– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Explainer – New Zealand has announced would-be citizens will have to pass a test about starting next year. What might that look like and how do other countries do similar tests?

The test on various topics around New Zealand life and government would be required for many applying for citizenship from next year.

“Becoming a New Zealand citizen is a significant milestone in a person’s life and a great honour,” Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden said in announcing the change.

“This change reinforces the value of New Zealand citizenship, and what it means to obtain it.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told Morning Report on Thursday that New Zealand was following similar tests in other nations.

“I just don’t think there’s any harm,” Luxon said of introducing the tests.

The exact date the test will launch hasn’t been set, but the announcement said late 2027.

While it will be new to New Zealand, tests like this aren’t uncommon – they’re already in use in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States among others.

Here’s what we know so far about citizenship tests and what we can learn from other countries.

Who has to take the test?

If you’re applying for citizenship by grant from late 2027, you’ll have to take it in addition to any other application requirements.

There are three ways to become a citizen – by birth, by descent (being born overseas but having at least one parent who was a NZ citizen when you were born), or by grant – which means you’re a foreign national who has usually been a permanent resident of NZ for at least five years.

Most people who apply by grant will have to take the new test, but there are some exceptions – you don’t have to sit the test if you:

• are under 16 years old
• are aged 65 or over
• have been granted a waiver for the English language requirement for citizenship
• are not of full capacity
• have a severe medical condition that would prevent completing the test
• have unique personal circumstances that would prevent completing the test
• are a New Zealand citizen by descent applying for citizenship by grant
• are applying from overseas but meet the presence requirement – for example, if they live in Niue, the Cook Islands or Tokelau, or are working overseas for the NZ government.

“Exemptions from the test are intended to ensure the approach is proportionate, fair, and in line with approaches taken in comparable countries,” van Velden said.

Van Velden also told RNZ’s Checkpoint there would be no exemptions based on income levels.

How’s test taking going to work?

The test will consist of 20 multiple-choice questions and applicants must get 15 answers, or 75 percent, correct to pass.

The test will be only offered in person, at locations throughout New Zealand.

The aim is not to just have testing spots in main centres, the announcement said. Service accessibility to all will be a key consideration, van Velden said.

“I did consider an online test, however, with rapid development of AI and ability for individuals to have help at home, I considered this a less robust test than an in-person test,” van Velden said.

What’s it going to cost?

There will be a fee to take the test in addition to existing citizenship application fees, but a specific amount hasn’t been chosen yet.

“The cost itself hasn’t been borne out yet,” van Velden told Checkpoint.

The Department of Internal Affairs plans to look for a potential third-party provider to provide the test and the cost would be determined then, she said.

“I do believe it is important that there is a cost to the test because we do want people to study for it, and when there’s a user-pays component … people do take that seriously and if there wasn’t a cost, it is possible that people might sit multiple times without looking at the guidance that DIA provide.”

Currently, applying for citizenship by grant costs $560 for adults and $280 for children aged 15 and under.

If you fail the test, you can take it again but the government says applicants “will likely” have to pay a new fee each time they sit the test.

If you fail to pass the test three times, you have to wait 30 days. You’ll only get six tries in total to pass the test, however, and then you’ll be “provided options” including withdrawing your citizenship application and getting a partial refund of application fees.

What kind of questions will they be asking?

In the announcement, van Velden said the topics will include the Bill of Rights Act, human rights, voting rights and democratic principles, New Zealand’s system of government, some criminal offences and questions about travelling overseas on a New Zealand passport.

Notably, there was no mention of Te Tiriti o Waitangi or Māori tikanga in the announcement.

However, there will be a Treaty of Waitangi question in the test, van Velden confirmed to RNZ.

She said the questions themselves have yet to be decided.

“I won’t go into any particular question itself because we won’t be releasing those, but the questions are revolving around freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of association, the fact that men and women have equal rights, that we have protection from discrimination, that we have free elections … all the things that have made our country good.”

The Department of Internal Affairs is handling the details of how the test will be implemented. There will be guides and other resources ahead of the test introduction to allow people to prepare and pass.

“On balance, it’s very, very similar to what the UK and Australia have been doing for years,” Luxon told RNZ.

“It’s probably not a bad thing to remind people that things like freedom of expression, freedom of speech and women having equal rights, all those kind of things, to have them positively affirmed is probably a good thing.”

Will the test remain even if the government changes before 2027?

Of course, there’s also an election this year, so will that have an impact?

When asked by RNZ if he supported the exam, Labour leader Chris Hipkins said he was open to strengthening citizenship rules, but expressed concern about no mention of the Treaty of Waitangi in the original announcement.

“Do we want those who are gaining New Zealand citizenship to basically be signing up to adhering to New Zealand’s rules and so on? Yes, of course, that’s inherent in the citizenship process, but excluding a big part of our own history from that seems to undermine what they’re trying to do.”

As noted, van Velden has since indicated there will be one question on the Treaty.

How do tests work in other countries?

As mentioned, Australia, the US and UK all have some form of test most applicants for citizenship must take.

“New Zealand has looked at approaches used in comparable countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada when developing the test,” van Velden said.

“This includes elements like the number of questions, passing rates, exemption categories, and delivery approach.”

Sample questions available online in training sites and apps show these tests have a wide spectrum of possible questions would-be citizens might be asked – and perhaps a guidepost for how New Zealand’s test might work.

Australia requires a test and has a 20-question multiple choice exam that asks questions about Australian values and history. A practice test is also available online where questions such as “Who can deliver a Welcome to Country?” and what Anzac Day commemorates can be found.

In the United Kingdom, most applicants must take the “Life in the UK” test with 24 multiple-choice questions about British traditions and customs and show English language proficiency. Practice tests on an unofficial test preparation website ask questions such as who William Shakespeare was and whether pool and darts are traditional pub games, plus somewhat harder questions such as “Who was reigning in England when Wales became formally united with England by the Act for the Government of Wales?” (If you answered Henry VII, you’re correct!)

Over in the United States, a two-part test covering English language skills and civics is required for many applicants. The civics test is conducted as an oral test of 20 questions from a possible 128. Sample questions for that one cover how the three branches of American government work, who wrote the Declaration of Independence and why America entered the Vietnam war.

There’s also a few freebies such as “What is the name of the President of the United States now,” in case the applicant hasn’t been paying attention to, well, anything, the last 10 years or so.

Sometimes questions on a test can be controversial. For instance, The Washington Post reported many took issue with a question that asked “When did all women get the vote?” The test’s answer was in 1920 – after the US Constitution was amended to allow women to vote – but many pointed out that Black and Native American women voters actually faced barriers to voting for decades after 1920 and the wording of the question to say “all women” was misleading.

It goes to show that the questions – and how they’re phrased, especially around touchy issues – could be a tricky road to navigate in putting together New Zealand’s future citizenship test.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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Is New Zealand about to get its own version of a law that caused uproar in New South Wales, clashes in Sydney’s streets and that has now been thrown out?

The Law Society here is worried the Policing Amendment Bill which is making its way through Parliament with strong police backing will clamp down on political protest.

“It’s a clear parallel,” said Timothy Roberts, president of the New South Wales Council of Civil Liberties.

There is evidence behind the concern – the Independent Police Conduct Authority last year found police exhibited a lot of uncertainty and inconsistency about the limits of lawful protest and what the restrictions should be, and called for explicit laws to protect protesters’ rights.

But the government on Wednesday said: “Our police have a strong, long-standing track record of upholding civil liberties and human rights.”

Last month New South Wales’ top court threw out a law enacted after the Bondi Beach terror attack.

The public assembly restriction declaration or PARD scheme expanded police powers to restrict protests in certain areas.

In such a zone in Sydney in February, police clashed with people protesting the visit of Israel’s president.

The city’s mayor Clover Moore said, “Seeing the unrestrained force used to impose those demarcations was disturbing.”

Roberts said the new law had a lot to do with it.

“The police were completely inflexible. So they could have released the crowd to march on from the area peaceably. But because of the political pressure, the legislative framework, they didn’t.

“And that inflexibility led to some really serious violence,” Roberts told RNZ.

Like Roberts, Samantha Lee saw parallels between the PARD and the New Zealand bill. Lee is assistant principal lawyer at Redfern Legal Centre which is working to get criminal charges against Sydney protesters dismissed.

“What the court found is that this executive power is a breach of the constitution in terms of the political freedom of communication and that what it was really doing is stopping the right to protest,” Lee said.

“Protesting has a long history in Australia, as it does there in New Zealand. And the court did say a lot about that, that police should not remove a person’s ability to bring governments to account, even if they’re protesting against against matters that the police don’t like,” Lee said.

The NSW law was rushed in. The New Zealand bill was hurriedly drafted without public consultation.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell said he was open to feedback on any bill, “which is exactly why it goes through the select committee process so New Zealanders can have their say and ensure that it’s fit for purpose”.

The bill’s first part would expand police intelligence-gathering powers; its second part would expand their powers to declare areas off-limits ahead of time in case of imminent public disorder. It would extend the power beyond roads to many public places, and add an instant $1000 infringement fee for someone who entered or did not leave a zone, plus adding a new offence of failing to give police identifying details.

Most reporting has focused on the first part.

The Law Society is pushing the select committee to amend both parts of the bill.

“The difficulties in enforcement and the desirability of ‘closing’ a space are acknowledged, as is the prospect that disturbances may involve other areas (parks etc, other public spaces such as river beds) which are not roads,” it said.

“Against this, however, there are also valid concerns regarding the risks of undue expansion, in that political protests involving disorder may lead to closure of roads and accessible places, and thus prohibitions on entry and potential arrests.”

