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Manly Warringah Sea Eagles

The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). The club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League season and currently host the majority of their home games from Brookvale Oval in Brookvale, while training at the New South Wales Academy of Sport in Narrabeen and their Centre of Excellence in Brookvale. The team colours are maroon and white, and are commonly known as Manly.

The club has competed in either the NSWRL, ARL, or NRL competitions in all respective seasons from 1947 until 1999. At the end of 1999 they entered into a joint venture with the North Sydney Bears to form the Northern Eagles, which Rugby League statisticians regard as a separate club. The Northern Eagles competed in the 2000 and 2001 NRL seasons, after which the joint venture collapsed. The Manly Warringah club (who held the NRL licence) competed in the NRL as the Northern Eagles for a further season in 2002, before abandoning the name and identity to return to what they are known as today.

Since winning their first premiership in 1972, the club has won a further seven first grade titles, with their most recent being in 2011. The club's eight titles span five consecutive decades. Since their first Grand Final appearance in 1951, the club has appeared in 19 Grand Finals across seven consecutive decades.

History
By the mid-1940s, the movement to expand rugby league in Sydney had gained serious momentum and Manly, as with all the other Sydney district rugby clubs, endured internal agonies as the new "League" was considered. In 1946, Manly Warringah defeated North Sydney 12-8 in the Presidents Cup Grand Final which helped the club gain momentum in pushing for inclusion into the NSWRL competition.

The NSWRL finally accepted Manly's application on the 4 November 1946 after two unsuccessful bids in 1937 and 1944. Along with Parramatta, they were granted admission to the 1947 competition. It was North Sydney themselves who had the most to lose from Manly entering the league but they advocated for a team to be on the Northern Beaches. Norths believed Manly's inclusion in the competition would provide a far better platform for Rugby League to gain a hold over Rugby Union in the peninsula area.

North Sydney endured an exodus of players to the newly formed team with 20 Manly juniors returning to play for their local club in their first season. Norths lost half of their games in 1947, before spending the next four seasons towards the bottom of the ladder.

Manly immediately adopted the maroon and white colours they had used for their Presidents Cup team since its inception and borrowed originally from the Freshwater SLSC of which Ken Arthurson and other players were members. For their emblem they chose the sea eagle – the native bird of prey of the Sydney coastline. Although a number of media writers referred to Manly as the "sea gulls", the club maintains that it has always officially been the Sea Eagles.

Manly's first premiership game was against Western Suburbs at Brookvale Oval on Saturday 12 April 1947. Max Whitehead, who had first played for Norths in 1942 and was a member of their 1943 Grand Final team, was Manly's first captain. Whitehead was a big barrel-chested second rower who was used by Bonds as the model for their iconic "Chesty Bond" character. Their first win was against the Parramatta Eels and the club finished their first season in second last place.

Manly's first Grand Final appearance was in the 1951 season, which they lost to South Sydney. Manly Warringah played in five Grand Finals before winning their first premiership in 1972. They then won the following year in 1973 and again in 1976 and 1978. The 1973 final against Cronulla is reputed to be one of the hardest and toughest grand finals, at least in the televised era. There were several incidents of players being hurt, in particular very tough and hard English import, Mal Reilly, was "taken" out early and did not take any further part in the game.

Manly were powerful in the early 1980s but were beaten in two consecutive Grand finals by Parramatta, in 1982 and 1983. Their next premiership was won against the Canberra Raiders in the 1987 Grand final, the last Grand Final played at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Coached by Bob Fulton, the Sea Eagles returned to the play-offs in 1993 and 1994 but were beaten on each occasions in the first elimination semi-final by the Brisbane Broncos.

In 1988, Manly, missing six regular first grade players, including captain Paul Vautin, Michael O'Connor and Phil Daley who were all playing in the first Ashes series test just four days later, plus other stars such as Dale Shearer, Mal Cochrane and David Ronson (all six had played in the 1987 Grand Final win), put the touring Great Britain Lions to the sword with a 30-0 demolition at Brookvale Oval. Teenage halfback Geoff Toovey was named man of the match, scoring one of the Sea Eagles five tries on the night while the side was led by Noel Cleal who had a point to prove after being a shock omission from the Australian team. Great Britain's coach for their 1988 tour was Mal Reilly who had played lock forward for the Manly in their 1972 and 1973 Grand Final wins. It would be the first time that former premiership teammates Fulton and Reilly would oppose each other from the coaches box. With Fulton taking over as coach of the Australian team from 1989, it would not be their last time coaching against each other.

In 1995, amidst the Super League war, Manly produced one of its most dominating seasons in the club's history but in one of the league's biggest upsets, were beaten by Canterbury in the Grand Final. Despite being the best attacking side all year, the Sea Eagles could not score a try in the Grand Final and were outclassed by the underdog Canterbury side. There was some controversy in the game but with all games you create your own luck and the Bulldogs were deserved winners who were led by the champion Terry Lamb.

In 1996 Manly made another Grand Final appearance and beat St. George to win the title that had eluded them the season before. Rugby League in Australia was split in two leagues in 1997, the ARL and Super League, and Manly were one of the leading teams in the ARL competition. For the third consecutive year Manly reached the Grand Final, however lapses in their intensity which appeared during the season returned in the premiership decider against the Mal Reilly coached Newcastle Knights and the Sea Eagles were beaten on the full-time siren by a Knights try.

The Manly teams of 1995 to 1997 produced some of the most entertaining football in Sea Eagles' history, but also featured rugby league's strongest defence. Many great players featured, including Des Hasler, Geoff Toovey, Nik Kosef, Steve Menzies, Terry Hill, Mark Carroll, Cliff Lyons, David Gillespie, Craig Hancock, Danny Moore, John Hopoate, and former NZ All Blacks Matthew Ridge and Craig Innes.

After 1997 the club lost form on the field, recording only 10th place in the 1998 season, and missing the finals in 1999.

Northern Eagles
Manly Warringah would usher in the new millennium by merging with the North Sydney Bears to become the Northern Eagles. This venture would run between 2000 and 2002. The club was formed during the rationalisation process of the NRL. The team would share home games between Brookvale Oval and Central Coast Stadium, Gosford, New South Wales.

Little success was had during these three seasons, finishing 12th, 10th, and 9th, winning 30 of 76 games. Also, the new club's decision to play games in Gosford instead of the Bears home ground at North Sydney Oval alienated several North Sydney fans, despite North Sydney's planned move to the new Central Coast Stadium. In spite of this, the club provided more players for the 2001 State of Origin series' New South Wales team than any other club. The partnership dissolved in 2002, with Manly emerging as the stand-alone entity. The 2002 season was played under the Northern Eagles name, although effectively the club was the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles by another name. Halfway through the season, the Eagles even abandoned playing games at Gosford, due to a sharp decline in attendances. The people of Gosford preferred to wait until a home grown team was based there.

The joint venture would collapse by the end of the 2001 season and Manly would officially make a welcome return to the NRL in 2003.

Resurrection
The joint venture collapsed and Manly retained the Northern Eagles licence for the 2002 season until returning to the competition as Manly Warringah Sea Eagles for the 2003 season. The 2003 and 2004 seasons produced very few moments of joy for Sea Eagles supporters. The club improved its playing stocks for 2005, and reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1998. Manly would not miss the finals until 2015, whilst every other club have missed the finals at least once since 2004. A meeting of the Football Club on 3 June 2004 saw the club members vote for the privatisation of the Football Club.

During this period, Manly introduced a number of players who became stars of the game over the next decade including local juniors Jason King and Anthony Watmough, as well as the Stewart brothers from Wollongong, back row forward Glenn and speedy try scoring fullback Brett.

2007 season
Manly finished the 2007 regular season in 2nd (out of 16) place, losing only six matches throughout. Their 50-16 mauling of Newcastle ensured they would finish in the top two. Throughout the season they were the only club chasing Melbourne (whom they beat in round 11) for the minor premiership. After defeating North Queensland at the Sydney Football Stadium 28–6, Manly played in their 15th grand final against Melbourne, where they were beaten 34–8 by Melbourne on 30 September at Telstra Stadium.

Melbourne would later be stripped of the 2007 title for salary cap breaches.

2008 season
With the departure of hooker Michael Monaghan, many questioned whether the Manly could be as competitive as in 2007 and losses in the first 2 rounds seemed to confirm this. Manly finished the regular season tied first with Melbourne and Cronulla but 2nd on points differential and Manly missed out on claiming their first minor premiership since 1997.

In the qualifying final Manly faced 7th placed St. George at Brookvale. This game was club legend Steve Menzies' last game at Brookvale and he opened the scoring with an unusual charge down try in which after kicking ahead to himself and falling over, the ball bounced up and hit him in the head before he finally grounded it. After getting the week off, Manly faced the history-making New Zealand Warriors. Manly crushed the Warriors 32–6 and showcased their trademark wall of defence and attacking flair. With the win, Manly qualified for their 17th grand final, where in a rematch of the 2007 decider, they would play the Melbourne Storm.

The story of the grand final was very different for Manly-Warringah this time around, as they decimated Melbourne 40–0 (which was the largest number of points scored against a team in a grand final) to win their seventh premiership in front of 80,388 at ANZ Stadium. It was Michael Monaghan's replacement, the previously unknown Matt Ballin, who scored the first try of the match. The game was also notable for winger Michael Robertson's hat-trick (the first time a Manly player had scored 3 tries in a finals game since Gordon Willoughby scored 3 against Western Suburbs in the 1951 Semi-final at the SCG) and retiring legend Steve Menzies' try 10 minutes from full-time, which he scored after coming back onto the field to replace the injured Steve Matai. Manly prop forward Brent Kite was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal after a powerhouse display which included a classy try in the 58th minute. This is the largest winning margin in a grand final in rugby league history.

2009 season
Three weeks prior to the 2009 season, Des Hasler and his team travelled to England where as the reigning NRL premiers they would take on reigning Super League premiers the Leeds Rhinos in the 2009 World Club Challenge to be played at the Elland Road ground in Leeds. After having lost their previous World Club Challenge game to Wigan in 1987 (with Hasler the halfback in that Manly side), the Sea Eagles took this game much more seriously and included a warm-up game against the Harlequins in London a week before the game (won 34-26 by the Sea Eagles). The warm-up game (Manly were the first Australian side to actually play such a game before a WCC) proved effective as Manly went on to win the WCC 28–20 over the Rhinos.

The 2009 season boded poorly as a result of two incidents on the day of Manly-Warringah's season launch. Second-rower Anthony Watmough was assaulted by a sponsor after allegedly making inappropriate comments to his daughter. Brett Stewart later that night was charged with the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl outside his apartment block, of which he was subsequently cleared, an incident which led to the damning Four Corners investigation, "Code of Silence". Stewart was cleared of the charge in late September 2010 by a jury which took 45 minutes to reach their decision.

