Janelle Riki-Waaka appointed CRL Board Chairperson
Canterbury Rugby League is pleased to announce Janelle Riki-Waaka as CRL Board Chairperson, as appointed by the Board following Wednesday’s AGM.
Riki-Waaka has served as a CRL Board Director for four years – including a period as Vice Chairperson – and as Acting Chair since late-2025. Canterbury Rugby League’s first wahine Chairperson, Riki-Waaka succeeds Dr Phil Borrell.
The CRL Board also welcomed new members Lupe Asi, Darren Littlewood and Jodie Tait (previous co-opt).
As her first order of business, Riki-Waaka paid tribute to the leadership and commitment of her predecessors in the role.
“Phil has been enormous for our game,” Riki-Waaka said.
“Probably his biggest legacy will be his contribution to the Connected Gameplan, which is still in development – he has been instrumental from the outset in working with other board chairs and CEOs around Aotearoa to advise and support NZRL in its development.
“I know it’s something that’s been really important to him and he’s felt very close and connected to. He still asks me for updates, and that goes to show he still continues to serve our league community.
“Phil has been a passionate advocate for rugby league in general, but more importantly rugby league in Canterbury. He’s just a genuinely committed and passionate person that certainly has and will continue to leave a hole in our boardroom.
“I also really want to acknowledge that I’ve had the privilege of a long time on the CRL Board already under a number of amazing Chairs, notably Wally Wilson.
“I don’t mind saying this publicly: Wally and I didn’t always see the world in the same way, we come from different generations – but I have a huge amount of respect for what he has given to our game and I also learned a lot from him and his leadership on the Board.”
Riki-Waaka is a trained teacher by trade and has been an education consultant for 10 years, specialising in supporting organisations to strengthen their cultural capabilities and uphold their responsibilities to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
The transition to CRL Board Chairperson shapes as a smooth one, having thrived in the deep end as Acting Chair during a hectic period for Canterbury Rugby League.
“It’s been amazing, but really, really busy to be Acting Chair at the beginning of the season when lots is going on,” she explained.
“As a volunteer – and I’ve sat on lots of other boards in a voluntary role – the sheer number of hours each week that you put into those roles is probably unseen by a lot of people. And that’s how it should be when you volunteer, it’s not about people seeing the work that you do.
“There are always going to be challenges when guiding a community of this size and at the start of every season, there’s bumps that need to be ironed out and challenges and issues and celebrations – but also lots to navigate.
“I said to Phil, ‘Of all the times for your tenure to end, could you not have waited till the middle of the season when it was a little bit quieter?!’ But what I have felt grateful for is I’ve served for a number of years on the Board, so I had a really good understanding of how things worked and some insight into some of the challenges that might come up during any season’s start.”
An avid rugby league fan and dedicated volunteer for our game locally at all levels, Riki-Waaka managed several Canterbury age-group teams as her son, Jordan Riki – who has since represented the New Zealand Kiwis and won an NRL premiership with the Brisbane Broncos – came through the grades.
Two daughters have played rugby league in CRL competitions, with Trillo Metals Women’s Canterbury Bulls representative Manea-Faith Waaka earning selection in the Ahi Kā Aotearoa team for the 2024 NRL Women’s National Championships.
Riki-Waaka also managed the Canterbury Māori team for two years.
“I guess we’re just passionate league fans as a whānau – we never stop watching league, we never stop watching grassroots league.
“I tend to park myself up in a corner somewhere and get down to local league matches”
Looking ahead to her term as CRL Board Chairperson, Riki-Waaka pinpointed areas of the game she is eager to focus on and foster – firstly, the ongoing development and growth of women’s rugby league.
“The step up in skill and confidence and just sheer game smarts amongst our wāhine players is just on another level this season,” she enthused.
“However, it doesn’t sit right with me that we don’t have more of our Canterbury players playing in the NRLW. So that’s my big aspiration, to get more of our wāhine taking that next step into professionalism.
“As it is, we have a couple of handfuls of current NRL players, and we’re very proud of them. I want to see that number double – and I want to see the number of women playing in the NRLW from Canterbury triple, because I believe we’ve got the talent.
“So I’m really keen on supporting pathways.”
Riki-Waaka also highlighted the ambition for more resources and support at Canterbury Rugby League.
Despite the code’s exponential growth in the region – reflected by Sport Canterbury’s report revealing rugby league as Canterbury’s biggest growth sport in 2024 (a 21.5 percent increase in participants) – CRL operates with less fulltime staff than prior to COVID.
“I see behind the curtain, if you like, and I see the huge amount of work CRL’s staff puts in on and off the field,” Riki-Waaka emphasised.
“I know firsthand that so much of that work is unseen by our wider community. I would really love to have a look at how we can get some more support around our staff.
“In an ideal world, we’d have two or three development officers so they can be on the ground more in schools. I really want to elevate the visibility of league in education – and I want to shout out to the amazing work that (CRL Director of Football) Jamie Lester is currently doing, but he’s one person.
“So how do we get some more support around him?
“If I had my way, we’d invest in people and I think that will alleviate some of the challenges that we have been having on the skeleton staff that we’ve got.
“The other thing that I am really passionate about is the visibility and transparency from our board to our community. They have been critical of us in the past around that and it’s something that I know we can improve on.”
Riki-Waaka expressed pride in being Canterbury Rugby League’s first wahine Board Chairperson, but also emphasised the appointment is overdue representation of the enormous contribution and leadership of women in our game.
“Rugby league has traditionally been, I guess, quite a male-dominated space – and I would be lying if I said I hadn’t had more than a few uncomfortable moments on the CRL Board as a woman in the past.
“That has changed in the last few years. The number of women sitting on our Board has been sitting at around three now for several years, which changed the dynamics.
“I’m incredibly proud to be the first female Board Chair of CRL – but I look forward to a day that we’re not celebrating firsts for women in rugby league, where that is normal, everyday news.
“But in saying that, someone has to take those first steps into this space. Another reason why I feel proud about this role is that I’m a Māori woman, so I sit in two minority groups in a sense.
“I feel really passionately about representing both of those communities: females in league and our Māori community within rugby league. That’s something that I know is a big responsibility, but it’s one that I carry with pride.
“Māori contributions to rugby league over many decades have been phenomenal. So I look forward to doing anything that I can do to continue to support rugby league to be a place of belonging for all of our community.”
Before putting her nose back to the grindstone in serving the Canterbury Rugby League community, Riki-Waaka made an appeal to the game’s constituents – encouraging patience and mutual respect, while pledging accountability from CRL and its Board.
“We’re experiencing growing pains and with that comes challenges. Inevitably, things will be missed, balls will be dropped.
“Although we do everything we can to avoid that happening, it’s going to happen. So I would ask our community to work with us and support us and have some understanding for the impact that those growing pains have at an operational level, whilst also knowing they can hold us accountable as the guardians of this game.
“I guess I’m asking for some understanding, as well as acknowledgement, that there are always going to be things that we can do better and we’re committed to continued improvement.”
Canterbury Rugby League congratulates Janelle, Lupe, Darren and Jodie on their appointments, while also thanking Phil for his huge contribution to our game during his time as Chair.