The bill made “vague” references to “public safety objectives” that could trigger closure, risking “creep in their use into the field of legitimate protest”, the society said.

Paul Rishworth KC helped write its submission.

“It needs to be reconsidered as to how it all applies to public protest,” Rishworth said.

“An example would be that if a protest of some sort is happening or is planned for the following day, and there is either actual counter-protest or the threat of counter-protest, that might be seen as producing disorder or likely to produce disorder, then that might be a reason for closing it down.”

There were existing powers police had to deal with boy racers, he added.

The bill was not a direct parallel with PARD but was in the same universe, and at the very least should be amended to require regular reporting back by police on how they were using the new powers, Rishworth said.

Also, the Law Society wanted preconditions on closures to be added, and the infringement offences removed since the offence of obstruction already existed.

However, Police Association president Steve Watt rejected that part two went too far.

“What it’s aimed to do is increase public safety around those public places where disorder and other events like boy racers might tend to congregate,” said Watt.

“The police are, you know, extremely well-versed when it comes to lawful protests from members of the public.

“I can’t see police using this law as a method of shutting down lawful protests.”

Mitchell said the bill as a whole was about “reinstating police’s ability to lawfully collect and record information to keep communities safe, not introducing new powers”.

“I’ve seen the concerns raised and will consider any sensible changes which improve clarity, but my focus is on restoring the tools police need to keep Kiwis safe.”

Police consulted about part one of the bill with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, but not about part two.

The bill’s regulatory impact statement talked about police working through the issues as they implemented it.

Last year, after a two-year investigation, the Independent Police Conduct Authority found both the law, and police practices and understanding, were lacking around protesters’ rights.

It called for explicit legislation to protect them.

“Without such a legislative regime, the preservation of fundamental rights is likely to come under increasing threat,” it said.

Documents attached to the policing bill did not mention the IPCA investigation. The authority declined to comment while the bill was before Parliament.

The bill sees the IPCA and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as the main watchdogs over how police used it.

However, the authority recently told MPs it lacked resources, and the Commissioner has put out several statements opposing the bill, saying the level of oversight was inadequate.

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The return of two key fast bowlers, and the maiden selection of a batting allrounder, are the highlights in the Blackcaps squad to play upcoming test matches against Ireland and England.

Kyle Jamieson and Will O’Rourke are back from injury, while Dean Foxcroft has earned his first ever test call up, for a one off test against Ireland later this month and three tests against England next month.

“I was blown away (to be picked),” Foxcroft said.

“It’s quite surreal and a dream come true.

“From a young age you dream about playing test cricket or even just to be in a test squad – so I’m buzzing and I can’t wait,” he said.

Foxcroft’s impressed of late, having contributed strongly on the recent Black Caps white-ball tour of Bangladesh.

Jamieson and O’Rourke’s return are timely, especially with reigning Sir Richard Hadlee Medal winner Jacob Duffy to miss the tour as he and his wife await the birth of their first child.

Jamieson hasn’t played test cricket since suffering a back stress fracture in February 2024, while O’Rourke’s been out since July last year with the same injury.

“It’s a great privilege to start this next period of sustained red-ball cricket with all our pace bowlers ready to go,” Black Caps coach Rob Walter said.

“Kyle’s been on a journey of getting his body ready for test cricket. He’s really fit and strong at the moment and will bring a unique edge to our bowling line-up.

“Will brings a quality set of skills and physical attributes which make him a hugely exciting addition to any test team,” he said.

Wellington’s Ben Sears is another fast bowler to return from injury, but he’s been selected for the Irish test only, and will be a travelling reserve for the tests against England.

Sears has played just the one test for New Zealand, against Australia in 2024.

Michael Rae and the uncapped Kristian Clarke are two others, that have been included for the Ireland test only.

Other features of the 19-strong squad see Kane Williamson being included, as he looks to add to his test career runs tally of 9461. He last played for the Blackcaps in a test series against West Indies late last year.

Matt Henry, Zac Foulkes, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips and Jamieson will join the squad late, once their stints in the IPL conclude later this month.

And Mitchell Santner could also still be involved in the tour. Despite missing selection, his shoulder injury is being monitored.

There are no specialist spinners in the squad.

The one-off four-day Test against Ireland begins at Stormont in Belfast on May 27, with the three Tests against England to be played at Lord’s (June 4-8), The Oval (June 17-21) and Trent Bridge (June 25-29).

Blackcaps test squad to Ireland and England: Tom Latham (C), Tom Blundell, Kristian Clarke (IRE only), Devon Conway, Zak Foulkes, Dean Foxcroft, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rae (IRE only), Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears (IRE only & 16th travelling reserve for ENG), Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Kane Williamson, Will Young (IRE only).

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A body had been found in the water near a remote Sottish island where a New Zealand monk disappeared last month.

Justin Evans, 24, went missing from the Golgotha Monastery, on Papa Stronsay, shortly before midnight on April 11. The island is home to only a handful of monks of the Catholic order Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer.

Also known as the Transalpine Redemptorists, the group was founded in the 1980s and had links to New Zealand, including a monastery near Geraldine.

Do you know more? Email melanie.earley@rnz.co.nz

Police Scotland said the body was found just before 7.30am on Wednesday in the water near Stronsay, the closest island to Papa Stronsay.

The body was yet to be formally identified, police said, but Evans family, who were from Christchurch, had been informed.

The death was being treated as “unexplained”, police said, and an investigation was ongoing.

It said a report would be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal (a public prosecutor in Scotland).

The founder of the monastery, Father Michael Mary, earlier told RNZ it was believed Evans was suffering from “long-term hypothermia”.

He called the situtation “utterly tragic”.

Mary said Evans went by the name Brother Iganatius Maria while at the monastery and had lived there for about two years.

“We are a close community and this has hit us all very hard and is deeply hurting. We hope to find him and hope that the sea will give him up soon.”

Evans had three brothers who were all monks, Mary said, and two of them also lived on the island which at the 2022 Census had a population of just nine.

“Brother’s family are in New Zealand which only adds to the pain of loss and separation.

“This is our biggest tragedy since our arrival here in 1999,” Mary said.

A spokesperson for the order in New Zealand, also known as the Transalpine Redemptorists, said everyone in the order knew and loved Evans dearly.

“Our hearts are completely broken with the loss of this beautiful man. He loved being part of the religious family and probably would have become a priest.”

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The White Ferns have beaten an England development side by 18 runs at Chester-le-Street to open their tour of England.

After deciding to bat first in the 50-over game, New Zealand were bowled out for 200 in the 48th over.

New Zealand slipped to 49 for four when captain Amelia Kerr and Maddy Green were both dismissed for one.

However, 44 from Jess Kerr, 30 from Flora Devonshire and 22 from Izzy Sharp got the tourists through to a respectable score.

Left arm spinner Phoebe Brett took five wickets.

In reply, New Zealand were able to give most of their squad some game time with nine bowlers used.

Suzie Bates took three wickets and Rosemary Mair and Nensi Patel two each as the development side was dismissed for 182 in the 49th over.

New Zealand and England meet in three ODI and three T20 internationals starting at the same ground on Sunday.

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When Paris Lokotui ran out in last year’s ANZ Premiership grand final, she was on the brink of everything she had worked for – and quietly preparing to walk away from it.

The 24-year-old had just reached 50 domestic matches and would go on to help the Mainland Tactix secure their first premiership title.

Most netball pundits would agree it was just a matter of time before the wing defence broke into the Silver Ferns, but Lokotui chose to pursue a new path in rugby and has quickly progressed.

“I kind of had an understanding of what I wanted to do … even probably a couple of weeks leading up to the final, just in my head, although I didn’t really convey that to other people,” Lokotui said.

The Tactix lost seven players after the grand final, including three stalwarts, who were poached by the Australian league.

“I was finding out where everyone else’s movements were, that kind of gave me a better understanding of you know this was the right decision to make for myself.”

The Tactix had been in two grand finals but a domestic title had agonisingly eluded the franchise for years.

“It was just a whole lot of relief and pride that we could do it, not only for ourselves or the netball community but for Canterbury. It was really special and I don’t think it really hit me until I kind of left that setting, looking back it was definitely one of the highlights of my sporting career.”

Lokotui’s talents were identified early – she was named the 2021 Aspiring Silver Fern and made her first Silver Ferns development squad that same year.

After rupturing her ACL in 2022, she got back on court ahead of schedule when she joined the Tactix midway through the 2023 season. Later that year she was named in the Silver Ferns squad for the first time but didn’t get a debut over that 2023/24 international window.

A year later she was dropped down to the development squad, and two weeks after last year’s ANZ Premiership grand final, just missed out on the 2025/26 Silver Ferns.

In any other era, Lokotui may have become an established Silver Fern by now, but her career coincided with once-in-a-generation player Kate Heffernan.

With Heffernan the incumbent wing defence/centre slide for the Silver Ferns it was always going to be hard to find space for Lokotui, and she also had tough competition on either side of WD.

Lokotui had the ability to cover goal defence, but that was well covered by Silver Ferns WD/GD slide Karin Burger, while rookie Parris Mason could also make that transition.

Lokotui had the potential to be developed into a formidable centre, but that was taken care of between Heffernan and Maddy Gordon.

For similar reasons, despite an impressive 2025 season, there was no room for Magic WD/C slide Georgie Edgecombe either.

Still, Lokotui could have bided her time and found herself in the Silver Ferns after the 2027 World Cup cycle.

Given she was so close to breaking into the Silver Ferns, did that make it harder to walk away when she did?

“Yes and no, I think that I had played netball for a long time at a high performance level, I was in and around that environment for a long time.