Manly-Warringah paid a $100,000 fine for failing to adequately punish Stewart for his offence. Stewart faced a brief trial at the time, and a further, more comprehensive trial began in March 2010. As a result of Stewart's absence, Manly lost their first four games of the season, crashing to last place after round four (thus becoming the first defending premier since Melbourne in 2000 to lose their first four matches of a season), before finally achieving a 23–10 win against the Tigers in which Stewart scored three tries in his first match for 2009.

A double against Souths followed, before injury struck. Stewart only played five games overall in 2009 following a serious knee injury suffered in round six, before returning in round 25. The Sea Eagles snared fifth place at the end of the season and lost the first qualifying final to eventual grand final winners Melbourne 40–12 in a one-sided contest played at Melbourne's Etihad Stadium. Due to other unfavourable results occurring on the weekend, Manly were eliminated from the premiership race. This premiership was also stripped from the Storm.

2010 season
In 2010, Manly-Warringah started the season with a team of many new faces, including young playmaker Kieran Foran. After narrowly losing their first two games of the season, Manly won their third, following three matches against Newcastle, the Warriors and the Sharks before a late season slump saw them settle for eighth position on the ladder.

Manly-Warringah players were not involved in any further violations in 2010, and embarked on an active program of community engagement, which included activities such as reading at schools and raising money for charities.

Manly's season got off to the worst possible start. While warming up for the opening round game against the Wests Tigers at the Sydney Football Stadium, international winger David Williams injured his shoulder forcing him to withdraw from the game. Unfortunately the injury would require surgery which saw Williams ruled out for the remainder of the season. The situation then got worse when fullback Brett Stewart suffered a knee injury when he ruptured his Anterior cruciate ligament during the first half of the game. Stewart's injury would also rule him out for the remainder of the season. This would cause Des Hasler to re-shuffle his backline over the course of the season after losing two of his teams most lethal attacking weapons.

Manly-Warringah spent much of the middle of the season near the top of the ladder and were earmarked as a possible premiership contender with impressive wins over the St. George Illawarra Dragons and the Wests Tigers. Inconsistent form, injuries and suspensions caused a dramatic slide down the ladder and Manly were lucky to settle on 8th and just make the finals. Had it not been for the Melbourne Storm salary cap breach earlier in the season, Manly-Warringah would have missed the finals altogether for the first time since 2004. In round 25, ballplaying second-rower Glenn Stewart was suspended for 4 matches for a high shot on Sydney Roosters captain Braith Anasta, and in round 26 centre Steve Matai was suspended for 7 matches for a high tackle that knocked out Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs hooker Michael Ennis. Their 2010 season ended with a dismal 28–0 hammering from the eventual premiers St. George Illawarra, although Manly-Warringah were still in the game with 15 minutes remaining. Manly went into this game with 11 of their first choice players out with either injury or suspension and many of those who did play were still carrying injuries.

2011 season
At the end of the 2010 season Manly Warringah lost Trent Hodkinson who signed a deal with the Bulldogs from the start of the 2011 season, as well as Josh Perry and Ben Farrar to the Super League. Daly Cherry-Evans, who came from Manly's Queensland Cup feeder club the Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles, was brought into first grade. Manly-Warringah had not made any big-name signings for the 2011 season. This showed up in its lowly 8th placing, its poorest performance in a season since 2005.

Manly-Warringah's 2011 season started with an 18–6 loss to the Melbourne Storm in Melbourne. Brett Stewart had minimal impact on the match but escaped injury-free. This was followed with an upset 27–16 win over beaten 2010 Grand Finalists the Sydney Roosters, where Manly-Warringah went into the match without its captain Jamie Lyon, Shane Rodney, Dean Whare and Glenn Stewart through injury and also Jason King and Steve Matai through suspension. Brett Stewart was appointed acting captain for the Roosters match. This is regarded as one of the most commendable wins in Manly's history and featured outstanding performances by its younger players including Kieran Foran, Jamie Buhrer, William Hopoate and Vic Mauro. This was followed up with a 26–12 win over the Newcastle Knights at Brookvale, before a 32–20 loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs which ended Manly's unbeaten run at Bluetongue Stadium, having won all of its previous matches at the venue.

Anthony Watmough and Terence Seu Seu were both stood down by the club for off-field offences prior to its round five match against Cronulla at Toyota Stadium. The Sea Eagles were in trouble midway through the second half, down 13–0, before scoring 19 unanswered points, including a try after the siren by Michael Oldfield, to give the Silvertails a 19–13 victory.

Despite losing many players from the 2010 season, the Sea Eagles found themselves sitting in second place on the NRL Ladder at the end of the regular season, behind the Melbourne Storm. They lost only five matches in the season, all being night matches. Manly-Warringah won all of its matches at Brookvale Oval, again nicknamed "Brookie Fortress". The final game at Brookvale was a Top of the Table Clash against the Melbourne Storm. Manly won this game 18–4 but the win was overshadowed by a brawl between Glenn Stewart and Adam Blair, giving the game the nickname 'The Battle of Brookvale'.

In their opening playoff game, Manly-Warringah registered a 42–8 win over the North Queensland Cowboys at the Sydney Football Stadium. After a disappointing first half, Manly scored 42 unanswered points in the 2nd half, and progressed to the preliminary final. In this match, they defeated the Brisbane Broncos 26–14 to be the first team through to the 2011 NRL Grand Final, where they met the New Zealand Warriors who were vying for their first ever premiership.

A season of success culminated in Manly-Warringah winning its eighth premiership, defeating the New Zealand Warriors 24–10 in the Grand Final. Glenn Stewart was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for his 34 tackles and a crucial try in the second half. He and brother Brett Stewart became the first brothers to score tries in the same Grand Final. Manly-Warringah's second premiership in four years made them the second team (after the Brisbane Broncos in 2000 and 2006) to win more than one premiership in the 21st century.

Six Weeks after Manly Warringah's premiership win, the club dismissed head coach Des Hasler after he was revealed to have breached his contract by trying to lure coaching staff and players to the Bulldogs where he was to have started coaching in 2013. This meant that Geoff Toovey, who was to take over as part of a succession plan, was immediately elevated to the role of head coach from the start of the 2012 season.

2012 season
Manly Warringah's pre-season started dismally with a 38–6 loss to perennial strugglers Cronulla in the first match played under new coach Geoff Toovey. This was followed by a 26–12 loss in the 2012 World Club Challenge to Leeds Rhinos.

The Sea Eagles' premiership defence began with an away trip to Eden Park in Auckland where they faced the New Zealand Warriors in the Grand Final rematch and won 26–20. They backed up that close win with another close win against the Wests Tigers, winning 22–18. Manly-Warringah lost its first match for the 2012 season when it went down 17–13 to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in a major upset, then another loss followed when it fell to 2010 premiers St. George Illawarra at Kogarah by 17–4.

Manly-Warringah ended the 2012 Regular season in 4th position on the ladder. After being defeated by the Bulldogs in the first week of the finals, Manly defeated the Nth Queensland Cowboys, effectively ending their season. However, the Sea Eagles' season ended the next week after being defeated by eventual premiers Melbourne Storm.

2013 season
Ambushed early in the year by the sudden rise of two new title contenders in South Sydney and the Sydney Roosters, Manly spent much of the season flying under the radar with a top four spot safely in their keeping, but minor premiership never truly within their reach.

In fact, as the season wore on a mounting injury toll had many predicting this squad of ageing warriors were bound to hit the wall. Certainly a series of gruelling encounters at the business end of the season provided plenty of excuses had they wanted to use them, but instead it seemed the greater the challenge the more the Sea Eagles lifted to tackle it.

Having not beaten a fellow top four side all season, they finally did so in style with a 28–8 thrashing of Melbourne in Round 25 to warm up for the finals. Despite facing a number of hurdles through the course of the season – from a lengthy list of injury woes to the ASADA investigation which threatened to become a significant distraction at times – they managed to grow in stature as the season progressed but fell just short, losing the grand final to the Sydney Roosters 26–18.

2014 season
Most of the headlines for Manly throughout the year came more due to off-field reasons following news popular back-rower Glenn Stewart would be joining Souths in 2015 with the club's salary cap constraints preventing them from making him an offer.

It is a measure of the Northern Beaches club's decade of excellence that to bow out in the second week of the finals will be deemed a comparative failure by both players and fans. This is what happened after a late-season stutter saw them relinquish their grip on the minor premiership, lose several key players at just the wrong time, and get bundled out of the 2014 Finals Series in straight sets despite their top-two finish. Even though they achieved a top-two finish, bowing out second week of the finals resulted in an unsatisfactory result for the Sea Eagles for a side that was running first from rounds 18–25. They had their fair share of luck throughout the season but it deserted them at the wrong time and ended Manly's season and encapsulated their late downturn in fortunes. There were huge questions over which senior players would stick around until the end of, or beyond, their current contracts. It was questioned if this could be very much a new-look Manly side in the next year or two but as long as the club can lock down its two star halves past their current 2015 deals the future should remain bright.

2015 season
Manly struggled to maintain the previous consistency they produced over the past decade. They had made the finals every year for a decade, anything short of a top eight finish would have been seen a failure.

With success comes high expectations and Manly certainly didn't hit their own lofty standards in 2015. The club endured one of its toughest seasons of the modern era with highly publicised contract sagas involving their biggest players, the sacking of their coach and club legend Geoff Toovey and a shocking run of injuries. The team had a late, but ultimately helpless last throw from a champion side to make the finals.

2015 will be forever remembered as the changing of the guard at the northern beaches club, when their era of dominance crashed dramatically back down to earth. It was a changing of the guard for Manly, a year where an era of dominance finally came to an end. They lost stalwarts Anthony Watmough (Eels) and Glenn Stewart (Rabbitohs) and struggled for a large chunk of the season. They then lost Kieran Foran (Eels) and coach Geoff Toovey. However, Manly had a strong back half of the 2015 season and ended up finishing 9th, only just missing the finals after being dead last going into Round 17 and in danger of earning the club's first ever wooden spoon.

In a move seen to help turn the club's fortunes around, Bob Fulton was brought back to the club as a 'consultant' where he had a hand in the recruiting of a number of players for season 2016 such as Test and Qld Origin forward Nate Myles and South Sydney premiership centre Dylan Walker, as well as New Zealand internationals Lewis Brown and Martin Taupau. Fulton was also instrumental in convincing 2011 premiership halfback Daly Cherry-Evans to remain at the club after initially signing with the Gold Coast Titans. Also joining the club in 2016 would be boom Queensland hooker Matt Parcell from the Ipswich Jets, as well as Souths 2014 premiership hooker Apisai Koroisau. With the new recruits, plus the emergence of younger local juniors in 2015 including tough tackling front row forward Jake Trbojevic and his younger brother, pacey fullback/winger Tom Trbojevic, the future looks promising.

