Jack Raharuhi Hemi (23 August 1914 – 1 June 1996) was a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

player. He was born in Te Poho-o-Tutawake,

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service t ...

, New Zealand on 23 August 1914.

Early years

Jack Hemi was the oldest son of Hineipikitia-ki-te-rangi (Piki) Reiri, of Te Whiti, and her husband, Paraikete (Blanket) Hēmi. There were thirteen children in the family. Hemi attended Te Whiti School. He worked at a freezing works and, when his father died in 1936, Hemi assumed responsibility for his mother and four siblings. Of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

descent, he identified with the

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi (tribe) located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The Kahungunu iwi also comprises 86 hapū (sub-tribes ...

and Rangitane

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

Rugby union career

Hemi played

for the Gladstone club before moving to the Featherston club and first represented

in 1933, aged only 18. He played for New Zealand Māori in 1934 and toured Australia with the team in 1935. He was also an All Blacks trialist in 1935.

Rugby league career

In 1936 Hemi switched codes, joining the new

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, ...

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 ...

club in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond. ...

competition.Coffey, John and Wood, Bernie (2009) ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909–2009''. . He represented

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 ...

that year against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and also played for

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

.HEMI, Jack Raharuhi – 1936 – 39
''nzleague.co.nz'' He represented New Zealand Māori in 1937, being part of the team that defeated

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

16–5 at

Carlaw Park Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, a central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of around 28,000 in the 19 ...

.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987. He toured Australia in 1938, slotting a goal against

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

from 17 yards behind the halfway line. Hemi toured Great Britain in 1939, but World War II ended the tour without a test match being played. Exempt from War duty Hemi continued to play for Manukau. In

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

he scored 206 points for Manukau in all competition matches which was comfortably a record in Auckland Rugby League senior football to that point. He scored 12 tries, and kicked 59 conversions along with 26 penalties during the season. In 1945 he represented

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 ...

alongside his younger brother, Lou.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemi, Jack Raharuhi 1914 births 1996 deaths 20th-century New Zealand people Auckland rugby league team players Manukau Magpies players Māori All Blacks players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand trade unionists Ngāti Kahungunu people Sportspeople from Carterton, New Zealand Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Wellington Region Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union centres Rugby union players from the Wellington Region Rangitāne people Wellington rugby league team players