“I just think that at the time, you know I had given everything that I could to the sport and I was okay with where I left netball and proud of the kind of adversity that it took to even stay in that Silver Ferns space.

“But I guess when you’ve given everything to the sport and haven’t made it as far as you’ve wanted, it was all right and I’ve kind of just accepted the fact that that’s where my career ended.”

Lokotui played several sports when she was younger. By the time she left school she had already represented New Zealand in netball (NZ Secondary Schools), basketball (Junior Tall Ferns) and water polo (New Zealand U16).

The talented sportswoman spent a season playing in Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa in 2023 and could easily have taken that path.

Lokotui said rugby could open the door to several career pathways, including sevens, which has been on the Olympic programme since 2016.

“There are a lot more avenues that you can take for rugby, there’s sevens, if you wanted to go down the league route there’s NRLW. There’s also many competitions outside of New Zealand like in Australia, in England, Japan, so there are a lot of opportunities now for women in rugby.”

It’s not the first time promising netballers have switched to the rugby codes.

Most notably, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe spent a couple of seasons in the former ANZ Championship before becoming one of rugby’s greatest female players, dominating both Sevens and 15s.

In recent years, Grace Kukutai went from ANZ Premiership netball to sevens, to Super Rugby Aupiki, and more recently playing in league’s NRLW.

Lokotui grew up around rugby. Her father is former Tongan lock Tukulua Lokotui, who went to two Rugby World Cups. Her brother Cody Lokotui was part of the Crusaders academy, and played NPC rugby for Wellington last year.

She started considering a rugby switch about two year’s ago.

“Rugby has just always been a part of my life with my Dad playing professional rugby for many years, my brother and my little sister playing it growing up. But actually leaving netball and switching to rugby was probably something I started thinking about within the last couple of years. To finally be in this position where I’m actually giving it a good crack and succeeding is really special to me.”

Lokotui won’t rule out returning to netball, but for now her focus is seeing how far she can go in rugby.

“At the moment I just really want to give rugby a good shot, whether that’s for a couple of years or 10 years, who knows.”

Her only real rugby experience until last year, was playing sevens for her college in the final two years of school with her mates.

She took her first formal step last year when she turned up to pre-season trainings with Canterbury’s wider domestic squad, and was out of her comfort zone.

“Just being in and around that environment for Canterbury FPC (Farah Palmer Cup) just trained a couple of times, just trying to get the idea of 15s.

“I think the daunting aspect was that you know I’ve never really been in a position where contact was a really big factor. But I’m the type of person who really likes to embrace challenges and this rugby community has really embraced me as well with two hands and that’s really helped me along my journey.”

Because Lokotui grew up watching so much rugby, she already had a pretty good understanding of the 15s game and the rules.

“I kind of got the gist with my brother and my Dad playing it but in terms of just trying to implement structures and the rugby-specific language that they use, that was a challenge. But I know that I’m a really fast adaptor and that’s been an aspect where I’ve tried to take it on with two hands and if I got it wrong, then I got it wrong, it’s about how I can learn from it.”

Lokotui then got her first taste of a sevens tournament format when she was named in one of four squads for the 2025 Ignite7 tournament in Tauranga at the end of last year.

Last month, Lokotui was named in the Matatū squad for the 2026 Super Rugby Aupiki season with head coach Blair Baxter describing her as an incredibly versatile athlete, with a competitive edge.

Lokotui said the rugby community had been extremely welcoming – “looking from afar before I transitioned, it was a community that you wanted to be a part of so to be in and around it now, it’s been awesome”.

Lokotui will cover both loose forward and lock for Matatū and said the improvements she had made since showing up to her first practice were huge.

“Over the past six months there’s been a whole lot of learning and just trying to make sure that the people around me can support me but not only that, just knowing how I can be a better athlete.

“It’s been a really hard six months I guess but really proud of the steps that I’ve taken and the want to be a good rugby player not only for myself but for my team-mates.”

Netball blazed a trail when it became the first professional women’s sporting league in New Zealand nearly two decades ago. But other codes have caught up with basketball, rugby, and cricket having their own semi-professional competitions now.

Lokotui said elite netball had set her up well for the Super Rugby Aupiki competition, which is coming into its fifth season.

“Just being professional at a high level, I think netball really instilled that in me quite young and to come from a sport where a lot was given to you, but a lot was demanded of you, it really prepared me for this next step to a completely new sport and that professionalism, that hard work ethic and that discipline has translated over.”

Lokotui has been getting in as much training as she can over the past few months. Matatū begin their pre-season proper this week, with Aupiki kicking off in the middle of June.

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HUALIEN, TAIWAN – Media OutReach Newswire – 6 May 2026 – The “Pacific Ocean International Festival of Rock Balancing and Arts” officially kicked off May 1st at the Qixingtan Scenic Area in Hualien. The event brings together renowned artists from Sweden, Spain, Iraq, Japan, and Turkey, collaborating with local Taiwanese creators. Through traditional rock balancing and interdisciplinary artistic concepts, the festival fosters a cross-cultural dialogue along the Pacific coastline, showcasing vibrant creative energy.

Centered on public participation, the festival features a diverse range of activities, including international art exhibitions, professional rock balancing competitions, family-friendly experiences, local markets, and hands-on workshops. Visitors are invited to engage directly with nature and create their own rock artworks. A photography contest encourages participants to capture the diverse beauty of rock stacks under varying light conditions and perspectives, while a short video competition invites creative visual storytelling.

During the preparation phase, the organizers established a strategic partnership with Scotland’s European Land Art Festival and received its official endorsement. This collaboration aims to develop Hualien into a key Asian hub for international competitions, strengthening connections with Europe and the United States.

The opening ceremony featured a unique musical performance inspired by rocks, presented by Professor Lin Tze-ying and students from Taipei National University of the Arts, alongside local Hualien students. Their performance blended the region’s distinctive natural soundscape with its rich cultural heritage.

Running through June 30, the festival transforms Qixingtan Scenic Area into a two-month outdoor art venue, inviting both domestic and international visitors to experience the enchanting intersection of art and nature between the mountains and the sea.

Hashtag: #Hualien

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

When Paris Lokotui ran out in last year’s ANZ Premiership grand final, she was on the brink of everything she had worked for – and quietly preparing to walk away from it.

The 24-year-old had just reached 50 domestic matches and would go on to help the Mainland Tactix secure their first premiership title.

Most netball pundits would agree it was just a matter of time before the wing defence broke into the Silver Ferns, but Lokotui chose to pursue a new path in rugby and has quickly progressed.

“I kind of had an understanding of what I wanted to do … even probably a couple of weeks leading up to the final, just in my head, although I didn’t really convey that to other people,” Lokotui said.

The Tactix lost seven players after the grand final, including three stalwarts, who were poached by the Australian league.

“I was finding out where everyone else’s movements were, that kind of gave me a better understanding of you know this was the right decision to make for myself.”

The Tactix had been in two grand finals but a domestic title had agonisingly eluded the franchise for years.

“It was just a whole lot of relief and pride that we could do it, not only for ourselves or the netball community but for Canterbury. It was really special and I don’t think it really hit me until I kind of left that setting, looking back it was definitely one of the highlights of my sporting career.”

Lokotui’s talents were identified early – she was named the 2021 Aspiring Silver Fern and made her first Silver Ferns development squad that same year.

After rupturing her ACL in 2022, she got back on court ahead of schedule when she joined the Tactix midway through the 2023 season. Later that year she was named in the Silver Ferns squad for the first time but didn’t get a debut over that 2023/24 international window.

A year later she was dropped down to the development squad, and two weeks after last year’s ANZ Premiership grand final, just missed out on the 2025/26 Silver Ferns.

In any other era, Lokotui may have become an established Silver Fern by now, but her career coincided with once-in-a-generation player Kate Heffernan.

With Heffernan the incumbent wing defence/centre slide for the Silver Ferns it was always going to be hard to find space for Lokotui, and she also had tough competition on either side of WD.

Lokotui had the ability to cover goal defence, but that was well covered by Silver Ferns WD/GD slide Karin Burger, while rookie Parris Mason could also make that transition.

Lokotui had the potential to be developed into a formidable centre, but that was taken care of between Heffernan and Maddy Gordon.

For similar reasons, despite an impressive 2025 season, there was no room for Magic WD/C slide Georgie Edgecombe either.

Still, Lokotui could have bided her time and found herself in the Silver Ferns after the 2027 World Cup cycle.

Given she was so close to breaking into the Silver Ferns, did that make it harder to walk away when she did?

“Yes and no, I think that I had played netball for a long time at a high performance level, I was in and around that environment for a long time.

“I just think that at the time, you know I had given everything that I could to the sport and I was okay with where I left netball and proud of the kind of adversity that it took to even stay in that Silver Ferns space.

“But I guess when you’ve given everything to the sport and haven’t made it as far as you’ve wanted, it was all right and I’ve kind of just accepted the fact that that’s where my career ended.”

Lokotui played several sports when she was younger. By the time she left school she had already represented New Zealand in netball (NZ Secondary Schools), basketball (Junior Tall Ferns) and water polo (New Zealand U16).

The talented sportswoman spent a season playing in Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa in 2023 and could easily have taken that path.

Lokotui said rugby could open the door to several career pathways, including sevens, which has been on the Olympic programme since 2016.

“There are a lot more avenues that you can take for rugby, there’s sevens, if you wanted to go down the league route there’s NRLW. There’s also many competitions outside of New Zealand like in Australia, in England, Japan, so there are a lot of opportunities now for women in rugby.”

It’s not the first time promising netballers have switched to the rugby codes.

Most notably, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe spent a couple of seasons in the former ANZ Championship before becoming one of rugby’s greatest female players, dominating both Sevens and 15s.

