to put up a good fight, so I can\u2019t wait to get on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamilton City councillor Emma Pike said it was an \u201cabsolute pleasure\u201d to have the match in the city and it would bring economic benefits for local businesses and the hospitality sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be a real massive opportunity for the city, bringing in lots of funds and support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trust Waikato kaum\u0101tua Tame Pokaia also believes the indigenous people of Australia coming to Waikato is \u201cspecial\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re gonna do as tangata whenua is make them feel welcome in our lovely city as a start to learning about Aotearoa.\u201d<\/p>\n

The players\u2019 visit comes after a record-breaking year for women\u2019s rugby league in Hamilton, with FMG Stadium Waikato attracting some of the largest NRLW crowds in 2025.<\/p>\n

Those numbers contributed to Hamilton securing two Warriors NRLW home games again in July and August next year.<\/p>\n

Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakat\u0101ne.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt being in the Waikato, my home, is just extra special,\u201d Butler said. She said the atmosphere at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3017,5263,9218,8908,2199,99879,6288,685,13085,111,139,1536,577,69,1118,10702,1962,213,5436,9863,686,3608,379],"class_list":{"0":"post-187077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ahead","9":"tag-all","10":"tag-before","11":"tag-check","12":"tag-city","13":"tag-doubleheader","14":"tag-hamilton","15":"tag-last","16":"tag-matches","17":"tag-new-zealand","18":"tag-newzealand","19":"tag-next","20":"tag-nrl","21":"tag-nz","22":"tag-of","23":"tag-players","24":"tag-special","25":"tag-sports","26":"tag-stars","27":"tag-visit","28":"tag-week","29":"tag-were","30":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}