We kicked out our Ranga Rep countdown looking at our first ever Auckland player, Peter Corlett. Since 1980, 22 men who have played for Pakuranga have gone on to play in the NPC for Auckland.

Auckland play Waikato at our very own Bell Park this weekend - get tickets here.

Pete was joined by All Blacks Steve Pokere and Steve McDowall in the Auckland team in the 1980s, when both players moved north from Southland and Bay of Plenty respectively.

It was then a long time between drinks when it came to representative honours, all the way through to the early 2000s when homegrown product James Arlidge made the side. Uniquely, James made his Super Rugby debut for the Blues before his provincial debut, and played for Auckland in 2001 before being loaned to Northland. Some might question why Gareth ‘G-Money’ Arlidge is missing from this list – he debuted for Auckland after playing club rugby for University and later saw the light coming to Pakuranga!

The man, the myth, the legend that is Tom ‘Freak’ McCartney made his debut for Auckland in 2007 (weeks after debuting for North Harbour on loan). Freak played club rugby at Pakuranga throughout his high school years and was a mainstay of the prems for a long time.

He racked up 100 matches across Auckland (94) and North Harbour (6) – by far our most long serving representative player.

A few years later and fortunes were changing out east, with Wayne Pivac at the helm of the premiers, the side started making moves at attracting top talent. What followed was 17 players making the NPC across the decade between 2010-2020.

The Ranga became a home for many players who came to Auckland for rugby, including Sam Prattley, Mitch Hunt and Fraser Armstrong – all who have gone on to big representative careers.

We’ve also seen home grown talent thrive, with the likes of Joe Edwards and Dalton Papali’I making the club proud on the domestic stage.

In 2013 and 2015 we had as many as seven players taking the field in the blue and white hoops across the season.

Fatongia Paea was the last Ranga man to debut for Auckland, back in 2020 but there are many more chapters to write when it comes to our future reps!

Pakuranga players debut year for Auckland
1980 – Peter Corlett
1984 – Steve Pokere
1985 – Steve McDowall
2001 – James Arlidge
2007 – Tom McCartney
2010 – Charles Piutau
2012 – Malakai Fekitoa
2012 – Tony Fenner
2012 – Joe Edwards
2013 – Aula Silipa
2013 – Dave Whitcliffe-Davies
2013 – Sam Prattley
2014 – Fraser Armstrong
2014 – TJ Faiane
2015 – Sam Thomas
2015 – Mitch Hunt
2015 – Dwayne Polataivao
2015 – Ben Nee Nee
2016 – James Lay
2017 – Dalton Papali’i
2017 – Wiseguy Faiane
2020 – Fatongia Paea
 

Article added: Monday 11 September 2023