In recent years, Grace Kukutai went from ANZ Premiership netball to sevens, to Super Rugby Aupiki, and more recently playing in league’s NRLW.

Lokotui grew up around rugby. Her father is former Tongan lock Tukulua Lokotui, who went to two Rugby World Cups. Her brother Cody Lokotui was part of the Crusaders academy, and played NPC rugby for Wellington last year.

She started considering a rugby switch about two year’s ago.

“Rugby has just always been a part of my life with my Dad playing professional rugby for many years, my brother and my little sister playing it growing up. But actually leaving netball and switching to rugby was probably something I started thinking about within the last couple of years. To finally be in this position where I’m actually giving it a good crack and succeeding is really special to me.”

Lokotui won’t rule out returning to netball, but for now her focus is seeing how far she can go in rugby.

“At the moment I just really want to give rugby a good shot, whether that’s for a couple of years or 10 years, who knows.”

Her only real rugby experience until last year, was playing sevens for her college in the final two years of school with her mates.

She took her first formal step last year when she turned up to pre-season trainings with Canterbury’s wider domestic squad, and was out of her comfort zone.

“Just being in and around that environment for Canterbury FPC (Farah Palmer Cup) just trained a couple of times, just trying to get the idea of 15s.

“I think the daunting aspect was that you know I’ve never really been in a position where contact was a really big factor. But I’m the type of person who really likes to embrace challenges and this rugby community has really embraced me as well with two hands and that’s really helped me along my journey.”

Because Lokotui grew up watching so much rugby, she already had a pretty good understanding of the 15s game and the rules.

“I kind of got the gist with my brother and my Dad playing it but in terms of just trying to implement structures and the rugby-specific language that they use, that was a challenge. But I know that I’m a really fast adaptor and that’s been an aspect where I’ve tried to take it on with two hands and if I got it wrong, then I got it wrong, it’s about how I can learn from it.”

Lokotui then got her first taste of a sevens tournament format when she was named in one of four squads for the 2025 Ignite7 tournament in Tauranga at the end of last year.

Last month, Lokotui was named in the Matatū squad for the 2026 Super Rugby Aupiki season with head coach Blair Baxter describing her as an incredibly versatile athlete, with a competitive edge.

Lokotui said the rugby community had been extremely welcoming – “looking from afar before I transitioned, it was a community that you wanted to be a part of so to be in and around it now, it’s been awesome”.

Lokotui will cover both loose forward and lock for Matatū and said the improvements she had made since showing up to her first practice were huge.

“Over the past six months there’s been a whole lot of learning and just trying to make sure that the people around me can support me but not only that, just knowing how I can be a better athlete.

“It’s been a really hard six months I guess but really proud of the steps that I’ve taken and the want to be a good rugby player not only for myself but for my team-mates.”

Netball blazed a trail when it became the first professional women’s sporting league in New Zealand nearly two decades ago. But other codes have caught up with basketball, rugby, and cricket having their own semi-professional competitions now.

Lokotui said elite netball had set her up well for the Super Rugby Aupiki competition, which is coming into its fifth season.

“Just being professional at a high level, I think netball really instilled that in me quite young and to come from a sport where a lot was given to you, but a lot was demanded of you, it really prepared me for this next step to a completely new sport and that professionalism, that hard work ethic and that discipline has translated over.”

Lokotui has been getting in as much training as she can over the past few months. Matatū begin their pre-season proper this week, with Aupiki kicking off in the middle of June.

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The All Whites will play Haiti for the first time as one of their lead-up matches to the FIFA World Cup.

The New Zealanders take on the Caribbean side, who are ranked 83rd in the world, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on 3 June.

The match is just four days before the All Whites play England in their second warm-up game before their opening World Cup fixture against Iran nine days later.

The All Whites are ranked 85th in the world, while England are fourth.

Haiti are playing in the World Cup for the first time in 52 years, with their sole appearance being in West Germany in 1974. They qualified for this year’s Cup in dramatic fashion, needing to win their final two games and have other matches go their way. They will play Scotland, Brazil, and Morocco in their pool games.

“Since the draw, we have been working to lock in two games against fellow FIFA World Cup opposition to put us in the best place to perform at the tournament, and the combination of facing Haiti and England, both in Florida, is something we feel does exactly that,” All Whites head coach Darren Bazeley said in a statement.

“Haiti are a good side and are ranked at a similar level to us, so we feel that provides a perfect test as we get ready to kick off against Iran in LA.

“Having both games in Florida is hugely beneficial as it means we don’t lose any of our preparation time with travel days, and the players can properly rest and recover between matches.

“It is great to finally confirm the full schedule, and I know that the staff and the players can’t wait to get on the plane and get going.”

The All Whites will travel to their World Cup base camp in San Diego after the England match.

Their 26-player squad is expected to be announced within the next two weeks.

Upcoming Fixtures (NZT):

3 June

v Haiti, 12pm

Chase Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

7 June 2026

v England, 8am

Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida.

16 June 2026

World Cup

v Iran, 1pm

Los Angeles Stadium, Los Angeles.

22 June 2026

v Egypt, 1pm

BC Place, Vancouver.

27 June 2026

v Belgium, 3pm

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The Education Minister Erica Stanford has responded to critics of her controversial curriculum rewrite with a mix of conciliation and defiance.

Stanford told RNZ changes would be made to six draft curriculums but indicated major revisions were off the table, suggesting some critics had not read the documents properly.

Her comments followed several subject associations sharing submissions calling for major changes and in some cases total rewrites of five of the six documents.

The submissions followed an open letter last month from organisations with a mandate to speak for thousands of teachers and principals urging the government to halt its curriculum changes.

Stanford told RNZ there would be changes as there were with the English and maths curriculums introduced last year.

“We took a huge amount of feedback in with English and maths and we made significant changes and we’ll do that again with all of these subject areas. That’s the point of consultation,” she said.

But Stanford ruled out complete rewrites of the documents as requested by Physical Education New Zealand in its submission on the Health and PE draft.

“The PE teachers especially seem to be wanting us to push back to a very vague curriculum that’s stripped of any sort of knowledge and those important skills that need to be taught,” she said.

“We have to be really clear that it’s got to be consistent and it’s got to be knowledge-rich and it has to be scaffolded over time and we’re not going to move away from that. But if we have got some things that we’re introducing too early or there’s too much or there’s stuff that we’ve not considered we’ll certainly take that into consideration.”

Stanford said the draft curriculum specified the skills and knowledge children should learn but it left room for teachers to instill the values and understanding of movement that she said Physical Education New Zealand wanted in the document.

Timeline still being decided

She said she would make announcements about the timeline for introducing the new curriculums – currently three next year and three in 2028 – but stressed she had been taking advice on that before the Principals Federation and NZEI published their open letter calling for a pause.

“I’ve already been working with many of the principal associations for a long time around pace,” she said.

“We already rephased the pace once, or rephased the roll-out, and we’ve been talking to them about how we can potentially look at doing that again. I’m going to be making announcements in the near future about that.”

Asked to what extent timeline changes were limited by the government’s plan to introduce a new secondary school qualification to replace NCEA from 2029, Stanford said there was room for flexibility.

“We’ve done English and maths and those were the two key. There are other areas that are important for obvious reasons like science, and social science has a huge amount of knowledge in it,” she said.

“So there are some subjects that are potentially more critical… than others. It’s not that I’m saying they’re more important because I love the Arts, they were my favourite subjects at school, but when we make compromise of course we have to prioritise some things over others.”

No organisation representing teachers or principals has spoken out in support of the government’s changes, but Stanford claimed most teachers backed her.

“Schools I’ve talked to are hugely on board,” she said.

“I was at a conference on the weekend… 500 teachers and principals from around New Zealand who are there to learn about the science of learning and implementing it in their schools – hugely on board. My view is that it is a quite vocal minority that are opposed to these changes.”

Stanford said the government would provide schools with the resources they needed to introduce the new curriculums successfully, adding that the English and maths curriculums were going well despite initial pushback from some schools.

‘It is a very big change from what people are used’

Curriculum coherence group member and New Zealand Initiative researcher Michael Johnston said the opposition was noisy, but he was not sure it represented the majority of teachers and principals.

“I do think that there’s quite a distribution for how prepared schools and teachers are for the changes that are afoot,” he said.

He said the proposed curriculums were very different to what most teachers were used to.

“It is a very big change from what people are used to and when people look at it they will see far more content than they did in the previous curriculum and they might wonder how are we going to teach all this,” he said.

“That is going to be a challenge but also the curriculum is designed to be taught in a way that our teachers are perhaps not used to and it is possible using really efficient teaching methods to get a lot more done. Having said that, it’s going to take a while and I don’t think anybody’s expecting perfection on day one and neither are these drafts necessarily perfect that’s why there’s a consultation.”

Asked if middle ground could be found, Johnston said: “The consultations will be taken seriously and where there are valid criticisms I think the drafts will be changed. But again, it is a big change and a big change takes some time to get people’s heads around and I think that just has to be understood.”

Opposition to the changes appeared to be strongest in primary schools and Johnston said the Curriculum Coherence Group was concerned that the sector might be over-burdened because its teachers were generalists who had to get grips with all of the new curriculums.

“One of things that we really need is to show teachers how they can integrate teaching across the different learning areas, that they don’t have to teach it all separately,” he said.

“Teachers can’t be expected to just know that, they need to be given the resources.”

Johnston said schools were not being expected to teach the curriculums perfectly as soon as they were introduced.

“The timeline is fast but it’s also necessary,” he said.

“She’s [Education Minister Erica Stanford] made the point that every year that goes by we have more kids sold short so there is a reason for the velocity as well.