2016 season
After Geoff Toovey was sacked following the 2015 season, Manly signed former Australian and NSW half Trent Barrett to coach in what would be his rookie year as an NRL head coach. The team would be without the services of Kiwi five-eighth Kieran Foran who had joined rivals Parramatta, as well as long serving dual-premiership hooker Matt Ballin who was released after suffering his second anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury in two years. Local junior Clint Gutherson, who although he signed a contract extension with the club in 2015, was released following the season and he too joined Parramatta. Surprisingly, also let go was New Zealand test fullback/centre Peta Hiku who eventually joined Penrith.

In the first 9 rounds of the 2016 NRL season leading into the representative round, Manly's injury woes continued with Brett Stewart (hamstring), Jorge Taufua (broken collar bone), Daly Cherry-Evans (ankle sprain) and Tom Trbojevic (ankle) going down with long-term injuries often forcing Trent Barrett into naming a makeshift lineup. However, despite this and the club's horrendous draw which saw it have five 5 day turnarounds in the opening 9 rounds, they showed glimpses of becoming a top side once again, eventually finishing the regular season in 13th position, recording eight wins.

On 27 April, long serving premiership captain Jamie Lyon announced that he would retire from playing at the end of the 2016 season. Lyon, the club's 2011 premiership captain and a member of the 2008 premiership team, is one of only 4 players (along with Graham Eadie, Bob Batty and Matthew Ridge) to have scored over 1,000 competition points for Manly.

2017 season
After a turbulent 2016 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles season the Sea Eagles finished 6th position and made it to the 2017 NRL Finals Series, although lost the first week to Penrith. At the end of season awards Daly Cherry-Evans won the Roy and Bull for best and fairest player.

2018 season
After the first two rounds, Manly were found guilty of minor breaches of the salary cap over the previous five years, due to a subtle change in one particular rule interpretation instigated by the NRL's CEO. A $750,000 fine (250k suspended) and a $330,000 reduction in the salary cap for 2018 and 2019 seasons was imposed by the NRL.

Manly had not paid any player over what they declared to the NRL but the definition of the phrase 'best efforts' to find third party payments was curiously changed to now mean an 'iron clad guarantee'by the NRL's CEO. Investigation of close to one million pieces of information and searches of all relevant electrical devices showed all payments to players were correctly and accurately reported to the NRL. The NRL's own salary auditors signed off as true and compliant all payments made to Manly players.

At the end of the 2018 season, Manly finished in 15th place on the table after a horror year on and off the field, one spot better than wooden spooners, Parramatta. Throughout the season, there were rumours that surfaced highlighting major divisions and unrest with Barrett as coach. In October 2018, it was announced that two time premiership winning coach Des Hasler would return to Manly.

2019 season
Before the start of the 2019 NRL season, many predicted that Manly would finish outside the top 8 and struggle towards the bottom of the table. Throughout the season though, Manly surprised many critics by spending nearly the entire regular season in the top 8 which included the club defeating Melbourne at AAMI Park 11–10 in golden point extra-time and also defeating other premiership contenders Canberra twice throughout the year. Manly-Warringah eventually qualified for the finals with a 6th-place finish.

Manly would go on to reach the second week of the finals series but were defeated by South Sydney, 34–26 in the elimination final at ANZ Stadium.

2020 season
Manly-Warringah went into the 2020 NRL season as one of the favorites to win the premiership after a good year in 2019. The club got off to a good start winning four of their first six games before a serious injury to star player Tom Trbojevic derailed their season with Manly winning only three of their last fourteen games to finish 13th and miss out on the finals.

2021 season
Manly didn't start the 2021 NRL season well, losing their first four rounds. The match against Penrith, which they lost 46–6 at Brookvale Oval, was the club's biggest ever home defeat at the ground.

However their season turned around, and by round 16, Manly recorded their biggest ever victory in club history, defeating Canterbury 66–0 at Western Sydney Stadium. After the regular rounds, Manly would finish in the top 4 in 4th place.

The top try scorers for Manly at the end of the Regular Season were Tom Trbojevic with 25 tries, Jason Saab with 23 tries, and Reuben Garrick with 21 tries.

Reuben Garrick became the first player in rugby league to score more than 300 points in a Regular Season. He also became the first player in rugby league history to score 20 tries and 100 goals in a Premiership Season.

After losing in the opening week of the finals against Melbourne, the club won in week two of the finals defeating the Sydney Roosters 42–6. In the preliminary final, the club fell short of reaching the grand final losing to South Sydney 36–16.

2022 season
Manly-Warringah went into the 2022 NRL season as one of the favorites to win the premiership after a good year in 2021. The club didn't start the 2022 NRL season well, losing their first two rounds before winning their next four. Another serious injury to star player Tom Trbojevic in round 11 derailed their season once again with Manly winning only four of their last thirteen games to finish 11th and miss out on the finals. Their season was further marred by an incident when seven players boycotted the round 20 match against the Sydney Roosters due to their refusal to wear the club's "pride" jersey, which was the start of an unfortunate end to the year for the Sea Eagles. On 13 October, the club decided to terminate Des Hasler as head coach.

2023 season
Under new head coach Anthony Seibold, the club started strongly recording four wins and one draw from the opening seven games to sit 4th on the table. However, from round 8 until round 20, Manly only recorded three victories. The club would record four wins from their remaining seven matches as they finished in a disappointing 12th place.

Emblem and colours
The team has always been officially known as the "Manly Warringah Sea Eagles" since 1947.

Upon entering the NSWRL, Manly took on the colours of maroon and white. Manly chose the sea eagle – the native bird of prey on the Sydney coastline – as its emblem. The club's first jersey was maroon with a large white 'V' on the front. Manly were one of the first teams to feature an emblem, with an 'MW' appearing in the early 1950s. The 'Sea Eagle' has appeared on all jerseys since the mid-1950s. Several iterations of the sea eagle logo would appear over the years. From the 1980s, Manly would go on to use perhaps their most famous of logos used in what is regarded as their most successful years up until the creation of the new competition.

In conjunction with the new competition, the National Rugby League, Manly would change their logo in 1998. It featured predominantly maroon, white, yellow and blue to symbolise the connection the club had with its major sponsor at the time Pepsi. This logo would not last however when the ill-fated merger with North Sydney Bears in 2000 saw them take on the Northern Eagles moniker instead.

Upon their return in 2003, Manly opted to revert to the previous logo but slightly updated to focus on the sea eagle and include Warringah in the club's name again. They also returned to their original colours, however a darker shade of maroon and white, a symbol of their roots stemming back from 1947.

In October 2023, Manly unveiled their new identity and emblem with a fresh, modern look, whilst also paying homage to the Club’s rich history. The new logo carried forward traditional Maroon and White colours and elements of the past Manly emblems including a familiar circular motif that the Sea Eagles have incorporated since 1978, whilst focusing on the sea eagle head with simplified details.

Manly Leagues Club
Manly Warringah Rugby Leagues Club (known as Manly Leagues) is one of the leading clubs on Sydney's northern beaches. The Leagues Club has also acquired Dee Why Bowling Club to the Manly Leagues brand, which amalgamated in 2022.

Manly Leagues has always enjoyed a close association with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. The club's charter includes the support of rugby league in the local area and the outstanding history of the Sea Eagles highlights the success of this support.

Stadium
When Manly Warringah were admitted into the competition, the then Manly Council denied the club permission to use Manly Oval as their home ground. The Council at the time was very pro-rugby union and attempted to stop the rival code spread to the area. As of this, the club decided instead to acquire Brookvale Showground (now known as Brookvale Oval) to host matches, which was supported by the then Warringah Council, who owned the ground.

Brookvale Oval (officially known as 4 Pines Park), is a 23,000-capacity rectangular stadium thats has been home of the Sea Eagles since 1947, with the venue last redeveloped in 2022 with the opening of the Bob Fulton Stand.

The ground now features four grandstands, with the Jane Try Stand running along the western side and the largest. The Ken Arthurson Stand is located in the south west corner, named after the long serving Manly, NSWRL and ARL administrator. The Lyons-Menzies Stand is located at the southern end and is named after champion Manly players Steve Menzies and Cliff Lyons. The new 3000-seat Bob Fulton Stand at the northern end of Brookvale Oval incorporates the club's centre of excellence. A grass hill runs along the eastern side of the ground and the venue also features broadcast-quality lights and video screen.

Brookvale Oval has often been regarded as a graveyard for many opposition teams, thus earning the nickname "Fortress Brookvale".

The record crowd at the ground is 27,655, set in the final round of the 1986 season against traditional rivals the Parramatta Eels. Since the club started playing in 1947, over six million spectators have visited the ground.

Of the permanent venues used by the NRL, Brookvale Oval sits in second place for the most games played with 720 games behind only Leichhardt Oval ( as of October 2023 ).

As well as hosting home games at Brookvale, Manly play a home game against the Brisbane Broncos at Lang Park as part of Magic Round in Brisbane.

Naming Rights
In February 2017, a 3-year $1 million naming rights deal with Lottoland, renamed Brookvale Oval to "Lottoland". In August 2019 Lottoland group exercised its option to extend the sponsorship contract, worth $500,000 for another year to the end of the 2020 season. The final game to be played under the name "Lottoland" was in Round 9, 2021 of the NRL between the Sea Eagles and New Zealand Warriors.

In June 2021, a 4-year deal was signed with 4 Pines Brewing Company to be named "4 Pines Park"

Administration and Facilities
In March 2022, the Centre of Excellence at the western end of the oval, formerly home to the 'Family Hill' was opened. The club moved all training and administration operations to this new, 4-storey building as well as the centre providing approximately 3,000 seats and premium hospitality spaces to be utilised on match day. The centre of excellence features change rooms, pools, a gym, training and medical spaces and general administration areas for staff to utilise.

In round 3 of the 2022 NRL season, Manly played their first match back at the redeveloped Brookvale Oval defeating Canterbury-Bankstown 13–12.

Local catchment area
The Sea Eagles catchment area spans a vast and populated area from Sydney's Northern Beaches, but do attract followers from the North Shore and Lower North Shore areas which the North Sydney Bears once occupied.

Local rugby league clubs play within the joint Manly-Warringah/North Sydney District Rugby League district competition.

Historically, Manly has had a rich history of local juniors representing the first grade side, including former Australian, State and Club captains Max Krilich and Geoff Toovey. Other notable former local juniors include 4-time Premiership winners Ian Martin and Terry Randall and 2-time Premiership winners Steven Menzies and Anthony Watmough.

