The Counties Manukau rugby league team represents the Counties Manukau zone in the

Albert Baskerville Trophy The NZRL Men's National Competition (previously called the National Zonal Competition) is the top-level rugby league competition run by the New Zealand Rugby League. In 2010 the competition replaced the Bartercard Premiership following a Sparc fun ...

. Previously, teams representing Southern Auckland and the

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral di ...

district of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

have competed in 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 ...

and

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 Zea ...

. They are nicknamed the Stingrays. CountiesManukaurugbyleagueteam

1994–1996: Heroes

The Counties Manukau Heroes competed in the

from 1994 to 1996. Stan Martin coached them in 1994 and 1995 before accepting a contract with the

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle, Cumbria, C ...

. He was replaced by Cameron Bell for the 1996 season.

Notable players

Notable players included;

Duane Mann Duane Darrin Mann (born 28 June 1965) is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 2000s. A Tonga and New Zealand international representative , he captained both sides. Mann played his ...

, Frank Watene, 1995 captain Dean Clark,

Whetu Taewa Whetu Taewa (born 19 October 1970) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand six times between 1989 and 1996. Playing career New Zealand Whetu was born on the West Coast, New Zealand and started p ...

, Clayton Friend, Des Maea,

Gus Malietoa-Brown Gus Mailetoa-Brown (born 28 July 1975) is a former Western Samoa international rugby league footballer. Playing career A Manurewa and Papakura junior, Mailetoa-Brown first attracted interest from the Brisbane Broncos. However, by 1994 he was pla ...

Solomon Kiri Solomon Kiri (born 26 October 1972) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s for the Adelaide Rams and the Western Reds. New Zealand Kiri played for the Counties Manukau Heroes in the 199 ...

, Jason Temu, Bryan Laumatia, 1994 captain

Hitro Okesene John Haitrosene "Hitro" Okesene () (born 22 September 1970), also known by the nickname of "Nitro",Coffey and Wood ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League'' is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s ...

and his brother

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chr ...

, Esau Mann, Matthew Sturm, Mark Faumuina,

Leroy Joe Leroy Joe is a former Cook Islands international rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played at club level in England for Whitehaven ( League 1), and Hull Kingston Rovers. Background Joe was born in New Zea ...

, Richard O'Connell, Te Manawa Loza, Mark Leithbridge. Jerry Seuseu and

Willie Wolfgramm Willie Wolfgramm is a former professional rugby league and rugby union player who represented Tonga at two Rugby League World Cups and the 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Background He is the cousin of fellow Tongan international Greg Wolfgramm. ...

.''Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1994'',

New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood '' ...

, 1994. p.106

Season results

2004–2008: Jetz

The Counties Manukau Jetz were a franchise in the

Notable players

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand 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 ...

who were assigned to the club included: Sonny Fai,

Nathan Fien Nathan Fien (born 1 August 1979), also known by the nickname of "Fieny", is a former New Zealand international rugby league footballer who played as a and in the 2000s and 2010s. He last played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the Nat ...

& George Gatis

History

The Jetz entered the competition in 2004 in the place of the

Manurewa Marlins The Manurewa Marlins are a rugby league club based in Manurewa, New Zealand. In 2018 the Marlins will compete in Auckland Rugby League's Sharman Cup competition. Between 2000 and 2003 they competed in the national Bartercard Cup competition. N ...

. They finished a disappointing seventh and missed out on the playoffs. 2005 however was a better year with the team performing well, losing to eventual winners Mt Albert in the Preliminary Final. In 2006 they again made the playoffs but were eliminated by Tamaki in the first week. Before the 2007 season long serving head coach

Gary Kemble Gary Edward Kemble (born 23 August 1956), also known by the nickname "Crayfish", is a New Zealand rugby league coach and former player. He has both played and coached the New Zealand national rugby league team. He is the current head coach of t ...

announced his retirement to concentrate on business interests so former Northern Storm coach Geoff Morton was appointed for the season. The team's final season was its worst with it coming second to last.

2010: Zone

Following the

Sparc SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture originally developed by Sun Microsystems. Its design was strongly influenced by the experimental Berkeley RISC system developed ...

review of the

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood '' ...

the new zonal competition was launched in 2010. Counties Manukau became a stand-alone zone with a team that was separate from

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

. Counties Manukau draws players from Mangere East, Howick,

Pakuranga Pakuranga is an eastern suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. Pakuranga covers a series of low ridges and previously swampy flats, now drained, that lie between the Pakuranga Creek and Tamaki River, two estuarial arms of the Hauraki Gulf ...

Papakura Papakura is a southern suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, approximately 32 kilometres south of the Auckland CBD. It is under the authority of the Auckland Council. Papakura is a ...

, Franklin, Tuakau, Waiuku, Pukekohe, Papatoetoe, Otara,

Manukau Manukau (), or Manukau Central, is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand, centred on the Manukau City Centre business district. It is located 23 kilometres south of the Auckland Central Business District, west of the Southern Motorway, sou ...

and Otahuhu.Counties Manukau
Auckland Rugby League In the 2010 season, Counties Manukau won the Under 15 and Under 17 tournaments but lost the final of the senior competition, being defeated by Auckland 14 – 6.

References

{{Lionredcup Rugby league in Counties Manukau New Zealand rugby league teams 1994 establishments in New Zealand