“The process has been very rapid, nobody can deny that. When England revised its curriculum it took many years. They have the luxury of a five-year political cycle, we have a three-year political cycle and like it or not, that has an influence.”

The Education Ministry’s Curriculum Centre deputy secretary Pauline Cleaver said the ministry received about 3800 submissions on the six drafts.

“Consultation is designed to gather a wide range of views, including strong criticism, and we expected people to engage strongly with the draft. Hearing all feedback is an important part of the process,” she said.

“We are now carefully working through the feedback, which is helping to identify where the draft materials need greater clarity, and where educators are seeking reassurance about how the curriculum will work in everyday classroom practice.”

Cleaver said the ministry was on track to publish the updated curriculum in the middle of the year.

“Once the feedback has been fully considered, the minister will outline the next steps, including any implications for timing and implementation,” she said.

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Teachers specialising in music, physical education, science, technology and history have slammed draft curriculums covering their subjects.

Submissions provided to RNZ say the music curriculum was unteachable, science was over-crowded and in some cases even silly, while PE needed a total rewrite.

They say combining dance and drama in the arts curriculum was problematic, and technology was confusing and unusable.

Consultation on the six drafts for Years 0-10 closed at the end of last week.

The drafts would replace a curriculum many said was too vague with documents that set out more clearly what teachers must teach at each year level, from the start of primary school through to the first two years of secondary school.

The government wants to finalise the curriculums later this year, with schools using the new science, social sciences, and health and physical education curriculums next year, and the arts, technology and learning languages from the start of 2028.

Many principals groups said the timeline was unworkable and Education Minister Erica Stanford said she would make announcements on the curriculum soon.

All submissions provided to RNZ highlighted a lack of meaningful Māori content in the drafts.

Drama New Zealand said: “There is very little, if any, indigenous knowledge in ‘performing arts’ and what is there is tokenistic.”

A submission from Bay of Plenty science teachers said the curriculum’s “guiding kaupapa of ‘excellent equitable outcomes, reflecting the Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti o Waitangi’ is not evident anywhere in the science draft”.

The New Zealand History Teachers Association said the social sciences draft breached principles derived from Te Tiriti o Waitangi, while Physical Education NZ said the draft health and physical education curriculum weakened “the bicultural foundations that underpin learning in Aotearoa New Zealand”.

Last week, the Education Ministry said it was finalising the number of submissions received.

PE ‘not fit for purpose’

Physical Education New Zealand’s submission on the draft health and physical education curriculum said the document needed a total rewrite.

“The current draft curriculum is not fit for purpose,” the submission said. “It does not require refinement, it requires complete reworking.

“Any attempt to adjust or ‘tweak’ the existing draft will result in a curriculum that is incoherent, difficult to implement and ultimately unable to deliver meaningful outcomes for ākonga.

“The issues are not peripheral. They are structural, conceptual and disciplinary.”

It listed problems including a narrow view of PE centred on performance and measurable competencies, a fragmented and underdeveloped approach to knowledge, and lack of coherence as children progressed.

“This submission is intentionally direct, because the stakes are high,” the submission said

Physical Education New Zealand managing director Heemi McDonald told RNZ the draft would take physical education back to the 1950s and 1960s, when the subject was focused on sport.

“It drives physical education back down to a skills-and-drills kind of approach,” he said. “If we look back in our past, like maybe in the 50s and the 60s, the PE curriculum was very much sports skills and drills, and the discipline has moved significantly from that time along with the world.”

McDonald said the subject had moved on significantly, and the draft failed to recognise the importance of learning about movement, identity and relationships through physical education.

For example, he said five-year-olds needed to understand how they moved, how to work with other people and skills to move through the world.

“At its most basic level, that’s what our curriculum should reflect – this idea that our bodies are moving, we move in the world with others, we move in different environments and we all have a different experience,” he said.

McDonald said sport was good, but the subject was much more than that.

“If I’m teaching a young person to develop a particular movement skill – rolling or throwing or catching – we want them to be able to see that in lots of different contexts because you’re not only going to throw and catch in softball or cricket.”

“If every child has to do netball or has to do hockey or has to do cricket, which is what the draft implies, then who are we missing out, who are the kids who are not going to engage in those things.”

“The risk… is that we end up as sports coaches as opposed to teachers.”

He said PENZ supported a more prescriptive curriculum that made clearer what teachers should teach.

Technology – significant issues

Technology Education New Zealand’s submission said its members raised significant problems with the draft technology curriculum.

“Feedback consistently highlights significant structural, pedagogical, cultural and practical issues that require attention to ensure the curriculum is clear, equitable, implementable and able to meet the needs of all ākonga,” it said.

“A core concern is that the curriculum’s overall purpose feels vague and insufficiently defined. Many teachers report difficulty understanding the intended outcomes, the role of design thinking, and how the learning area supports both practical and academic pathway.

“Confusion is further amplified by inconsistent or unclear use of terminology, uneven expectations across year levels and complexity that escalates sharply between phases. Many describe the structure as poorly sequenced and lacking coherence across Years 1-10.”

The submission said members were also unhappy with the curriculum’s approximate allocation of an hour a week for the subject in Years 0-8 and 1.5 hours a week in Years 9-10.

Association chair Hamish Johnston told RNZ the draft had many big problems.

He said some technology areas had been squished together to make unviable subjects and the curriculum’s recommended time allocation for technology was badly conceived.

At Years 7-10, areas such as textiles, hard materials, food and biotechnology had been combined to a single ‘Materials and Processing Strand’.

“The classroom spaces where they would be taught, the teacher expertise to teach those things, putting them all in one subject together does not seem viable,” he said.

Johnston said the curriculum expected too much in some areas and recommended far too little time for technology – about 1.5 hours a week.

“The issue with the timing is it reduces certain subjects to an amount of time that would not allow deep and meaningful teaching,” he said.

Johnston said many schools allowed about three hours a week for each of the eight learning areas, but the new curriculums set aside more time for English and maths, and less for other subjects.

He said the sector had put up with about eight years of change and impending change, and it was burning through teachers.

Arts’ near-total absence of creativity

Drama New Zealand’s submission said combining dance and drama as performing arts was “problematic and devalues both disciplines”.

“There is very little, if any, indigenous knowledge in ‘performing arts’ and what is there is tokenistic,” it said.

“The draft curriculum does not reflect research and evidence for sound curriculum design for arts education, especially drama and dance internationally.”

Meanwhile, Music Education New Zealand Aotearoa’s submission said the music part of the curriculum was too focused on formal music lessons, with next-to-no mention of creativity or love of music.

“The draft curriculum, as written, is not deliverable in the majority of primary school contexts, without fundamental changes to resourcing, teacher capability and time allocation,” it said.

Association chair Kat Daniela said the curriculum would worsen existing inequities, because it required trained music teachers and could not be taught by generalist primary teachers.

“We have students who move into secondary school having never had any dedicated curriculum music time and then we have others who have had really rich music experiences,” she said. “Our concern is that the divides that already exist, and that lack of access and equity would be further widened.”

Daniela said the curriculum had to teachable by regular teachers.

“It has to be available for generalist teachers,” she said. “They have to have the ability to be able to teach, it because we don’t have a huge number of music specialists.”

Daniela said the draft also contained many basic errors, which the association assumed the Education Ministry would fix.

Science ‘just silly’

A submission from Bay Science, an organisation for teachers in Bay of Plenty, said a survey indicated 80 percent of its members believed the draft science curriculum had “far too much content” and 84 percent wanted significant changes.

Teachers’ notes on the draft said much of the content was too advanced for the age it was aimed at and primary schools did not have the required equipment.

Comments included “way too early for this” and “difficult concept at this level”, while mention of Greek scientist Theophrastus for Year 1 students was labelled “just silly” and “ridiculous”.

The submission said the draft was not internationally comparable, had knowledge gaps and did not honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Intermediate school science specialist John Marsh told RNZ he liked a lot of the content, but worried that it lacked New Zealand flavour and would require a lot of support for teachers.

“I think there’s some really nice pieces in it, but it it does have some flaws,” he said. “The thing I really like about it is very clear principles, theories and exemplars, which I think will be very useful.

“It’s been aligned to the UK and some of the USA curricula, so international curricula, and that’s good and bad. It’s nice to be able to kind of make a connection, but I think we have missed out on making it New Zealand’s curriculum.”

Marsh said, in the past 12 years, New Zealand schools had emphasised the “nature of science”, meaning the skills and approaches scientists used to investigate problems and make observations, but the draft had dropped that completely.

“I think that’s a mistake,” he said.

Marsh said UK and US primary schools tended to employ science specialist teachers, unlike New Zealand, where science specialists were a rarity.

“A lot of overseas programmes are textbook-driven,” he said. “I have taught in textbook systems in Ireland and England, and it was pretty boring.

“I’m not sure if going towards a a more book-driven or content knowledge, especially in the primary sector, is going to be as engaging for our kids, because New Zealand kids like doing things, they like pulling stuff apart, observing, discussing amongst themselves and that sort of thing.”

Social sciences

The NZ History Teachers Asssociation’s submission on the draft social sciences curriculum said the document needed significant changes.

“The design, as it stands, will undermine effective teaching and student learning, and substantive revision is required,” it said.

“This draft curriculum is full of distortion and obfuscation that will harm Māori students, and has a eurocentric positionality. So much content is included that the concern is not that New Zealand history is absent from the new curriculum, but that it will be taught in a cursory and monocultural manner, re-inforcing outdated misconceptions and myths.”

The submission said the government was making too much change too fast.

“The pace of curriculum change is unreasonable, has layered multiple demands on schools and kura, and has created huge workloads on the sector. This will have significant negative impacts, including impacting on the recruitment and retention of teachers.”.

