Kiwis To Wear Special Jersey In Historic Test Tonight

Kiwis To Wear Special Jersey In Historic Test Tonight

Gold Coast, Australia, May 6, 2011 – Both Anzac Day and the Christchurch earthquake disaster are commemorated in the jersey the Kiwis will wear in tonight’s Anzac Test against the Kangaroos at Skilled Park in Robina.

Above a poppy embroidered on the left sleeve of each player’s jersey is an inscription reading:

Kia Maumahara Tatou
Christchurch, February 22
2011

The expression ‘kia maumahara tatou’ means ‘let us remember’. Below the poppy are the words:

Lest We Forget
Anzac Day
April 25th

The sleeve also includes each player’s unique Kiwi number.

The 2011 Anzac Test was originally scheduled for AMI Stadium in Christchurch but the February 22 earthquake forced officials to move the match while at the same time making a commitment to bring the 2012 Anzac Test to the South Island city.

It was decided to create history this time by taking a New Zealand-Australia international to the Gold Coast for the first time.

In a special initiative involving a number of rugby league organisations and sponsors, the crowd tonight will include 250 people who suffered in the earthquake disaster and another 250 who experienced the horror of Queensland’s floods earlier this year.

The Christchurch contingent numbers 160 people from the rugby league community who were severely affected plus 90 emergency services workers. They arrived on the Gold Coast yesterday and today with former Kiwi captain Nathan Cayless and 2007 Kiwi Chase Stanley among the passengers. Along with other NRL players, including injured Kiwi winger Sam Perrett, Cayless and Stanley spent time in Christchurch earlier this week.

The group warmed up for the Test with a special lunch at the Northcliffe Surf Life Saving Club in Surfers Paradise today and will visit Sea World tomorrow. On Sunday, they’ll all be at Skilled Park again to watch the Vodafone Warriors take on Gold Coast in their ninth-round NRL match.
Before kick-off 140 emergency services and defence personnel involved in the disasters in Christchurch and Queensland will unite in a lap of honour in front of a sold out Skilled Park crowd.

On Monday, Vodafone Warriors and Gold Titans players will visit Ipswich and Goodna as part of the NRL’s ‘Adopt A Club Programme’, which encourages NRL clubs to partner with flood affected clubs or regions from across Australia to assist with fundraising efforts.

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