Warriors’ Harvey Norman HFA Camp Heads to Christchurch, Inspiring Next Generation of Female Talent
A group of Canterbury’s most talented and ambitious young female rugby league players are gearing up for an invaluable opportunity this weekend, thanks to the Harvey Norman Heartland Female Athlete programme.
The One New Zealand Warriors launched the initiative in conjunction with Harvey Norman last year to support the next generation of female athletes across Aotearoa. The programme has rolled out in Wellington and Hastings over the past two weekends, with University of Canterbury hosting the camp for our wahine toa on March 7-8.
“Canterbury Rugby League is thrilled to welcome the Warriors’ Harvey Norman Heartland Female Athlete programme to Christchurch this weekend, creating an exciting opportunity for the region’s emerging female rugby league talent,” CRL CEO Malcolm Humm said.
“The girls’ and women’s game has experienced remarkable growth across Canterbury in recent years, and the arrival of the Warriors development camp marks another significant step forward for the local pathway. The camp will provide female rangatahi with the chance to learn from elite-level coaches and gain valuable insight into the standards and expectations of high-performance rugby league.”
Warriors NRLW coach Ron Griffiths, Warriors NRLW players and cross-code stars Gayle Broughton and Shakira Baker, NRLW wellbeing manager Patrice Horne, and Canterbury-based high-performance strength and conditioning coach Lee Mou will take the players through a range of on- and off-field sessions across the weekend.
“First and foremost, there’s been some great learnings from each camp so far for us as a club,” Griffiths said before making his way to Ōtautahi Christchurch.
“What we’re chasing from these camps is to provide young ladies throughout New Zealand an opportunity to get a bit of an experience around what a high performance environment looks like.
“It’s more around personal soft skill development, how to deal with external pressures in life, how to manage your social media profile – different things like that. We’re also trying to develop rugby league players and find some hidden talent along the way.”
While female youth and senior club competitions are steadily growing and strengthening – a trend reflected in Canterbury Rugby League’s increasing playing numbers – there is a gap between those levels and the NRLW that the Harvey Norman Heartland Female Athlete programme is attempting to help bridge.
Many of New Zealand’s most talented young female players currently venture over to the NSWRL’s Lisa Fiaola Cup (under-17s) and Tarsha Gale Cup (under-19s) and the QRL’s Harvey Norman Under-19s competitions to advance their development.
“It’s not our job at the Warriors to change the landscape or provide all those pathways for young ladies, but what we need to do as a club, and we understand the responsibility, is we need to help change the landscape of female rugby league in New Zealand,” Griffiths explained.
“If I look back at the Auckland competition a few years ago, it was as strong as any competition in Australia [outside NRLW]. Unfortunately, because there’s no junior level representative football, that’s why there’s an exodus of players to Australia.”
There is a plethora of female talent coming from Canterbury Rugby League’s ranks, evidenced by the number of players from our region featuring in the NSWRL’s and QRL’s junior reps and senior competitions, and the NRLW in recent seasons.
Papanui Tigers junior Jaydika Tafua progressed through Cronulla’s Tarsha Gale Cup and NSW Women’s Premiership sides to make her NRLW debut for the Sharks in 2025, while Sydenham Swans duo Martha Mataele (Parramatta) and Isabella Waterman (Newcastle and Canberra) have been NRLW regulars.
Manisha Seebeck was superb on the end of Sydney Roosters’ Tarsha Gale Cup and NSW Women’s Premiership backlines last year, fellow Hornby product Olive Connolly is currently starring for Penrith’s under-19s team and Linwood’s Kayshana Rapana has cemented a spot in the back-row for Brisbane Tigers in the Harvey Norman Under-19s comp.
These regional camps give the Warriors a chance to cast their eye over potential NRLW recruits, as well as preparing them for professional careers.
“It’s a two-pronged approach – we get to identify some talent, but we also get to give players an opportunity to play our game … and there’s a real opportunity for them to play in the NRLW,” Griffiths continued.
“At the end of the year, we’ll pick a couple of participants from each of the camps to come up to Auckland and see an NRLW and NRL double-header game, they’ll be able to come along to NRLW captain’s run and share some time with our players.
“There’s many different great outcomes from this programme. It’s just about being able to give them a platform and these extra skills besides just playing – the whole well-rounded skillset to being a professional athlete.
“It’s fortunate that sport is such a big focus in New Zealand – and it doesn’t matter what sport it is. I often say to the young ladies in camp, at the end of the day, if you’re playing sport, that’s the most important thing. You’re living a lifestyle, you’re building rapport with people, you’re building relationships, you’re building connections. And whatever sport you play, they’re generally transferable.
“We’re lucky from that perspective that there is such a focus because when they do come into our system, they’ve had some great training and coaching and education.
“Lee (Mou) has often alluded to me that there’s a real untapped talent pool down in Christchurch that he believes at some stage we’ll certainly be drawing on a lot of players [from Canterbury] for NRLW.”
Griffiths, who is also the Indigenous All Stars’ men’s coach, guided Newcastle Knights to consecutive NRLW premierships in 2022-23. He took the opportunity to head up the Warriors’ NRLW return in 2025 – the club’s first season in the competition since its stint as a 2018-20 foundation club.
While the Warriors predominantly pulled last year’s squad from the Auckland pool and players at other NRLW clubs returning home, Griffiths emphasised that he sees future squads being more representative of New Zealand.
“That’s one of the reasons why we’re running this programme. We think it’s really important that we can give players from right across the nation an opportunity.
“Such is the relationship with some of the players in the South Island that we’ve spoken to them and their management – they’re actually across in Australia as a direct link from what we’ve been doing, playing junior football over there.
“Because at some stage we want to bring them back, but we know we don’t have the opportunity to develop them in New Zealand right now. So we’re creating those relationships.
“The Warriors are working towards at some stage having their own Harvey Norman [NSW Women’s Premiership] team that’ll compete in the competition in Australia, so there’ll be a need for more numbers.
“I know internally that they’ve spoken on several occasions about establishing a 17s and 19s national girls competition in New Zealand. Again, this is not our total responsibility, but that’s something we’re trying to facilitate and work towards with different parties.
“We want to give players the opportunity to work their pathway through to NRLW with the Warriors. And further to that, we understand we can’t keep every player, but we want to give them an opportunity to play NRLW with us, and then if they’ve got to go further abroad, we’ve helped facilitate that.”
Meanwhile, Humm highlighted the importance of the Harvey Norman Heartland Female Athlete in helping fulfil Canterbury Rugby League’s aim to provide a route to the higher levels of rugby league.
“With the New Zealand Rugby League women’s programme continuing to make significant strides on the national and international stage, CRL has been actively seeking opportunities that connect local players to elite pathways and professional environments,” he said.
“CRL is grateful to the Warriors for recognising Canterbury as an important and growing hub for female rugby league talent. The organisation hopes the upcoming camp will be the first of many initiatives that strengthen opportunities for players in the region.
“This weekend’s camp represents not only a valuable development opportunity for participating athletes, but also a celebration of the momentum and potential within the Canterbury women’s game.”