The submission said the draft’s teaching of history in a chronological sequence was a mistake.

“The curriculum describes what comes next, but not how learning deepens or what students should be increasingly able to do. This creates a fragmented experience of disconnected topics, rather than a cumulative pathway of understanding.”

It also said the curriculum did not meet the ‘Science of Learning’ principles that supposedly underpinned it.

“The draft references principles aligned with the Science of Learning, but does not enable them in practice. This is a fundamental design flaw.

“Cognitive load is too high: Dense, unprioritised content introduces too many new ideas simultaneously, limiting retention.”

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Analysis: NZ Warriors coach Andrew Webster has broken from tradition, giving his under-siege halves combination a ringing endorsement to continue their work, after steering their team to a 36-14 win over Parramatta Eels.

“I don’t normally select teams in the press conference after the game,” he told media… but then he did.

Make no mistake, Tanah Boyd and Chanel Harris-Tavita have done nothing to deserve the axe during a four-game winning streak – and that’s the point.

With marquee signing Luke Metcalf now recovered from injury and sitting unused on the interchange, Webster was responding to questions over when the former Dally M leader might re-enter the starting line-up.

“They deserve to stay there, they’ve done a good job,” he said of Boyd and Harris-Tavita. “We’re just picking the team on form.

“Luke’s done nothing wrong, he’s a good player and, if the opportunity comes, he’ll take it.

“Right now, this is the best thing for the team and those two deserve it.”

With the Warriors now on a bye week, the incumbents seem safe in their jerseys, until injury or a severe lapse of form dictate otherwise.

Here’s what else we learnt from the win over Parramatta.

Best player

Front-rower Jackson Ford just continued to build on his growing reputation with another yeoman effort that saw him make 50 tackles, run for 178 metres and score a try in another 80-minute effort.

“I thought he was a bit soft, he went off,” Webster joked, before giving Ford a big State of Origin plug. “I’d pick him for sure, they would be mad not to.

“We love him and we want our players to play rep football. We want them to play for New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, New South Wales… preferably not Queensland, but if Kurt [Capewell] plays the way he played tonight, he’ll get himself picked too.”

Wing Alofiana Khan-Pereira scored his third straight try double for the Warriors and has now gathered 59 tries across his 58-game NRL career. His speed to the corner for his first try was eye-popping.

The other Warriors middles – James Fisher-Harris and Erin Clark – both acquitted themselves well, while Roger Tuivasa-Sheck topped run metres (201) from centre, and was rewarded with a try and almost another, when he lost the ball over the line.

Key moment

Eels five-eighth Ronald Volkman has just scored his second try to bring his side within four points, when Erin Clark came back on the field for his second stint of the night.

The 2025 Dally M Lock of the Year has been warming to his task in recent games and his playmaking skills give his team a decided edge in the middle of the park.

Clark immediately got his hands on the ball and sent second-rower Jacob Laban on a run towards the line, before sliding into first receiver. He ran hard towards the posts, committing a couple of defenders with his body language, before finding Ford on his left shoulder with an open path to the line.

Boyd slotted the conversion from in front, triggering an 18-0 run that finished off plucky Parramatta.

Best try

Clark also featured in two previous tries, linking with Fisher-Harris in midfield in the build-up to Khan-Pereira’s first effort in the left corner and then providing momentum with a quick play-the-ball, as Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scored on the other side of the park.

The second again highlighted the impact of Taine Tuaupiki from fullback, as he entered the line outside Boyd, swerved in and then out, wrongfooting the defence, before finding his wing cutting inside with a cheeky back flick pass.

The Warriors have the luxury of two wings in redhot form right now, but Watene-Zelezniak blotted his form book in the second half, when Eels fullback Joash Papalii spilled a kick on his goal-line, but DWZ botched a simple pick-up with an open line ahead.

Injuries etc

The bye round couldn’t come at a better time for hooker Wayde Egan, who has absorbed his usual amount of damage through the opening two months of the season, but could not pass a concussion check during the first half against Parramatta.

He actually seemed in trouble early, but lasted half an hour, before making way for Sam Healey.

Egan would have missed next week, but now gets to rest up and recover for their next fixture.

Front-rower Tanner Stowers-Smith was initially named on the bench, but could not shrug off the hamstring niggle that has now kept him sidelined for three games. He’s obviously close and should be back after the bye.

Instead, Eddie Ieremia-Toeava enjoyed some extended gametime (36 minutes), running 11 times for 96 metres and making 20 tackles, while Kayliss Fatialofa had a sniff of first grade, unused on the interchange.

Metcalf also sat idle on the bench, covering any backline injuries. He desperately needs gametime, but the reserves also have an NSW Cup bye next week, so he won’t get it there.

Parramatta Eels

Obviously, injury-plagued Parramatta have struggled this season and they now slide to 3-6, continuing to leak points at an alarming rate. They have now let through an average of 35 points a game, more than any other team in the league.

From a handy angle, Mitch Moses hit the left upright with his conversion of Ronald Volkman’s second try and that relatively regulation kick seemed to take the wind out of any momentum they had built.

They were their own worst enemies, shooting themselves in the foot time and time again. During the first half, they gave away two penalties for obstructing kick chases.

In the second, they had the Warriors pinned deep in their own half, but Volkman put undue pressure on kicker Boyd, conceding a penalty that allowed their opponents to escape upfield, where Boyd slotted an important two points to steady the nerves.

“I don’t think the scoreline reflected the fight and effort we displayed tonight,” coach Jason Ryles pleaded. “A lot of our fundamental errors – escort penalties and pressure penalties – hurt us, after we’d done good things.

“We can’t keep continually putting ourselves under pressure with those fundamental errors.”

Parramatta face high-flying North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville next week

What the result means

Their fourth straight win propels the Warriors to the top of the competition table, although trailing Penrith Panthers on points differential.

The Panthers face Manly Sea Eagles on Sunday, but they would need to lose by 60 points to concede their position.

The Warriors have now scored more points (278) than any other team this season, although they have only five more than Penrith, who have that game in hand.

Importantly, the 22-point margin of victory this week boosts their points differential to +108, with Wests Tigers (+82) and South Sydney Rabbitohs (+72) breathing down their necks in that regard. Both those teams will play three more times, before the Warriors return to the field again.

Victory sees them match their record to this point last season (7-2), which was also the best start through nine rounds in their history. That run extended to 8-2, before it was snapped by Canberra Raiders in round 12.

What’s next

Warriors players and staff can enjoy a few days off, before they start preparing for their next assignment – the champion Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium for ‘Magic Round’ on Sunday, 17 May.

“Nine games is a good time for a bye to freshen up a bit and then go again,” Webster said. “It’s a challenge for us to come out the other side better – not just hold our form, but come out a better team.

“I don’t think we’ve handled byes as well as we’d like in the past.”

Webster’s Warriors are 4-4 after byes over the past three seasons and will want to improve on that return.

The Broncos have not kicked on from their comeback win in last year’s grand final, but threatened to erase a 30-point deficit against Sydney Roosters later on Saturday, before succumbing 38-24.

Their 5-4 record matches where they were last year, before they won 13 of their last 15 games to finish fourth on the table and take the championship.

Shockingly, ‘Magic Round’ counts as a Warriors home game, which means they will have to face the defending champions twice in Brisbane this season.

The NRL just keeps finding new ways to stick it to the Kiwis.

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Another week, another player free agency question for NZ Warriors coach Andrew Webster.

One of the many sideshows provided by the NRL is the seemingly non-stop procession of off-contract players trying to secure their futures with rival clubs, while also supposedly devoting themselves to the task immediately at hand – helping their current club to a championship.

Some fans see this as part of the entertainment, others as an unwanted distraction or even a conflict of interest.

This week’s fairly substantiated rumours involve Warriors five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tavita in discussions with North Queensland Cowboys over a possible move next season.

Harris-Tavita is currently battling with Tanah Boyd and Luke Metcalf for his starting spot in the halves, while Te Maire Martin, Luke Hanson and Jett Cleary are also breathing down his neck.

His form during the Warriors’ 6-2 start to the season has been compelling.

In the opening win over Sydney Roosters, he scored two tries, but was knocked out early in the following game and missed the third under concussions protocols. He was benched for the only two losses of the campaign, but returned when Metcalf tweaked a hamstring and starred in a historic win over Melbourne Storm.

Despite Metcalf’s return from injury this week, Webster has retained the status quo, but exactly where Harris-Tavita fits into the equation beyond 2026 is still unknown.

“That’s a private conversation we’d have with Chanel,” Webster said. “We love him and we don’t want him to leave, but we’ll see how it continues to play out.”

If that sounds familiar, the coach expressed very similar sentiments just days before four-time Simon Mannering Medal winner and former club captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck confirmed he was heading to England next season.

Cowboys coach Todd Payten knows Harris-Tavita well from his tenure as Warriors assistant and interim head coach, when Stephen Kearney was sacked during Covid exile across the Tasman, so a reunion doesn’t seem that farfetched.

The Cowboys are currently well served by Queensland Origin star Tom Dearden and Jake Clifford in the halves, but there are doubts over the latter’s future with the club.

“I obviously knew he’s off contract,” Webster said of Harris-Tavita. “He’s been off contract since 1 November, so I know it’s a busy period for every player off contract.

“Chanel and I are in dialogue around it. Communication’s been good, I’ll say that, but I don’t know the ins and outs of it from an external point of view.

“I just know that we continue to have conversations.”

The term “off contract” is slightly misleading. Harris-Tavita is still contracted for this season, but last November, he was allowed to start talking to other clubs on the open market.

