The Manawatu rugby league team are a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

team that represents the

Manawatu Rugby League Manawatu Rugby League was formed in 1957. They are currently part of the Mid-Central zone along with Taranaki Rugby League. Kiwi Players Only one player from Manawatu has ever made the New Zealand national rugby league team. This was Kiwi numbe ...

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league, rugby league football in New Zealand.#SPARC-2009, SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a 1910 Great Britain Lions tour o ...

competitions. They have the nickname the Mustangs and between 2002 and 2007 competed in the

Bartercard Cup The Bartercard Cup (successor of the Lion Red Cup) was the top level rugby league club competition in New Zealand from 2000 until 2007. For the entire life of the tournament it was sponsored by Bartercard. The cup was administered by the New Ze ...

as the Central Falcons. Manawatu has a strong domestic scene and clubs compete in the "Western Alliance" region alongside

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

clubs.

History

Rugby league in the region was first recorded in 1924 when a match was played between a Manawatu side against

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. All Black Alphonsus Carroll was part of the Manawatu team and the following season he was selected for

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

to tour Australia. The match with Wellington was drawn 14-14 and was played at Foxton. However it was not until 1971 that Manawatu had its first ever registered win, against

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...

24 - 19. The season remains the team's most successful.MRL History
''Manawatu Rugby League''

Lion Red Cup

In 1996 a Manawatu team was entered into the

Lion Red Cup The Lion Red Cup was a New Zealand domestic rugby league competition that ran from 1994 to 1996 sponsored by brewers Lion Nathan. It was created due to the increase in public awareness of domestic rugby league due to the Auckland Warriors being a ...

, replacing the Auckland Warriors' Colts. They were called the Manawatu Mustangs. This team was coached by Peter Sixtus.

Bartercard Cup

The Central Falcons were a franchise in the now defunct

competition. They represented the Central North Island of New Zealand, playing home games in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; , colloquially known as Palmerston or Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatū Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manaw ...

and Levin and were run by the

. They were coached by former Kiwis international David Lomax. They entered the competition in 2002 alongside the Taranaki Wildcats. They had a close relationship with the

New Zealand Army The New Zealand Army (, ) is the principal Army, land warfare force of New Zealand, a component of the New Zealand Defence Force alongside the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Formed in 1845, as the New Zealand Mil ...

and its base at

Waiouru Waiouru is a small town in the Ruapehu District, in New Zealand's Manawatū-Whanganui region. It is located on the south-eastern North Island Volcanic Plateau, north of Palmerston North and 25 kilometres south-east of Mount Ruapehu. The tow ...

. In 2006 two

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

were assigned to the club;

Micheal Luck Micheal Luck (born 21 April 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the North Queensland Cowboys and the New Zealand Warriors. Micheal Luck's position of choice was or . Playing career Queensland Whi ...

& Steve Price. Notable players included: Jesse Royal, Ricky Thorby and

Russell Packer Russell Packer (born 9 October 1989) is a former New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who played as a for the Wests Tigers, St. George Illawarra Dragons and the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL, and the New Zealand Māori and New ...

. The side never made the finals and in the final season collected the

wooden spoon A wooden spoon is a Kitchen utensil, utensil commonly used in food preparation. In addition to its culinary uses, wooden spoons also feature in folk art and culture. History The word ''spoon'' derives from an ancient word meaning a chip of woo ...

. The club's best result was in 2005 when it finished Ninth out of Twelve teams.

References

Rugby league teams in New Zealand Rugby league in Manawatū-Whanganui 1957 establishments in New Zealand {{Rugbyleague-team-stub