Notable former local juniors

 * Ken Arthurson – Freshwater SLSC
 * Trevor Bailey – Belrose Eagles
 * Neil Bertoli – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Keith Blackett – Manly RUFC
 * Phil Blake – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Michael Blake – Forestville Ferrets JRLFC
 * Johnny Bliss – North Narrabeen SLSC
 * Glenn Bourne – Narrabeen Sharks
 * Bill Bradstreet – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Darren Bradstreet – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Tony Buchan – North Curl Curl Knights
 * John Bucknall – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Jamie Buhrer – Hills District
 * Roy Bull – Freshwater SLSC
 * Martin Bull – North Curl Curl Knights
 * Peter Burke – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Simon Chappell - Beacon Hill Bears
 * Rick Chisholm – Harbord United Devils
 * Wayne Chisholm – Harbord United Devils
 * Bill Clare – North Curl Curl Knights
 * Ivan Cleary – Narraweena Hawks
 * Anthony Colella – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Mitchel Cox – Balgowlah Boys High, RU
 * Greg Cross – Harbord United Devils
 * Adam Cuthbertson – Avalon Bulldogs
 * Peter Cullum - Beacon Hill Bears
 * Phil Daley – Harbord United Devils
 * Stuart Davis
 * Matt Dunford – Cromer Kingfishers
 * Dragan Durdevic – Narrabeen Sharks
 * Michael Eden - Beacon Hill Bears
 * Jack Elsegood – Narrabeen Sharks
 * Scott Fulton – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Brett Fulton – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Daniel Gartner – Narrabeen Sharks
 * Russel Gartner – Narrabeen Sharks
 * John Gibbs – Narrabeen Sharks
 * Greg Gibson
 * Tony Jensen
 * Fred Jones – Brookvale
 * John Jones – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Charlie Haggett – Cromer Kingfishers
 * Craig Hancock – Narraweena Hawks
 * Robert Hardie – Narraweena Hawks
 * Sam Harris – Avalon Bulldogs
 * John Harvey
 * Terry Hill – North Curl Curl Knights
 * Russell Hunter – Harbord United Devils
 * John Hopoate – Manly Cove Rebels
 * William Hopoate – Manly Cove Rebels
 * Wayne Honeywood – Narraweena Hawks
 * David Hosking – Harbord United Devils
 * Andrew Hunter – Harbord United Devils
 * Nik Kosef – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Jason King – Belrose Eagles
 * Stephen Knight – Manly RUFC
 * Max Krilich – Harbord United Devils
 * Darcy Lussick – Beacon Hill Bears
 * Adam MacDougall – Harbord United Devils
 * Ian Martin – Narraweena Hawks
 * Vic Mauro – North Curl Curl Knights
 * George McTaggart – Collaroy SLSC
 * Tony Mestrov – Narrabeen Sharks
 * Steven Menzies – Harbord United Devils
 * Martin Meredith
 * Chris Montgomery – Narrabeen Sharks
 * John Morgan – Collaroy SLSC
 * Derek Moritz – North Curl Curl Knights
 * Matt Nable – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Adam Nable – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Chris Nero – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Shannon Nevin – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * David O'Donnell – Cromer Kingfishers
 * Michael Oldfield – Harbord United Devils
 * Chad Randall – North Curl Curl Knights
 * Terry Randall – North Curl Curl Knights
 * Ray Ritchie
 * Anthony Rogers – Beacon Hill Bears
 * David Ronson – Belrose Eagles
 * Chris Ryan – Belrose Eagles
 * Glenn Ryan – Forestville Ferrets JRLFC
 * Bernie Seymour – Harbord United Devils
 * Warren Simmons – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Wayne Springall
 * Frank Stanton – Belrose Eagles
 * Frank Stokes – Manly Cove Rebels
 * Fred Teasdell – Forestville Ferrets JRLFC
 * Alan Thomson – Narrabeen Sharks
 * Gary Thoroughgood – Harbord United Devils
 * Sean Townsend – Narrabeen Sharks
 * Geoff Toovey – Belrose Eagles
 * Aaron Trinder
 * Rex Mossop – Manly RUFC
 * Anthony Watmough – Narrabeen Sharks
 * Eddie Whiley – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Max Whitehead – Narrabeen Sharks
 * Mark Willoughby
 * Ross Windshuttle
 * Gary Winter
 * Fred Yakich – Narrabeen Sharks
 * Nick Yakich – Narrabeen Sharks

Current NRL players:
 * Gordon Chan Kum Tong
 * Kieran Foran – Asquith Magpies
 * Clint Gutherson – Cromer Kingfishers
 * Jacob Preston – Belrose Eagles
 * Cooper Johns – Narraweena Hawks
 * Albert Hopoate – Beacon Hill Bears
 * Jamil Hopoate – Beacon Hill Bears
 * Joey Lussick – Beacon Hill Bears
 * Brad Parker – Manly Christian Brothers RLFC
 * Ben Trbojevic – Mona Vale Raiders
 * Jake Trbojevic – Mona Vale Raiders
 * Tom Trbojevic – Mona Vale Raiders
 * Sam Verrills – Avalon Bulldogs

Past players
The first Manly-Warringah team to play in the NSWRFL Premiership on 12 April 1947 was:

(c)

In 1990, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club recognised their players, past and present, with a team announced to reflect the best squad up to that point. That team is listed below.

In 2006, a Dream Team of former Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles players was selected by a panel of selectors which featured former Manly-Warringah administrator Ken Arthurson, respected rugby league writer Ian Heads, the club chairman Kerry Sibraa and journalist Phil Rothfield.

North Sydney Bears
Prior to the ill-fated Northern Eagles joint venture from 2000 to 2002, the rivalry between the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and foundation club the North Sydney Bears was arguably one of rugby league's fiercest. Manly were admitted into the premiership in 1947 with North Sydney at the time being one of the main advocators for a team to be in Manly. In Manly's first season, most of the side was made up of former Norths players including captain Max Whitehead who played for North Sydney in their 1943 Grand Final defeat by Newtown.

The intense feelings between the two sides continued over the next couple of decades fuelled as players switched between the two clubs. The biggest defection occurred in 1971 when North's life member and one of the game's greatest wingers Ken Irvine joined Manly. Former Manly and North Sydney player Phil Blake said of the rivalry "It was certainly a game you looked forward playing in. The ground was always packed and it was always a great afternoon".

In 2016, North Sydney and Manly played their final competitive senior game against each other in the Canterbury Cup competition where the Bears won the match 32–18. The Sea Eagles announced that they would be merging their lower grade sides with the Blacktown Workers teams to become the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles. The only competitive games played between the two clubs as of 2017 are between the Bears and Sea Eagles Harold Matthews Cup, SG Ball Cup and Jersey Flegg Cup competitions.

Parramatta Eels
Manly-Warringah and Parramatta built a fierce rivalry which started in the 1970s. They met in the 1976 NSWRFL Grand Final in which Manly denied the Parramatta club a maiden premiership. However, Parramatta won both the 1982 and 1983 Grand Finals against Manly. Since the 1983 grand final, Manly and Parramatta have only played against each other in one other finals game which was in 2005 when Parramatta finished as Minor Premiers and Manly finished in 8th place. Parramatta won the match 46–22.

On 18 May 2003, Parramatta and Manly played in the first ever golden point match in NRL history. Manly would win the match 36–34 at Brookvale Oval courtesy of a Ben Walker penalty goal. In round 2 of the 2018 NRL season, Parramatta suffered their worst ever loss to Manly. The game was played in temperatures of nearly 40 degrees where Manly ran out 54-0 winners.

In the 2019 NRL season, Parramatta beat Manly in round 25 to take Manly's fifth spot on the ladder and would go on to beat Brisbane 58–0 in the elimination final. The victory is currently the biggest win in finals history. In round 11 of the 2022 NRL season, Manly lead Parramatta by ten points in the second half before Parramatta scored two tries to make it 20-20. Parramatta player Mitchell Moses then converted a goal from the side line to win the match 22–20. In round 21 of the 2022 NRL season, the two sides met at Brookvale Oval where Manly needed to defeat Parramatta if they were to stand any chance of reaching the finals. Parramatta would win the game 36–20 with the maligned Jakob Arthur providing two try assists for Parramatta which ended Manly's finals hopes.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
This rivalry has been dubbed the "Battle of the beaches", and they met in a brutal Grand Final in 1973 which was described as the dirtiest and toughest Grand Final of them all. Manly also defeated Cronulla 16–0 in the 1978 Grand Final Rematch after the original contest had an 11–11 draw. In 1996, Manly and Cronulla played each other in the 1996 preliminary final where Manly defeated Cronulla 24–0. In the 2013 finals series, the two clubs met at the Sydney Football Stadium with Manly running out 24-18 winners.

In week one of the 2019 finals series, Manly defeated Cronulla to win the game 28–16 at Brookvale Oval and eliminated Cronulla from the finals race.

Melbourne Storm
This was regarded as one of the biggest rivalries in the modern era, and the two clubs met in the 2007 and 2008 Grand Finals.

The 2008 Grand Final saw the Sea Eagles defeat Melbourne Storm 40-0 at ANZ Stadium in front of a crowd of 80,388. In the game Manly ran in eight tries to record the highest rugby league Grand Final margin in Australian history. It was Manly's seventh premiership title.

After Manly had gone out to win the 2011 premiership, both teams fought out the 2012 preliminary final in Melbourne. Melbourne defeated Manly 40–12, ending their chances of winning back to back titles. Melbourne would then go on to win their second legitimate premiership after being stripped of their 2007 and 2009 premierships after the NRL discovered systematic salary cap rorting by the club.

After nine years without playing each other in the finals, Manly and Melbourne met in week one of the 2021 NRL finals series where Melbourne won the match 40–12 at the Sunshine Coast Stadium.

Western Suburbs
Manly-Warringah had a fierce rivalry with foundation club Western Suburbs which started in the 1970s and continued through to the early 1980s. The rivalry was dubbed as the "Fibros vs Silvertails". Former Wests coach and now respected league writer Roy Masters was the brain behind the now famous catch-cry. The rivalry was also fierce due to the two club's competing for the premiership with Western Suburbs winning the Minor Premiership in 1978 but it was Manly who claimed the 1978 premiership defeating Wests in the semi-finals.