“I just need to keep playing my best footy – and I think that’s still ahead of me – and let the agent take care of everything else,” he deflected two weeks ago.

Luckily, Webster tends to avoid scrolling social media, but the thought of Harris-Tavita heading elsewhere is breaking the hearts of ‘Wahs’ faithful, who have embraced him as a fan favourite, since he ruptured a testicle in service of their team in 2022.

He brought up his century of games for the club last week against the Dolphins.

“I’m having conversations with him, me personally, but I don’t like to play recruitment out in the media,” Webster insisted.

“I understand it. At the end of the day, players are off contract on 1 November and we have so many halfbacks in that situation, so we all need to sit and wait and see how the season unfolds.

“A week in rugby league is a long time, let alone six months, and we’re at the halfway point from 1 November – it’ll work itself out.”

At times like this, Webster’s priority must be keeping his team focused on the next game and taking the emotion out of contract negotiations that may leave players feeling slighted by their club.

“I don’t think they spit the dummy, I just think they have to look after their interests,” he said. “It’s their business, and they have to put food on the table and pay the mortgage.

“I just understand it and no-one’s spat the dummy. I don’t think we’ve had anyone spit the dummy here that’s left our club … maybe one or two.

“If you have open dialogue and you chat, it’s just the business side of it.”

Metcalf led the Dally M Medal standings last year, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury, and extending his contract became a clear priority for the club during the off-season. He is now committed until the end of 2028.

Boyd is also in the final year of a two-year deal, but his outstanding performances this season have really turned the halves rotation on its head. He leads the competition in kicks and kick metres, and slotted a conversion from near the sideline for victory against the Dolphins.

Martin played five-eighth for North Queensland in the 2017 NRL grand final, but is possibly the most dispensable of the leading contenders, while Cleary – son of former Warriors coach Ivan and brother of Penrith Panthers superstar Nathan – is biding his time in reserve grade, before his inevitable elevation to first grade.

Meantime, Webster has learned not to tinker with a winning combination, with Metcalf currently consigned to the interchange bench against Parramatta Eels on Saturday.

“I think it’s been clear, at the moment, we’re just rewarding the team that’s playing well,” he said. “Luke’s back this week, but we’ve rewarded Boydy and Chanel.

“They all have a part to play at different stages, and it’ll work itself out through form and the rugby league gods – they always pull you into line at the right time.

“I thought it was a really good time [for Metcalf] to come back last time. We had had a lack of continuity around that six spot for a while, through head knocks and injury.

“Luke Hanson debuted against the Knights, so it was a good time to put [Metcalf] back in, but unfortunately, through injury, it didn’t work out.

“How we integrate him will be based on circumstances – form, winning, injuries. I’m just going to play it by ear.

“I always find, when I plan ahead, it goes the other way anyway, so I just stay openminded.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Attributable to Senior Sergeant Craig Ellison:

Police investigating a crash in Christchurch at the start of April are seeking witnesses to the crash to assist with our enquiries.

At 5:40pm on 1 April, Police were called to a crash involving a car and an electric motorbike on Woodham Road, Avonside between England Street and Patten Street.

One person sustained serious injuries in the crash, the car involved, believed to be a silver-coloured vehicle, had left the scene upon Police arrival.

Police would like to hear from anybody who witnessed the crash, or anyone with dashcam or CCTV footage of the crash, or a silver vehicle in or around the area at the time of the crash.

If you have any information that could assist Police, please contact 105, either over the phone or online, and reference the file number 260404/2947.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

MIL OSI

Black Caps all-rounder Mitchell Santner will miss the rest of the Indian Premier League with a shoulder injury.

Santner initially injured the shoulder playing for Mumbai Indians earlier this month however he returned to action only to aggravate it at the weekend.

He was left clutching his shoulder after attempting a diving catch on the boundary while playing against Chennai Super Kings.

The injury is described as significant.

Santner had featured in four matches this season, picking up five wickets.

He has been replaced in the Mumbai squad by South African left arm spinner Keshav Maharaj.

The Mumbai Indians are ninth on the IPL table with two wins from seven games.

The Black Caps’ next tour is a three-test series against England in June.

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A trio of Christchurch flatmates have become amateur detectives tracking down and reclaiming a trolley load of belongings stolen from their house in a burglary.

The Waltham flatmates, two from a small Scottish village and the other from Northern Ireland, came home last week to find their place ransacked and a number of items stolen. They called the police, but after a tip-off from a neighbour decided to take on the case themselves.

One of the flatmates, Sarah Campbell, told Checkpoint she found the house where the thieves had taken the trolley, and phoned the other flatmates to meet her at the address.

“The girls came round and one lady walked out of the house, kitted out in Charlotte’s [one of the flatmates] clothes. She’s got the cameras strapped on, Charlotte’s lovely Uggs.

“So the two girls went and basically removed all the items from her, and I went into the house to find a couple of men and another lady rifling through our underwear and things.”

Campbell said the trio then decided to try the “good cop, bad cop” method.

“The two girls, they’re strong, powerful women and they went for that bad cop, ‘look, give us the stuff back, don’t mess’. And I went for the pretend to be best pals with the criminals, cosy in and then sneak everything out.”

While turning up at a potential criminals house might fill some with dread, Campbell said their “hardcore accents from the backwaters of Scotland”, along with Charlotte’s Northern Irish accent meant “people aren’t messing when they hear our voices”.

“Even the hardest criminals, they’re going to be running.”

Campbell said the residents at the house immediately gave their stuff back, and they even unscrewed their rings from the fingers of the thieves.

“They just rolled over for us.”

Among the stolen goods the trio recovered, included passports, sentimental jewellery, items from grandparents, laptops and even medication.

When they returned home with the stolen goods, Campbell said the police were “kind of eyes wide open that we’d done our own search and recovery”.

And while they didn’t receive a telling off from the police for undertaking their own detective work, the police did say their methods were “very unconventional”.

Campbell also said the local community has helped since the robbery.

“I’ve had colleagues offer me their husbands, their dogs, their homes, their cameras, you name it.”

While the trio are in New Zealand on work visas, the incident had not given them a dim view of Aotearoa.

“We just love New Zealand. We love Fairlie Pies, Kiwi dip, the Kumara races, Dave Dobbyn. It’s a slice of heaven here.

“It is traumatising, it is shaking, but we’re grateful and thankful for good Kiwis.”

While most of the items were recovered, Campbell said one yellow Croc is missing, and offered a reward if it is found.

“Your next pie is on us.”

Police said there were a number of burglaries on Campbell’s street on the same day, and advise to always put your safety first and call 111 if you’re concerned for your safety.

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Wellington Phoenix goalkeeper Vic Esson says it “cut deep” that the team does not already have silverware this season.

The Phoenix finished the A-League season in second place and will play Brisbane Roar in a two-legged semi-final kicking off this weekend.

After seven seasons in Europe, including three seasons in Glasgow where she won five trophies, the shot stopper knows what it takes to be a winner and she felt the Phoenix let an opportunity slip this season.

“Since we were so close to first, and I think we had the ability to take first place for the regular season, it definitely cut deep that we weren’t able to do that.

“But here we are in a position where we can try and win some silverware and as we lead up to the semi-final I think we’ve just got to knuckle down and know that we can win this thing.

“We’ve really just got to believe in ourselves.”

Losses to Central Coast and to Western Sydney late last month left Esson “not a little bit, actually a lot disappointed”.

The defeats were “the nail on the coffin” for the Phoenix and ultimately handed Melbourne City a third consecutive minor premiership for finishing top spot after the regular season.

Despite the Football Fern’s disappointment it was the best finish ever for the Phoenix.

When Esson signed with the Phoenix at the start of the season, Bev Priestman had yet to be officially announced as head coach but Esson liked the vision of the club and the competitiveness of the A-League.

Esson cemented her place in goal this season, starting 19 of the team’s 20 games, and was key to the Phoenix claiming the best defensive record in the league.

“It’s very transitional, so it is exciting for a goalkeeper because it keeps you on your toes,” Esson said of the A-League.

“I think as the season’s gone on, I’ve probably gained more consistency amongst my performances, I’d say.

“Hopefully we can continue that on and finish the season on a high.”

Esson was quick to point to it being a team effort in defence.

“We defend from strikers all the way back to the goalkeeper and we pride ourselves in our defence.

“I don’t know what the stats are for shots conceded, but I think they’d be pretty good in our favour, that’s a credit to the defence, especially in our blocking shots and denying opportunities. That’s huge because once it gets past the defenders, anything can happen.”

The Phoenix overcame an injury-hit first half of the season to push on in the second half and now be within reach of a first Grand Final appearance.

“I look back at some of the earlier losses we had in the season and we’ve been able to flip it and make sure that we didn’t turn that into a losing streak.

“There’s a decent amount of talent in the room. We all know we can play football.

“We’ve had good games and bad games this season, but I think the games where we have really dominated are the games which everyone’s applied themselves to the principles that we want to play by.”

Esson experienced finals football in Scotland, with success, but many of her team mates have not been playing for trophies in club football before.

She said Priestman’s knowledge gained from coaching at Football World Cups and Olympics would be crucial when the pressure of finals hit.

“We’re very lucky with Bev, she’s been in some very high performance environments and high stress environments. So she definitely lays down the foundation for us for what to expect and what’s to come and trying to help us to perform at our best.

“There’s leaders in the team, for sure, who try and bring the group along with them but I think we’re in a good position with Bev and what she’s done in the past.”

The Phoenix are away to Brisbane in the first leg of the semi-final on Sunday and host the second leg at Porirua Park on 10 May.

