Tumamao Harawira - Healthy lifestyle gaining popularity for māori

And now we talk sports with Tumamao Harawira. Tena koe, Tu. This weekend Ironman will be held in Auckland. Over the years we've seen that Maori enjoy participating in these types of sports to the point where Iron Maori was established. Why do you think this kind of sport is popular? This sport isn't just popular with Maori. Ever since its inception NZ has been one of the biggest participants in Ironman. Despite what is said about Maori in terms of health, healthy living has been something that has been happening among Maori for awhile. Not only just in sports but also at events like Te Matatini. There is physical preparation of the body through training to ensure performances are done in top form. Iron Maori isn't the only sport of that kind that's popular among Maori. It's something that's really started to take off in the last few years, training and having a fit body so that we are healthy enough to see our children grow up. To league now, some are saying that even though the Warriors are sending their best the clubs in Australia aren't. Why is that? There are two reasons as to why. Firstly, the Warriors are the only team from over here so it's expected that they would send their best. For Australia, however, it's different. For example the Roosters are in another competition the following week called the World Club Challenge. So, the majority of their best are benched. It's the same elsewhere. The NRL board and the competition organisers have signed a contract that obliges clubs to participate and if they ignore those obligations there will be problems. For those of us who have bought $300-$400 tickets, don't worry about not being able to see the NRL's cream of the crop. There are obligations that need to be met by the NRL board and the comp organisers. It's getting close to the finals of the 25th Waka Ama Nationals, are there any new faces contending in the finals this year or have already received medals? The stalwarts of this competition are still going strong and will always be there. However, in terms of new faces it would have to be among our younger competitors. Turangawaewae has been one of the real stars in this area so I take my hat off to Tainui. Also there's Horouta from the East Coast where it's business as usual for them. So we're not really seeing any new faces among our older divisions but they're among our kids participating in this sport. Tonight our netball team will play against Jamaica. Will they win? No doubt it will be NZ. The real question is by how much? We know that NZ will win hands down, it's more about how well they play, and who will be in the top lineup - those are the big questions. Also, who will stand in for the injured captain, Casey Kopua? Those questions remain to be answered. As we get to the end of the match we will find out the answers. How we play and win it are the big questions for me. Tumamao Harawira, thank you for your time.