PUBLICITY RELEASE
WEDNESDAY JUNE 18 2008
More Mean Sports Stars On Hyundai Code – On Maori Television!
International rugby league and union star Lesley Vainikolo and current Vodafone Warriors Ian Henderson and Simon
Mannering join award-winning sports entertainment show HYUNDAI CODE this Thursday June 19 at 8.00 PM (repeats Sunday
June 22 at 4.00 PM).
Lesley Vainikolo was only 18 when he got the phonecall that would change his life – an offer from rugby league megastar
Mal Meninga to play for the Canberra Raiders in the Australian NRL. Voted rookie of the year in his first season for
that club, the player dubbed ‘The Volcano’ later moved to the Bradford Bulls in the Super League, where he broke try
scoring records and was voted the best rugby player in the world in 2003. A player that good was always going to be on
every coach’s wish list, and last year Vainikolo was enticed to switch codes to play for Gloucester Rugby Club, within
months being named in the English squad for the Six Nations Championship 2008.
Ian Henderson is a new addition to the Vodafone Warriors this year, and already he’s getting a name as an in-form
hooker. Formerly with the Roosters, his coach at the time was current Warrior’s man Ivan Cleary, a useful connection now
paying off for Henderson. From there he played briefly with the Parramatta Eels, and then the Bradford Bulls, where he
played 70 games before the hankering to play in the NRL brought him back to the warmer climes of the South Pacific. As
the Warriors incumbent go-to hooker Nathan Fien comes to the end of his career, all eyes are on Henderson to see if he
will be a suitable heir apparent.
In a less than optimum year for the Warriors, centre Simon Mannering is one of the few players to show consistency and
grit. Originally from Nelson, Mannering played for Wellington before moving north to play for the Warriors, where the
centre has earned himself a regular spot in a tightly contested position. Equally effective in defence and with ball in
hand, the tall and powerful 21 year-old former Junior Kiwi looks to be fulfilling early promise.
Voted Best Sports Programme at last year’s Air New Zealand Screen Awards, HYUNDAI CODE is an hour-long show – now in its
fourth year – and filmed live in front of a studio audience at Maori Television’s Auckland headquarters. Tawera Nikau
and Jenny-May Coffin are joined by Warriors’ Wairangi Koopu and the ‘Brofessionals’ – aka Glen Osborne (Oz) and Matua
Parkinson (Mutz) – for more news, inside stories and off-camera action with Kiwi sports stars excelling at home and
abroad.
Book your ringside seat for hard-case interviews and plenty of laughs with HYUNDAI CODE – screening on Maori Television
this Thursday at 8.00 PM (repeats every Sunday at 4.00 PM)
.
Ends