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Spin-bowling all-rounders Flora Devonshire, Nensi Patel, and batters Emma McLeod and Izzy Sharp will make their first international tour after winning inclusion in the White Ferns squad for next month’s ODI series in England.

The foursome, all in their early 20s, featured in the ODI home series wins over Zimbabwe and South Africa this summer and face a sterner test of their skills in three matches against the second-ranked women’s team in the format.

Devonshire was named in last year’s Cricket World Cup squad but returned home without playing a game after injuring a finger during training.

Melie Kerr is captain of a side which also includes senior players Bates, Maddy Green, and Brooke Halliday.

Bates’ will bring the curtain down on a 181-match ODI career, having announced last week she’ll retire after the T20 World Cup in June-July.

Coach Ben Sawyer liked the balance in his 15-strong squad.

“We’ve got some exciting young talent in this squad with the likes of Emma, Izzy, Nensi, and Flora, alongside our core group of seasoned campaigners,” he said.

“Our younger players are finding their feet in international cricket but they’ve proved they have what it takes to succeed at this level.”

The team will play a warm-up match against an ECB development 11 on May 6 before ODIs in Durham, Northampton and Cardiff.

The squad for the T20 leg series in England and the subsequent T20 World Cup will be named on Wednesday.

White Ferns ODI squad:

Melie Kerr (capt), Suzie Bates, Flora Devonshire, Izzy Gaze, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Bree Illing, Polly Inglis, Jess Kerr, Emma McLeod, Rosemary Mair, Nensi Patel, Molly Penfold, Georgia Plimmer, Izzy Sharp

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The roof at Te Kaha brought a bumper atmosphere inside the stadium during Super Rugby Pacific’s ‘Super Round’ – but it also brought the heat.

The toughest conditions to play in this weekend no doubt occurred during the mid-afternoon Sunday match between the Highlanders and Moana Pasifika.

Highlanders skipper Ethan De Groot said things got hot under the roof.

“Yeah, it was hot, especially a midday game,” he said. “Bit of a greenhouse, but nah, awesome stadium.

“Almost as good as Forsyth Barr,” he chuckled.

Little reprieve was offered for the Chiefs and Drua kicking off at 4.30pm.

Players were visibly exhausted at the end of a frenetically paced match.

Two Drua players, who did not want to be named, said they struggled with the slippery ball and humidity, but they did not want this used as an excuse, particularly as they were scheduled to play indoors against Wales on Fiji’s tour to Europe in June.

Hurricanes midfielder Jordie Barrett played in the 5pm Saturday fixture and said the environment did make handling tricky.

“It’s got a different feel to Forsyth Barr, almost more like a European stadium, not as much airflow, quite humid and the ball gets a little more slippery.”

Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph commended his men for enduring the elements and grinding out the win over Moana 27-17.

“Just a real arm wrestle, a real sticky game,” he said. “I felt we created a lot of opportunities that we couldn’t actually finish off and kept the opposition in the game.

“Finding a way to win in a really difficult game like that is really important, so I’m fortunate to be on the right side of that. The players were being put under a lot of pressure right to the very end, so it was nice to get a win.”

A heart-in-the-mouth moment for Joseph was surely the premature celebration of winger Adam Lennox, which very nearly cost them a try.

The halfback-cum-winger raised an arm in the air, as he approached the line, but was caught from behind and managing to grass it with a desperate fight.

Joseph said he wouldn’t give Lennox a hard word.

“No, we’ve got to do more of that I reckon.”

Lennox had seized his opportunity in recent weeks, he said.

“When he gets a sniff, if he breaks a line, he’s gone. That’s a point of difference for him as a rugby player and something good for the team, but we’ve got some really good high-quality No.9s, so it’s a competitive position.”

Sunday’s win was crucial for their season, Joseph said.

“Coming off a couple of really tight losses against teams in the top half of the competition was hurting, because the boys played really well at times, enough to probably win those games, and fell short.

“Get a win under our belt, jump on the plane, get over to Fiji and have another crack.”

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Despite an inconceivable build-up to the Commonwealth Games in July, Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua is feeling buoyant about her side’s chances at the pinnacle event.

It’s unprecedented on many fronts, not least because when the Silver Ferns finally get together in early July for a three-day camp, it will be the first time in 18 months Taurua gets to be face to face with her players.

In September, Taurua and her coaching team were suspended over concerns about the high-performance environment, sparked by player complaints.

Taurua was reinstated 51 days later but the saga played out in the public domain for weeks and eventually led to resignations at the very top of the sport.

Taurua did not coach a single Test in 2025 but was excited by what she saw.

“I was really pleased, considering what had happened and where they were I thought and through the leadership of Karin [Burger] were able to combine really well and put performances out there that were above average,” Taurua said.

“I also know where the opposition is at …four or five teams that can actually win gold so we’ve just got to get ourselves together and be really focussed on our strategy but I’m really excited by what I saw last year.”

Yvette McCausland-Durie stepped in as interim coach and oversaw a series sweep against South Africa in September.

The Silver Ferns then drew the Constellation Cup series 2-2 with Australia before the world champions pipped them in the series decider.

The Silver Ferns finished their tour to the UK with a 2-1 series win over England, their last hit-out before the Commonwealth Games.

Last month, Taurua caught up with the Silver Ferns currently playing in the Australian league at their respective Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) franchises.

Last week she spent time at the Steel where she connected with national squad members, and plans to get around the other ANZ Premiership franchises in the next two weeks.

During the busy 2025 international window, defenders Catherine Hall and Carys Stythe got their debuts, as did shooters Martina Salmon and Filda Vui.

While Taurua has pored over the footage, she didn’t gain the kind of intel that you can only get when you’re on the ground; like how do the players respond to direction, how do players apply themselves in training?

There is no time for trials. The national selectors will pick the team on 1st June, meaning ANZ Premiership players have only got to round eight of the competition to impress.

“We don’t have long, which is why we have to condense everything down and that’s to meet the New Zealand Olympic Committee deadline. It’s very challenging but also really exciting because these games now are really going to count for athletes.”

The national selection panel consists of Adrianne Hayes, Leigh Gibbs, Jo Morrison, Gael Nagaiya and Taurua herself.

“We select on past and current performances so that might be whether they’ve been in the black dress or ANZ to where they are now, what are the shifts that have happened in between.

“We also look at the combinations, so how they compliment with somebody else as a unit. We look at the positional balance so making sure we can cover all positions and if somebody goes down then we’ve got another person who can come in.

“We also look at preparation so how are they in regards to injuries, can they handle seven games in nine days so we look at a myriad of factors.”

The biggest question mark is around the goal attack position.

Former captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio is widely considered the best goal attack in the country but made herself unavailable last year. It’s also not known if Te Paea Selby-Rickit, who is playing in Australia, will put her name forward.

But Taurua is pleased that Georgia Heffernan saw good court time in that position in the later stages of the international window, while Salmon and Vui also had a taste in the GA bib.

“And Amelia Walmsley, they all got a go at goal attack, so it’s going to be interesting how they progress during ANZ. With that goal attack position we were able to see new people take the court so that was promising.”

On Friday, Australian coach Briony Akle was named Taurua’s assistant coach 13 weeks out from the Glasgow Games.

The Silver Ferns get together for a three-day camp on the 5th July after players finish their respective domestic seasons.

They will then fly to the UK, where they will first base themselves in Manchester for a six day camp.

“We’ll have a couple of games that we’re just organising at the moment, it equates to something like 12 hours on training court for us, which is enough if we’re really clear about what we’re doing.”

Silver Ferns avoid ‘vicious’ pool

The Silver Ferns have been drawn in the same pool as fourth ranked Jamaica. The big question mark around the Sunshine Girls are which shooters will be there.

The world’s most prolific shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Nembard has recently given birth but veteran Romelda Aiken-George has come back from the brink of retirement to fill her compatriot’s shoes in the Australian netball league.

Aiken-George is in some of the best form of her career. There is also Shimona Nelson, who is a weapon for the Melbourne Mavericks in the SSN, but hasn’t made herself available for the Sunshine Girls in recent times.

“We don’t know who will be there at the back, but we do know it will be a big target in that goal shoot position. And we know defensively they are lethal, they will be dynamite.”

In the other pool are the defending gold medallists Australia, along with England, who are ranked third in the world, and a quickly improving South Africa.

South Africa pulled off a 2-1 series win over England in February. Last month, the England Roses coach suddenly stepped down, four months out from the Commonwealth Games.

Taurua describes that pool as “vicious”.

“One of those teams has to go and I think where South Africa are, with Elmeré van der Berg making her SSN debut this year – she is on point. I’ve been watching some of the games in the UK league and a lot of the Proteas who played the Silver Ferns last year, have progressed.”

Their opening match is against hosts Scotland on July 25th.

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Police investigating a “grievous assault” that happened in Dunedin on Saturday morning are appealing to the public for information.

Police were called to an address on Heriot Row at about 8am to a report that someone had been assaulted with a weapon.

Detective Sergeant Matthew Harris of Dunedin CIB said the victim left the address on foot and was found by police nearby.

They were transported to hospital by ambulance in serious condition, he said.

“One person, who is known to the victim, was taken into custody and we are not seeking anyone else in relation to this matter.”

Enquiries were ongoing to determine what exactly occurred and police would like to hear from anyone who may have information about the incident, he said.

Police would also like to hear from anyone who had CCTV or dashcam footage from the Heriot Row and Scotland Street areas between 7.30am and 9am Saturday.

“We would especially like to speak with the members of the public who stopped to assist the victim before emergency services arrived,” Harris said.

Those individuals or anyone who might be able to assist police with the investigation should get in touch through their 105 service either online or over the phone, referencing file number 260425/4875.

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