Coaches
• Harold Johnson – 1947

• Ray Stehr – 1947–1948

• George Mullins – 1949

• Wally O'Connell – 1950–1952 and 1966–1967

• Roy Bull – 1953

• Ray Norman – 1954

• Pat Devery – 1955–1956

• Ken Arthurson – 1957–1961

• Ron Willey – 1962 and 1970–1974

• Tony Paskins – 1963

• Russell Pepperell – 1964–1965

• George Hunter – 1968–1969

• Frank Stanton – 1975–1979

• Allan Thomson – 1980

• Ray Ritchie – 1981–1982

• Bob Fulton – 1983–1988 and 1993–1999

• Alan Thompson – 1989

• Graham Lowe – 1990–1992

• Peter Sharp – 1999 and 2003¹

• Des Hasler – 2004–2011 and 2019–2022

• Geoff Toovey – 2012–2015

• Trent Barrett – 2016–2018

• Anthony Seibold – 2023–present

• ¹ Sharp was also coach of the Northern Eagles between 2000 and 2002

Records and statistics

 * Biggest win: 66–0 vs Canterbury (2021 NRL season)
 * Biggest loss: 6–68 vs Cronulla (2005 NRL season)
 * Most consecutive wins: 15 (1995 ARL season)
 * Most consecutive losses: 8 (1950 & 1998–99)
 * Wooden Spoons: 0
 * Biggest Grand Final win: 40-0 vs Melbourne Storm (2008)

Cliff Lyons holds the club record for most first grade games (309). Steve Menzies played 349 first grade games, however 69 were with the Northern Eagles. The club record for most career points is held by Graham Eadie (1,917), Matthew Ridge held the highest season total with 257 (1995) which has since been overtaken by Reuben Garrick with a season total of 304 (2021). Brett Stewart is the top try scorer with 163, which eclipsed the record previously held by Steven Menzies. Menzies' scored 151 tries playing for Manly Warringah, and a further 29 during the Northern Eagles venture. Menzies is regarded as being the highest try scoring forward in the history of the game, however there is some contention as to the exact number of tries scored, as he started some games playing in the centres. There is contention too over Manly's career try scoring record with respect to Menzies and the Northern Eagles venture.

Honours

 * New South Wales Rugby League, Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League: 8
 * 1972, 1973, 1976, 1978, 1987, 1996, 2008, 2011

 * New South Wales Rugby League, Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League runners-up: 11
 * 1951, 1957, 1959, 1968, 1970, 1982, 1983, 1995, 1997, 2007, 2013

 * New South Wales Rugby League, Australian Rugby League and National Rugby League minor premierships: 9
 * 1971, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1983, 1987, 1995, 1996, 1997

 * New South Wales Rugby League Club Championships: 4
 * 1972, 1983, 1987, 1988

 * World Club Challenge: 1
 * 2009

 * KB Cup: 2
 * 1982, 1983

Pre-season and youth honours

 * World Sevens: 3
 * 1990, 1994, 1995

 * Pre-Season Cup/Challenge titles: 2
 * 1980, 2023

 * First Division, Premier League: 5
 * 1954, 1960, 1969, 1973, 1988

 * Jersey Flegg Cup: 4
 * 1961, 1974, 1987, 1988

 * Presidents Cup: 2
 * 1946, 1970

 * Third Grade: 1
 * 1952

 * Holden Cup (Under 20s): 1
 * 2017

Supporters
The Sea Eagles, nicknamed the Silvertails, are well known as a team that most working-class rugby league fans traditionally love to hate.

Notable supporters of the club include:

 * Tony Abbott, 28th Prime Minister of Australia
 * Jim Anderson, Australian politician
 * Allen Aylett, Australian rules football player and administrator
 * Mike Baird, 44th Premier of New South Wales
 * Layne Beachley, World Surfing Champion
 * Gladys Berejiklian, 45th Premier of New South Wales
 * Billy Birmingham, comedian
 * Sean Fagan, Muay Thai fighter
 * Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, World Champion and Olympic athlete.
 * Grant Goldman, radio personality
 * Mike Goldman, radio and television personality
 * Wendy Harmer, author, children's writer, playwright and dramatist, radio show host, comedian and television personality
 * Brooke Hanson, Olympic and World Champion swimmer
 * Jean Hay, Australian politician
 * Hugh Jackman, actor
 * Thomas Keneally, author
 * Barton Lynch, surfer
 * Doug Mulray, comedian and radio and television personality
 * Sarah Murdoch, model
 * Peter Phelps, actor
 * Matt Shirvington, television presenter
 * Mark Skaife, racing driver, multiple Bathurst 1000 winner
 * Michael Slater, cricketer
 * Tracey Spicer, television personality
 * Miles Stewart, triathlete
 * Gary Sweet, actor
 * Keith Urban, musician and singer
 * John Day, New Zealand sports reporter

Manly Seabirds
The Manly Seabirds is the oldest cheerleading squad in the NRL. The Seabirds head scout is Carlos 'The Jackal' Faico and are sponsored by Salon Warehouse Australia

title: Manly Warringah Sea Eagles


text:
Kawerau

Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty Region on the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau District.

Kawerau is a small community, with an economy that is largely driven by the nearby pulp and paper mill that is run by Norske Skog and OJI Fibre Solutions. It is located along State Highway 34, southwest of Onepu, and is the terminus of the East Coast Main Trunk Railway, and the commencing point of the Murupara Branch railway.

Kawerau is among the three towns in New Zealand with a majority Māori population, along with Ōpōtiki and Wairoa. Kawerau was one of the worst-affected towns in the 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake.

European settlement
Kawerau, one of the youngest towns in New Zealand, was founded in 1953 as a mill town for the new Tasman pulp and paper mill. The site for the mill was chosen by the Tasman Pulp and Paper Company because of the ready availability of geothermal energy, water from the Tarawera River and the large supply of pine timber from the nearby Kaingaroa Forest. The town site was chosen in February 1953.

Unlike most other towns of its size, Kawerau was carefully planned before construction. The town was built with an impressive number of facilities, to accommodate a multinational specialist workforce. The mill continues to drive the local economy and greatly influences the fortunes of the town. The town's population peaked in the early 1980s (8718 in the 1981 census) but has declined significantly since then due to the restructuring of the mill and of associated industries.

Recent history
In 2012, mill owner Norske Skog said it would be shutting one of the two newsprint machines at the mill. In January 2013, it was confirmed nearly half the mill's jobs would be lost.

Norse Skog of Norway, which is the world's second-biggest producer of newsprint, confirmed the closure of one of its two paper machines at the Tasman Mill at Kawerau with the loss of 110 jobs. The company first announced its intention to shut one machine last September, following a review of its newsprint capacity in Australasia. The remaining Tasman machine would continue to produce newsprint, predominantly for the New Zealand and Australian markets. Norske Skog management would work closely with employees, unions and other stakeholders on the detailed closure arrangements, including a mill-wide restructuring programme. Peter McCartey, General Manager of Tasman Mill said it was widely understood the decision had been brought about by global market forces within the industry. The second paper machine had operated successfully for over 50 years. Norske Skog has the widest geographical spread of all the paper producers, with mills in 11 countries on all continents except Africa.

As of July 16, 2021, all of the three newsprint paper machines have ceased operation due to less demand as the world is going digital.

Kawerau is also home to geothermal power supply Kawerau Power Station for the local industry as well as the rest of New Zealand.

Marae
The local marae, Tohia o te Rangi, is affiliated with the Ngāti Tūwharetoa hapū of Ngāi Tamarangi. It features the Waitaha Ariki Kore meeting house.

Demographics
Kawerau District covers 23.56 km2 and had an estimated population of as of  with a population density of  people per km2.

Kawerau District had a population of 7,539 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 393 people (5.5%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 1,176 people (18.5%) since the 2013 census. There were 2,826 dwellings. The median age was 38.6 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 1,680 people (22.3%) aged under 15 years, 1,335 (17.7%) aged 15 to 29, 2,997 (39.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,524 (20.2%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 53.8% European/Pākehā, 63.2% Māori, 4.7% Pasifika, 3.3% Asian, 0.3% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders, and 0.9% other. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

Kawerau District had a population of 7,146 at the 2018 New Zealand census. There were 2,499 households, comprising 3,540 males and 3,606 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.98 males per female.

The percentage of people born overseas was 10.1, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 48.9% had no religion, 29.5% were Christian, 9.6% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.5% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.3% were Buddhist and 1.1% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 390 (7.2%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 1,542 (28.4%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $20,600, compared with $31,800 nationally. 426 people (7.8%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,857 (34.2%) people were employed full-time, 684 (12.6%) were part-time, and 549 (10.1%) were unemployed.

Geography
The 820 m volcanic cone of Mount Edgecumbe/Putauaki lies 3 km to the east of Kawerau, and is easily visible from the town. The Tarawera River straddles Kawerau to the east and continues north to the Bay of Plenty. Water is supplied to the town from two natural springs. Kawerau's water was judged the best-tasting in New Zealand in 2003 and 2004.

Kawerau has access to vast geothermal resources. There are a number of geothermal hot springs in the surrounding bush owned and operated by local families. The Kawerau geothermal field provides steam power for the paper mill, and a 90 MW geothermal power station is currently under construction.

The District has a land area of 23.56 km2, making it the smallest territorial authority in New Zealand in terms of land area. It is completely surrounded by the Whakatāne District.

Climate
During summer (December to February), the average daily maximum temperature in Kawerau is 23.7 °C. In January 2008, the temperature exceeded 30 °C for five days. In winter (July to August) crisp early morning frosts are usually followed by clear, sunny days, and the average daily maximum temperature is around 15.6 °C.

Rainfall is spread throughout the year, though it is not uncommon to experience a drought during summer.

Events
Kawerau hosts a number of events each year, including the National Woodskills Festival, 'King of the Mountain' race and the Tarawera 100 motorcycle endurance race. Kawerau is also growing as an event venue for white water rapid competitions such as kayaking and rafting. Kawerau was a venue for the 2013 World Rafting Championships.

Kawerau Woodfest & National Woodskills Competition
The National Woodskills Festival is a competition that encompasses a broad spectrum of wood craftsmanship and wood art. Some of the competitors are professionals, but many are amateurs. The Woodskills Festival was first held in Kawerau in 1989 as a local competition. By 1991, the event had become such a popular annual competition that it was developed into a national event, attracting exhibitors from throughout New Zealand. The competition has now developed into a broader range of attractions which captivates many skills from the Forestry Industry and now takes over the town for the weekend, in what is known as Kawerau Woodfest.

The annual Kawerau Woodfest attracts hundreds of visitors from around the country, making it the town's largest event and, as a result, is the highest economic beneficial event in Kawerau. As well as the Woodskills Festival, there is an Arts & Crafts Festival with displays open on Saturday and Sunday at various venues around Kawerau.

Education
Kawerau has two co-educational state primary schools for Year 1 to 6 students: Kawerau Putauaki School, with a roll of ; and Kawerau South School,  with a roll of.

Te Whata Tau o Putauaki is a co-educational Year 1 to 8 state primary school, with a roll of.

Tarawera High School is the town's Year 7 to 13 secondary school, with a roll of. The Kawerau Teen Parent Unit is located in an old school house.

