Papakura has become the second Counties Manukau rugby club to be awarded some funds under the Bunnings Rugby Assist competition.
The suburban South Auckland club has picked up $25,000 as part of the nationwide competition, following the $10,000 contribution Maramarua got to do up their kitchen.
Papakura’s project will see the club be able to renovate the downstairs area at their Massey Park home, which will allow the junior club to be able to earn some much-needed matchday income.
“The downstairs area is our junior play lounge, and all the stuff down there is the original 1979 stuff when the club was started,” club president Rod Honan told Counties Sports Hub.
“The kitchen and the toilet are in desperate need of renovation and this grant will allow us to do that. There is a rotten water cylinder down there that stinks the place out every time we shut it for any period of time.”
Honan and his team put the submission together like hundreds of other rugby clubs around the country and sat back to see if they would be one of the lucky ones.
“We uploaded it at the last moment and sent it off not really expecting anything from it,” he explained. But blow me down, we got a call to tell us we had been successful.”
The upgrades will have a significant impact on the junior club, as the downstairs lounge includes a shop that can be used on game day to generate income.
“It is a fund-raising stream for the juniors,” Honan said. “It is not easy in our area to bring in funds and the lockdowns have had an impact on pokie money funding.
“Any opportunity to get funds in is a winner.”
It caps off a successful year for the Papakura club – they made the semi-finals of the McNamara Cup plate section, their U21 side won the Massey Cup, while the club’s women’s team made the final of the Auckland Rugby Development grade.
“Our prize giving was absolutely chocker. People stayed well into the night and, for the first time in a long time, we had a DJ in the club,” Honan said.
Meanwhile Onewhero’s Rowena Massey has won the ultimate All Blacks experience thanks to her tireless work as a volunteer.
The All Blacks experience will take place after lockdown at Eden Park and NZR will provide six volunteers (plus six mates) the chance to have a meet and greet with three All Blacks, including a tour of Eden Park, a Sky Walk (weather pending), followed by lunch with the players at a nearby venue.
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