2026 Preview: Hornets look to maintain sting under Te Hau

Halswell Hornets’ bid to end a 12-year CRL title drought will be helmed by veteran clubman Kevin Te Hau, who took over as head coach following Ray Hubbard’s move to Papanui Tigers.

Te Hau made the first of four grand final appearances for the Hornets in 1993, when Gerard Stokes coached the club to Pat Smith Trophy success.

“It’s going good – this is my first head coach gig, really, but I’ve been a Halswell junior right through,” Te Hau says.

“I’ve come through the grades, probably done everything at the club, as a trainer, strapper, assistant coach for the last couple of years. I spoke to a couple of players at the end of last season, and they nudged me to put my hand up to take on the premiers job.”

Te Hau was on Hubbard’s staff as the Hornets qualified for their first grand final in a decade in 2024, going down to Hornby in a thriller.  

Last season, the Hornets finished second on the Massetti Cup ladder but made a straight-sets exit from the finals via convincing losses to Linwood and Riccarton – providing no shortage of motivation for the CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership campaign ahead.

“We started pre-season in mid-November, it was a bit slow to start with – I let our Bulls players have a bit of a break, so they didn’t come back until after Christmas – but the numbers have grown, and we’re looking good,” Te Hau explains.

“It’s probably one of the tougher pre-seasons the boys have had. But I think it’s brought them all together. We’ll knuckle down for what we need to do for the first game against the Greyhounds.

“We’ve got a few new players to the club, a few from rugby, and a couple of other guys that have come from other clubs that want to have a jam with the Hornets.”

The Hornets have farewelled star players Antonio Lemalu and Ken Tofilau – who both join the Tigers for their CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership re-entry – as well as Te Hau’s son, Trillo Metals Men’s Canterbury Bulls rep Cooper, who has shifted south for work.

But the squad, co-captained by Nick Evans and Tahemaka Nui, welcome in some reinforcements.

“[The losses have] been a hit, but I’m lucky enough I’ve got Brody Greig back after having last year off,” Te Hau says.

“And Ngaheke Nepata, I’ve coached him at Canterbury teams as juniors right through, and he did a stint over with Cronulla’s Jersey Flegg last year. He’s originally from Hornby, but he knows quite a few of the Halswell boys.

“We’ve got a good mix of experienced players, along with the rugby boys that are quite young and new to the game.

“Also, we’ve got Josh Everett still running around [as well as] Toi Sepuloni, and Phil Nati has been coming to training – it’s great to have those senior guys there.”

Te Hau is not coy about the Hornets’ ambitions in 2026 – another grand final appearance is the minimum aim for a club that has been a regular Premiership contender for some time without getting their hands on the silverware.

“Halswell’s been pretty consistent over the last three or four years. I guess it’s getting to that last hurdle.

“And if we’re lucky enough to make the top four this year, that’s where you’ve got to go up another gear. As we all know, Linwood are probably the team to beat again. So I think it’s going to be a tight fight for the two, three and four spot between the rest of the clubs.”

The Hornets face a formidable CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership Round 1 assignment this Saturday, hosting Greymouth Greyhounds at Halswell Domain.

Te Hau knows his side can’t afford to take the plucky visitors lightly after all three clashes in 2025 were decided by a converted try or less – with the Greyhounds claiming a 12-6 win on the road in the last of those encounters.  

“The Greyhounds are a team that keeps improving. The last couple of years in the competition, they’re just getting better.

“They pipped us once over here last year and we pipped them over there – like all West Coast teams, they’re always tough.

“They do the basics well and they don’t give up. It’s the West Coast [attitude] that’s bred in them. We’ve just got to keep to the basics, too, and hopefully we can force a few errors down their end.”