Notable residents

 * Danielle Hayes, model
 * Gill Gatfield, sculptor
 * John Rowles, singer
 * Ria van Dyke, model
 * Sarah Walker, Women's BMX world champion
 * William Warbrick, rugby league player

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Kawerau


text:
Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/K1

Case closed with no ruling

Please do not edit this page directly if you are not a participant in this case. Comments are very welcome on the Talk page, and will be read, in full. Evidence, no matter who can provide it, is very welcome at /Evidence. Evidence is more useful than comments.

Arbitrators worked on a proposed decision at /Proposed decision.

Statement of complaint
He seems to believe that only he can be right and has been offensive to anyone that edits what he wrote. I think he should be banned for bahaviour, or at least, put on probation or something. Antonio Mitsubishi Martin

I support Antonio's request for arbitration. K1 uses all the time abusive and obscene language and keeps deleting my and others' contributions without comment to the actual matter. I am aware that arbitration is the last resort, but my RfC request seems to go nowhere, while the abuse is continueing. K1 appears to be unwilling to accept mediation. Please have look at Talk:William C. Rogers III and the revert history of William C. Rogers III. There are many other examples, but this is probably enough, to see what I mean.

User K1 is currently banned for 24 h after insulting various other people on his talk pages. I would be happy and willing to accept mediation after his return. Refdoc 20:05, 17 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I would also appreciate arbitration, since K1 has refused mediation, insists on personal attacks (including new targets, which includes me now), and reverts removals of personal attacks. And this is after being blocked once. Roozbeh 23:55, 19 Jul 2004 (UTC)

He has been blocked again, this time for 72 h for multiple abuse and reverting removal of abuse. I agree with Roozbeh, arbitration is needed, though I do remain open for mediation on the three article K1 seems to go ballistic over.- whenevre k1 decides to see the light and agree to mediation too. At teh moment this appears to be far off. Refdoc 00:46, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Please see Requests for mediation and archive 8. K1 has refused mediation. Angela., member of the Mediation Committee, 19:07, Jul 26, 2004 (UTC)

Arbitrators' opinions on hearing this matter

 * FWIW, there's a just-started RfC, and a disagreement on the nature of people's comments, with a couple of but nothing ban-worthy, certainly. Please remember that the Arbitration Committee is a court of last-resort. James F. (talk) 12:33, 16 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * Refer to Mediation Committee. Actually, first off, just try to be nice. James F. (talk) 12:33, 16 Jul 2004 (UTC) Accept, given refusal to mediate. *sighs* James F. (talk) 08:55, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Mediate; K1 is nothing special, just another foul-mouthed edit-warrior --the Epopt 12:48, 16 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Accept (based on a look at Talk:William C. Rogers III) Fred Bauder 14:45, Jul 17, 2004 (UTC)
 * Accept, as mediation has been rejected by K1. Noting . Martin 17:53, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Accept - mav 10:05, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Accept - The Cunctator 19:09, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC) When they don't want mediation, what can you do?

Motion to close
User:K1 has not edited on Wikipedia since July 19, 2004, see Contributions of K1. Such complete abandonment of Wikipedia editing makes any decision we might render moot. Should it be discovered that K1 is editing anonymously or under a different name this proceeding can be reactivated. Fred Bauder 13:50, Sep 25, 2004 (UTC)

Four Aye votes needed to close case

 * Aye, Fred Bauder 13:50, Sep 25, 2004 (UTC)
 * Martin 15:27, 25 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Agreed. James F. (talk) 18:37, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Jwrosenzweig 21:31, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

=> Closed. James F. (talk) 23:45, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

title: Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/K1


text:
Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/K1/Proposed decision

Case closed with no ruling

Arbitrators should vote for or against each point or vote to abstain.
 * Only items that receive a majority yay vote will be enacted.
 * Items that receive a majority nay vote will be formally rejected.
 * Items that do not receive a majority yay or nay vote will be open to possible amendment by any arbitrator if he so chooses. After the amendment process is complete, the item will be voted on one last time.
 * Items that receive a majority abstentions will need to go through an amendment process and be re-voted on once.

Conditional votes for, against, or to abstain should be explained by the Arbitrator in parenthesis after his time-stamped signature. For example, an Arbitrator can state that he would only favor a particular remedy based on whether or not another remedy/remedies were enacted.

Proposed temporary orders
1) {text of proposed orders}

 * Ayes:

 * Nayes:

 * Abstentions:

Proposed principles
1) Personal attacks are not permitted on Wikipedia, see No personal attacks

 * Ayes:
 * Fred Bauder 12:43, Aug 8, 2004 (UTC)
 * James F. (talk) 03:58, 13 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Jwrosenzweig 22:03, 24 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Nays:

 * Abstentions:

Proposed findings of fact
1) User K1 has engaged in a series of personal attacks, see, for example,,  and
 * Ayes:
 * Fred Bauder 12:42, Aug 8, 2004 (UTC)
 * The Cunctator 19:10, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * James F. (talk) 03:58, 13 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Jwrosenzweig 22:07, 24 Aug 2004 (UTC) (I want to note that this abusiveness rises well above the bar I normally set -- some personal attacks are played fairly close to the line, but the evidence I'm seeing is appallingly excessive.)
 * Nayes:

 * Abstentions:

Proposed remedies
proposed wording to be modified by Arbitrators and then voted on

1) {text of proposed remedy}

 * Ayes:

 * Nayes:

 * Abstentions:

Enforcement
proposed wording to be modified by Arbitrators and then voted on

1) {text of proposed enforcement}

 * Ayes:

 * Nayes:

 * Abstentions:


text:
Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/K1/Evidence

Anyone, whether directly involved or not, may add evidence to this page. Please choose an appropriate header for your evidence and sign your comments with your name.

This page is not for general discussion - for that, see talk page.

If you disagree with some evidence you see here, please provide counter-evidence, or an explanation of why the evidence is misleading. Please do this under a seperate header, to seperate your response from the original evidence.

Be aware that the arbitrators may at times rework this page to try to make it more coherent.

personal abuse on edit summaries + revert warring

personal abuse on talk pages
the current talk page is edited to cover up the abuse

''I hope the above is sufficient at the moment. Further analysis of teh history shows him also deleting comments he has not liked on his talk page etc Refdoc 19:00, 9 Aug 2004 (UTC)

From Azerbaijani articles:

Antonio's comments
Its been such a long time since me and K1 had an argument..but I do have good news, I just saved a whole bunch of money by switching to Geico..lol j/k. I found some evidence, here it is: I need a source for this claim made by K1, specially the suicide mission part: The US never admitted any wrongdoing or responsibility in this tragedy, never apologized, and furthermore, blamed the Iranians for it, as according to the US account of this tragedy, the Iranian commercial jetliner "appeared to be on a suicide mission". Roozbeh 14:25, 7 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Plus, as far as I remember from Puerto Rican newspapers, President Reagan DID send an apology, to the stuff of "this is a senseless tragedy and the American people extend our condolences to all of Iran" or something like that. Antonio Politically INcorrect...so who cares? Martin

and this is why puerto rican papers and magazines should just stick to salsa and merengue and stay out of politics. not only did usa never apologize, the reagan administration never even admitted the slightest gilt in the whole tragedy. in fact george shcultz, then Secretary of State, said openly and shamelessly [i am paraphrasing here, as i can't remember the quote verbatim] "the responisibility for this incident is fully with the iranian side who were not responding to our numerous queries ...." -- an ourageous lie. as if that wasn't shameful enough, a US federal court rejected the legitimacy of lawsuits and compensation efforts for the families of the victims, on the grounds that this was part of a "war situation" and therefore US law disqualifies such claims on that basis!! now you would think this is unspeakable shamelessness? it gets even worse. they allowed law suits to be filed by families of "non-iranian" victims of that flight because their respective countries were not participants in a war that relates to this case. and for your information, later on, will rogers, the commander of that ship, was decorated for his bravery and dedication to his country!! some brave man. --K1 08:33, 10 Jul 2004 (UTC) Thanks and God bless you! "Antonio Pineapple Martin"


text:
Laws of Attraction

Laws of Attraction is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Peter Howitt, based on a story by Aline Brosh McKenna and screenplay by Robert Harling and McKenna. It stars Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore.

Plot
High-powered divorce attorneys Audrey Woods and Daniel Rafferty have seen love go wrong in many scenarios—so, how good could their own chances be? As two of the top divorce lawyers in New York, Audrey and Daniel are a study in opposites. She practices law strictly by the book. He seems to win by the seat of his pants, or by "cheap theatrics," as Audrey says in one scene.

Soon the two lawyers are pitted against one another in several high-profile divorce cases, including a nasty public split between rock star Thorne Jamison and his dress-designer wife, Serena. The settlement hinges on an Irish castle, Caisleán Cloiche, or "Rock Castle," that each spouse wants. Audrey and Daniel travel to Ireland to chase down depositions, and both stay in the castle. Although Audrey, at least, is reluctant to acknowledge their mutual attraction, they find themselves attending a romantic Irish festival together. After a night of wild celebration, they wake up the next morning to discover they have wed. Audrey is shocked, though Daniel takes their apparent marriage in his stride.

The pair return to New York and find news of their wedding printed on Page 6 of the New York Post the following day. Audrey suggests the two maintain the semblance of a marriage for the sake of their careers, and Daniel moves into the guest room of Audrey's apartment. Although, in the courtroom they continue to fight the Jamisons' high-profile divorce case with the gusto they have always shown, at home, they settle into domestic life together. While disposing of garbage one day, Daniel accidentally discovers some sensitive information about Audrey's client, Thorne Jamison, which he reveals in the next day's court proceedings. Audrey feels betrayed and asks for a divorce, which Daniel agrees to give, citing his love for her.

Next, their famous clients each return to the castle in Ireland, even though they are not permitted to be there because of the pending division of assets. Judge Abramovitz sends their respective counselors to Ireland to inform them of this, but on arrival they discover the celebrity couple has reconciled on the seventh anniversary of their wedding, which took place at the castle. Audrey and Daniel then learn that the "priest" who performed their own marriage ceremony is in fact the Jamisons' butler, and the "weddings" he presided over at the festival were simply romantic celebrations.

Daniel returns immediately to New York, alone, but with Audrey fast on his heels, as she realizes she has fallen in love with him. Confronting him in the grocery store below Daniel's Chinatown office, Audrey asks Daniel if he is willing to fight to save their relationship. In the romantic final scenes, the couple are married in a private ceremony in Judge Abramovitz's chambers, with Audrey's mother as the sole witness.

