Christchurch Schools in Vodafone Warriors’ Sights
Auckland, New Zealand, May 11, 2016 – The Vodafone Warriors have already blitzed schools in Whangarei, Nelson, Auckland
and Wellington this year and on Thursday and Friday they have 10 Christchurch schools in their sights.
Injured back rower Ben Henry and club legends Ruben Wiki and Jerome Ropati combine with Kiwi Ferns star Georgia Hale to
take the club’s Harvey Norman Community Warriors campaign to six schools tomorrow (May 12).
They arrived in Christchurch on Wednesday night to front the ACC Everyday Athlete and KidsCan ‘Raincoats for Kids’
programmes at local schools ahead of the Vodafone Warriors’ 10th-round NRL clash against Penrith at AMI Stadium on
Saturday (5.00pm kick-off).
Later the advance guard is joined by former captain Simon Mannering when all will attend a gala dinner with the Penrith
squad at Addington Raceway.
On Friday, Mannering and Henry link with Wiki, NRL ambassadors Ropati and Hale plus Vodafone Warriors community
relations manager Petrece Kesha to visit four more schools as well as Ronald McDonald House and Vodafone’s Christchurch
head office.
On Saturday they’ll be out watching junior rugby league games before taking in the Vodafone Warriors’ crucial clash
against Penrith, the first NRL match played in
Christchurch since the city suffered such horrific damage from the 2011 earthquake (the last NRL match in Christchurch
was between the Sydney Roosters and the Vodafone Warriors at the now unused Jade Stadium in 2010).
Taking Harvey Norman Community Warriors programmes to Christchurch follows visits to more than 40 schools in Whangarei,
Nelson and Auckland in February plus Wellington last month.
Next week the Harvey Norman Community Warriors team will be in New Plymouth ahead of the first-ever NRL match in
Taranaki; it’s a Vodafone Warriors home game against the Canberra Raiders at Yarrow Stadium on Saturday, May 21
(7.30pm).
ends