Cast

 * Pierce Brosnan as Daniel Rafferty
 * Julianne Moore as Audrey Woods
 * Parker Posey as Serena Jamison
 * Michael Sheen as Thorne Jamison
 * Frances Fisher as Sara Miller
 * Nora Dunn as Judge Abramovitz
 * Mike Doyle as Michael Rawson
 * Allan Houston as Adamo Shandela
 * Johnny Myers as Ashton Phelps
 * Heather Ann Nurnberg as Leslie
 * Brette Taylor as Mary Harrison
 * Sara Gilbert as Gary Gadget's assistant

Reception
Laws of Attraction received generally negative reviews from critics, as it holds an 18% rating on Rotten Tomatoes where the site calls the film "a bland and forgettable copy of Adam's Rib." On Metacritic, the film holds a 38/100 rating, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.

The film opened at No. 5 in the US box office in the weekend of 30 April 2004, raking in US$6,728,905 in its first opening weekend.

title: Laws of Attraction


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Primary Mathematics World Contest

The Primary Mathematics World Contest (PMWC; ) is an annual math competition for primary school students in Hong Kong. It was first held in 1997 and is sponsored by Po Leung Kuk. The competition has attracted teams from around the world.

History
The first Primary Mathematics World Contest (PMWC) was organised in 1997. The sponsors of the competition are the charitable organisation Po Leung Kuk, the public university Hong Kong Institute of Education, and Panda Hotel. Competitions are held at the Panda Hotel, which is in the Tsuen Wan town of New Territories West.

In the 21st competition in 2018, there were 32 teams that represented Australia, Bulgaria, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, the United States, Thailand, and Vietnam. The 22nd competition took place on five days in July 2019. After COVID-19 prevented the contest from being held in-person, Po Leung Kuk had restarted it according to a 2023 article in HK01.

Format
The event has an individual and a team competition. The individual contest's participants have 90 minutes to finish 15 math questions. In 2016, a student who got all the questions right received gold medals, while students who got one question wrong received a silver medal. During the team competition, team members have 60 minutes to finish 10 math questions. Each team has four people.

title: Primary Mathematics World Contest


text:
Fosco Maraini

Fosco Maraini ( 15 November 1912 – 8 June 2004) was an Italian photographer, anthropologist, ethnologist, writer, mountaineer and academic.

Biography
He was born in Florence from the Italian sculptor Antonio Maraini (1886–1963) and Cornelia Edith "Yoï" Crosse also known as Yoï Crosse-Pawlowska (1877–1944), a model and writer of English and Polish descent who was born in Tállya, Hungary. As a photographer, Fosco Maraini is perhaps best known for his work in Tibet and Japan. The visual record Maraini captured in images of Tibet and on the Ainu people of Hokkaidō has gained significance as historical documentation of two disappearing cultures. His work was recognized with a 2002 award from the Photographic Society of Japan, citing his fine-art photos—and especially his impressions of Hokkaido's Ainu. The society also acknowledged his efforts to strengthen ties between Japan and Italy over 60 years. Maraini also photographed extensively in the Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountain ranges of Central Asia, in Southeast Asia and in the southern regions of his native Italy. As an anthropologist and ethnographer, he is known for his published observations and accounts of his travels with Tibetologist Giuseppe Tucci during two expeditions to Tibet, first in 1937 and again in 1948.

As a mountaineer, he is perhaps best known for the 1959 ascent of Saraghrar and for his published accounts of this and other Himalayan climbs. As a climber in the Himalayas, he was moved to describe it as "the greatest museum of shape and form on earth."

From 1938 to 1943, Maraini's academic career progressed in Japan, teaching first in Hokkaido (1938–1941) and then in Kyoto (1941–1943); but what he himself observed and learned during those years may be more important than what he may have taught. Dacia, his eldest daughter, would decades later recall that "the first trip I took was on the sea from Brindisi to Kobe." Two of his three daughters were born in Japan: Yuki (registered as Luisa in Italy) was born in Sapporo in 1939, Antonella (Toni) in Tokyo in 1941. After the Italians signed an armistice with the allies in World War II, the Japanese authorities asked Maraini and his wife Topazia Alliata to sign an act of allegiance to Mussolini's puppet Republic of Salò. They were both asked separately and separately they refused, and were interned with their three daughters of six, four and two years old in a concentration camp at Nagoya for two years. Those memories of 1943 through 1946 evolved into some chapters of the book "Meeting with Japan" by Fosco Maraini. Dacia Maraini's collection of poetry drawn from those difficult years, Mangiami pure, was published in 1978. The Maraini family retreated to Italy after the Allies occupied Japan. This period became the core of another book by Dacia Maraini who remembers that they left Asia "without either money or possessions, stripped bare, with nothing on our backs except the clothes handed out by the American military." The years in Italy are described in the book, Bagheria, named after the Sicilian town not far from Palermo where the family lived.

In time, Maraini did return to his "adopted homeland" of Japan; and in 1955, this journey of rediscovery became the basis for his book, Meeting with Japan.

In an interview, one of his daughters explained that one of her earliest memories of her father speaking is when he claimed: "Remember that races don't exist, cultures exist."

The head of the Tuscany regional government publicly explained that Maraini had "honored Florence and the Tuscany by teaching us to be tolerant of other cultures."

Fosco Maraini was, with Giuliana Stramigioli among others, a founding member of the AISTUGIA – the Italian Association for the Japanese Studies.

The 1963 film Violated Paradise, directed by Marion Gering was based on Maraini's work L' Isola Delle Pescatrici (1960). A few images shot by Maraini's crew were used in the production.

Selected works
Maraini has had numerous photographic exhibitions in Europe and Japan; and he wrote over twenty books, many of which have been translated into several languages.

Books

 * Secret Tibet (1952)
 * Ore Giapponesi (1959)
 * G4-Karakorum (1959)
 * Meeting with Japan (1960)
 * L'Isola delle Pescatrici (1960)
 * Paropàmiso (1963). English version: Where Four Worlds Meet: Hindu Kush 1959 (1964)
 * Tokyo (1976), Photography by Harald Sund; The Great Cities Time Life Books Amsterdam.
 * The Island of the Fisherwomen (1962)
 * Jerusalem: Rock of Ages (1969), Photography by Alfred Bernheim and Ricarda Schwerin; Translated by Judith Landry; New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc.
 * Patterns of Continuity (1971)
 * Gnosi delle Fànfole (1994)
 * Nuvolario (1995)
 * Case, amori, universi (2000)

Articles

 * "Tradition and Innovation in Japanese Films," Geographical Magazine. Oct. 1954: 294–305.

Honors

 * Photographic Society of Japan, International Award—2002.
 * Japan Foundation Award—1986,
 * Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class—1982.
 * International Society to Save Kyoto's Historic Environment, (ISSK) – First Honorary President.

title: Fosco Maraini


text:
User:Ottosix

My real name is Klaus H. Gobrecht,

official home page (needs urgent update !)

I was born in Germany before world war II, now living in France,

PhD in physics in 1968 (Grenoble University).

In recent years I became an expert in cold neutron sources and - beams

I'm now working on articles like neutron, neutron transport, neutron sources.

I'm prepared to write in German and/or French. See also the french or german Wikipedia

Sorry for the imperfections in my articles, I have to brush up my knowledge in LaTeX

fr:User:Ottosix

title: User:Ottosix


text:
Wairoa

Wairoa is the largest town in the Wairoa District and the northernmost town in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of Māhia Peninsula. It is 118 km northeast of Napier, and 92 km southwest of Gisborne, on State Highway 2. It is the nearest town to the Te Urewera protected area and former national park, which is accessible from Wairoa via State Highway 38. It is one of three towns in New Zealand where Māori outnumber other ethnicities (the other towns being Kawerau and Ōpōtiki), with 62.29% of the population identifying as Māori.

Early history
Te Wairoa was originally a Māori settlement. The ancestral waka (canoe) Tākitimu travelled up the Wairoa river (full name: Te Wairoa Hōpūpū Hōnengenenge Matangirau) and landed at Mākeakea, near where Tākitimu meeting house stands today. Te Reinga Falls is the starting point of the Wairoa river and said to be linked with the taniwha Hinekorako and Ruamano, who guided Takitimu to Aotearoa. The Wairoa River mouth is associated with two taniwha, Tapuwae and Te Maaha, who are engaged in an ongoing struggle. There were a number of pā in close vicinity to the river, and the river was a major route for transport and trading. The river was an important source of food and still is to this day, including whitebait, flounder, mullet and eel.

Early European settlement in the area included a whaling station and trading post established by William Rhodes in 1839, dealing largely in flax. These establishments offered sufficient income and attraction. Wairoa's initial name was Clyde, but this was changed, largely to avoid confusion with Clive near Napier and Clyde in the South Island. The north part of the town is called North Clyde. The town rose to prominence during the New Zealand Wars, during which time it was a garrison town.

The New Zealand government bought the land on which the town is built in 1864. This land was divided up and then sold as sections in 1866. The Wairoa Harbour Board was established in 1872. The Wairoa lighthouse was built between 1877 and 1878 and its beacon was first lit in 1878. The tower was reinforced in 1879 to provide greater stability after a storm damaged it. The first bridge across the Wairoa river was built in 1888.

20th century
The Wairoa Borough Council was established in 1909. The Napier to Wairoa railway line was started in 1911. Progress was intermittent with the Wairoa river railway bridge being built in 1930. The railway line was completed in 1937. In April 1938, flooding hit the area, causing hundreds of slips which damaged the railway line. Work to restore the railway took place and it was opened again for trains by the end of 1938 and fully utilised by 1939. This led to a decline in the use of the port at Wairoa, with the port used for the last time in 1942. The Wairoa Harbour Board was abolished in 1946. The road bridge across the Wairoa river was damaged in the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake and a replacement bridge was completed in 1933.

Annie and Rosamond Smyth were murdered in their home in the Salvation Army hall in 1942. The killer was not identified at the time. Herbert Brunton was murdered in 1948, and this also went unsolved. Leo Silvester Hannan made a death bed confession to the three killings in 1962 while in prison for a 1950 murder in Wellington.

In early March 1988, much of the North Island was severely affected by storm damage from Cyclone Bola. In Wairoa, three days of heavy rain in the catchment areas caused severe flooding and damage including the loss of a 60-metre section of town's main bridge, cutting the town in half, and interrupting phone lines and the town's water supply. There was severe flood damage to farms, businesses, homes and the showgrounds. A new bridge, the third at the location, was completed and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.

In 1990 Wairoa won the last New Zealand Top Town Final in the original Top Town series and were the reigning champs until the series started again in 2009. Due to some confusion with a claim by Greymouth to be the last champions, Wairoa was not eligible for the new top town series and unable to defend their title.

Gang conflict
There have long been tensions between the rival Mongrel Mob and Black Power gangs in Wairoa. In 1988, Wairoa's main street: Marine Parade was the scene of a fatal shooting of two Black Power associates. In 2003, a Mongrel Mob member was killed in February and a sniper shot a Black Power gang member dead in a van following an incident near the Wairoa Courthouse in November. In 2010, a Black Power gang member was shot in the face. Two Black Power members retaliated later that year and shot a Mongrel Mob member several times at a Wairoa petrol station. In 2021, gang related violence flared again with five separate incidents of guns being fired at homes in Wairoa. The police launched Operation Atlas to reduce tensions and stop the ongoing violence in Wairoa. In 2022, a shotgun blast hit the window of a child's bedroom (though the child was not present in the room) and a person received serious leg injuries. This was due to gang-crossfire where two homes were shot at in a drive-by shooting.

21st century
In 2017, Rocket Lab built their rocket launch site on the Mahia Peninsula with Wairoa being the closet town to the site (83 kilometres away). This has led to a number of employment opportunities for Wairoa.

The Wairoa branch of the ANZ bank closed in 2018, and the BNZ and Westpac banks closed in 2021. Wairoa also lost its only dentist in 2020 forcing locals to visit Gisborne or Napier for dental treatment.

In February 2023, Wairoa was hit by Cyclone Gabrielle with it being described as "the most catastrophic weather event Wairoa has experienced in living memory". State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa was closed until May 2023 because of the damage it suffered. in May 2023, plans were progressing to prevent flooding affecting Wairoa again with the Hawke's Bay Regional Council saying that they wish to invest in a flood protection scheme. The risk of flooding "in some areas as high as 5 percent. This means, for example, that a dwelling designed for a 50-year life has a 93 percent chance of being flooded in its lifetime." It was noted by the mayor Craig Little, "There is actually zero flood protection at the moment" for Wairoa.

In late June 2024, Wairoa experienced torrential rain and high tides, which led to 118 homes being flooded. The flooding was compounded by a blockage at the mouth of the Wairoa River, which caused the river to burst its banks and significant flooding three blocks inland. In response to flooding, the New Zealand Government allocated NZ$3 million to disaster relief efforts in Wairoa. Following the Wairoa flooding, both the Hawke's Bay Regional Council and the Government commissioned investigations into local flood mitigation efforts.

Demographics
Wairoa covers 7.57 km2 and had an estimated population of as of  with a population density of  people per km2.

Wairoa had a population of 4,527 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 438 people (10.7%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 213 people (4.9%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,548 households, comprising 2,223 males and 2,304 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.96 males per female. The median age was 36.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 1,116 people (24.7%) aged under 15 years, 861 (19.0%) aged 15 to 29, 1,782 (39.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 768 (17.0%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 43.0% European/Pākehā, 69.5% Māori, 4.4% Pacific peoples, 3.5% Asian, and 1.1% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 8.3, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 34.7% had no religion, 39.4% were Christian, 14.6% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.2% were Hindu, 0.9% were Muslim, 0.5% were Buddhist and 1.3% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 285 (8.4%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 1,002 (29.4%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $21,500, compared with $31,800 nationally. 183 people (5.4%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,341 (39.3%) people were employed full-time, 459 (13.5%) were part-time, and 273 (8.0%) were unemployed.

Wairoa had a population of 3348 people in 1951, which increased to 3796 people in 1956 and; 4301 in 1961.

Economy
The meat processing plant in Wairoa was first established in 1916. Originally owned by the Wairoa Co-operative Meat Company, the building was destroyed by a fire on 5 February 1931. The AFFCO group bought it in 1990. The meat processing plant employs around 650 people in their peak season. They process mutton, lamb, goat and beef and export much of the product. There is also a rendering plant onsite producing bone meal and tallow. In 2015 the Employment Court deemed a lockout of 170 workers at the plant illegal. Management had locked workers out for five months who refused to sign individual contracts. In 2018, the Court of Appeal ruled that those workers locked out should be paid lost wages. In February 2020, a worker at the plant was killed on the job, crushed by pallets. Worksafe closed the plant briefly and investigated the incident.

Forestry is playing an increasing role in the economy of Wairoa. Many farms are being converted to forests which earn carbon credits. There are concerns that the loss of farming will shrink the size of the town's economy and lead to depopulation.

In January 2020, the Government announced funding of $6.1 million to support rebuilding in the central business district. The funding will support a Wairoa Integrated Business and Tourism Facility, a Wairoa Digital Employment Programme and a Wairoa Regional Digital Hub.

Amenities and events
Since 2005, Wairoa has been host to the annual Wairoa Māori Film Festival, New Zealand's premiere Māori and indigenous film festival, which has hosted film makers from across the nation and around the world. In 2015, the festival began to be hosted in part at the newly revitalised Gaiety Cinema and Theatre, which had recently been fitted out with one of the world's most advanced theatre sound systems.

The Wairoa Agricultural & Pastoral Society was established in 1899 and held its first show next to the Frasertown Domain. A variety of events are run at the annual show including rodeo, dog trials, competition sheep shearing, show jumping and other equestrian events. The 2022 edition, due to be held in January was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The Wairoa museum, located at 142 Marine Parade, is housed since 2001, in what was the ANZ bank building. The collection focusses on local and Māori history and includes a Māori flag from the Māori land wars in 1865. In 2016, the museum expanded its exhibition space and refurbished the galleries and developed a new interactive "discovery space".

The Wairoa Centennial Library was built in 1960. It was designed by the Wellington Architectural firm Porker & Martin. The Wairoa Rotary Club raised $20,000 to built an extension to the library in 1974 to house a museum. Further work to the library was completed in 1988 and 2003. The library is located at 212 Marine Parade.

Wairoa is home to two golf courses. The Wairoa Golf Club is located 5 kilometres to the north of central Wairoa. The Mahia Golf Club is located on the Mahia Peninsula and has a nine-hole course.

The Wairoa community centre is home to an indoor stadium. Indoor soccer, netball, cricket, badminton, volleyball and basketball can be played. There is also a gym and a 25-metre indoor swimming pool. It is located at 33 Marine Parade.

Marae
The township includes a number of marae (meeting grounds) and wharenui (meeting houses) for the local iwi (tribe) of Ngāti Kahungunu and its hapū (sub-tribes). In October 2020, the Government committed $1,949,075 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade Ruataniwha, Hinemihi, Hurumua, Iwitea, Kihitu, Taihoa, Tākitimu-Waihirere, Tawhiti A Maru, Te Mira and Whakakī, and 14 other Ngāti Kahungunu marae, creating 164 jobs.

The three waters
In 2020, the Wairoa District Council applied to the Regional Council for resource consents for the Wairoa town wastewater scheme. Wastewater is discharged to an estuary in the lower reaches of the Wairoa River, through an outfall about 100 metres from the shore. A panel of independent commissioners reviewing the application noted that the discharge to water is not culturally acceptable to the community, but that land-based discharge is currently unaffordable and the council has not secured suitable land. The review concluded that the town "had a very significant problem" and urged the council to get help from central government.

During 2021, the Government consulted with regional and district councils about proposed major reforms for the three waters sector nationwide, involving the proposed transfer of assets from 67 local authorities to four new large entities. The mayor of Wairoa, Craig Little criticised the proposed reforms and expressed concerns about the loss of local representation and control.

Hospital
Wairoa Hospital (Te Hauora o te Wairoa / Wairoa Health) is a 12-bed hospital that provides both maternity and acute medical inpatient beds. It is run by the Hawke's Bay District Health Board. Also located at Te Hauora o te Wairoa / Wairoa Health is a general practice, an emergency department (level 2), radiology and laboratory services, mental health and addiction services and a number of outpatient clinics. it is located at 36 Kitchener Street, Wairoa.

Transport
The Wairoa airport is located on Airport Road on the northern side of Wairoa. The runway is 914 metres long. The airport is home to the Wairoa Aero Club.

Wairoa is connected south west to Napier and north east to Gisborne by State Highway 2. Connecting Wairoa to the northwest is State Highway 38 which travels past Lake Waikaremoana where it joins State Highway 5.

The Napier to Gisborne section of the Palmerston North-Gisborne railway line was mothballed in 2012 after being damaged by a storm. It was repaired and reopened between Napier and Wairoa in January 2020 with funding of $6.2 million from the Provincial Growth Fund. Freight services ran to transport logs to Napier Port. The service was suspended after six return trips as a result of the impact of COVID-19 on the forestry sector. It reopened in November 2020.

Notable buildings
St Andrew's Church (Presbyterian-Methodist) is located at 98 Queen Street. It is a category two historic place. it was most likely built between 1932 and 1935.

St Peter's Catholic Church is located at 64 Queen Street. It is a category two historic place. One of the oldest buildings in Wairoa, it was completed in 1882. Built out of timber, it is an important example of New Zealand Gothic Revival church architecture.

The Wairoa Meat Company building, located on Marine Parade, is a category two Historic Place. Built between 1915 and 1920, highlights the long association between Wairoa and the meat processing industry. It survived the 1931 Napier earthquake and in 2020 received a $200,000 grant for seismic strengthening.

The Wairoa County Chambers, located on Queen Street, is a category two Historic Place.

The Gaiety Cinema and Theatre, located at 252 Marine Parade was built in 1925. It was destroyed in the 1931 Hawkes Bay earthquake. It was subsequently rebuilt in 1932 in an Art Deco style. It has hosted many events including screenings of movies, concerts, political rallies and boxing matches. It closed in 1960 and was used for a variety of purposes including as a supermarket and basketball court. In 1998, work was completed to restore it to its former use as a cinema and theatre and it was reopened in 2000. Finances forced it to close in 2009. It reopened in 2015 with support from the Wairoa District Council. It has a capacity of 250 patrons.

Education
Wairoa College is a Year 7–13 co-educational state high school. It is a decile 1 school with a roll of as of

Wairoa Primary School is a Year 1–6 co-educational state primary school. It is a decile 2 school with a roll of.

Tiaho Primary School is a Year 1–6 co-educational state primary school. It is a decile 2 school with a roll of.

TKKM o Ngati Kahungunu o Te Wairoa is a Year 1–13 co-educational Māori immersion school. It is a decile 1 school with a roll of.

St Joseph's School is a Year 1–8 is co-educated state integrated Catholic primary school. It is a decile 3 school with a roll of.

Notable people

 * Bronwyn Elsmore, writer and religious studies lecturer
 * Derek Fox, broadcaster and former mayor of Wairoa
 * Pana Hema Taylor, actor
 * Katarina Kawana, musician
 * Esme Tombleson, politician
 * Mere Whaanga, author and historian

title: Wairoa


text:
Maraini

Maraini is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include:

 * Fosco Maraini (1912–2004), Italian ethnologist, photographer, film-maker, mountaineer, writer, and professor
 * Dacia Maraini (born 1936), Italian novelist, daughter of Fosco

title: Maraini