2025 NZ Secondary School Kī o Rahi Senior Nationals

The 2025 NZ Secondary Schools Kī o Rahi Nationals or Manarahi as it is now known is being hosted by the whānau of Manawatū.

36 teams will arrive in Palmerston North this week ready to show the strength of their rohe and school.

If you are in the area, head along to Central Energy Stadium to catch some of the action!

9 pools of 4 teams means only 3 games for teams on Day 1. Teams will have to start fast or they could miss out on the Top 16 quite easily.

If you top your pool on Day 1 you have nothing to worry about though as you will be through to the Top 16, the next 7 best placed teams will join those teams. So points for and against comes into play, this could be tough for the pools with harder games though, as winning by 1 or 2 might mean you still miss out when teams from other pools are winning by more.

We thought we would take a look at the pools and make some guesses as to how it could go.

Pool 1 - Rangitāne

Last year’s winners Tūranga Wāhine Tūranga Tāne from Gisborne head this pool with 3 other teams who are also quite experienced on the National stage. Te Aratai College from Christchurch, TKKM o Whakarewa from Taupō and Mana College from Porirua are no strangers to Secondary School Nationals. I felt TWTT were best by far last year and seem to have discovered a style of play that not many others can match. I can see TWTT topping this pool, but the interesting thing will be seeing who finishes second as all the other teams have the potential to do well and have the best chance to understand whether they belong in the Top 8 as they get to play against last year’s champs.

Pool 2 - Hineaute

TKKM o Manutuke head this pool and are likely to be favourites with St Peters (Manwatū) being relative newcomers to Kī o Rahi National level they’ll have the support of the rohe behind them. Whanganui High School are back at Nationals after a long absence and Bay of Islands College having been to a few National events now, they’ll be looking to finish top 2 so they can get their best ever finish. Manutuke seemed like they had a lot of Seniors in their team last year, they have a good high paced style and I’m sure they benefit from having TWTT in their rohe.

Pool 3 - Rangitepaia

This is one of those pools where someone good has to miss out. Hamilton Boys and Girls have been in and around the top teams for a long time now. Te Ara Whānui & TKKM o Hurungaterangi are ready to take that next step, Hurungaterangi have only been to a junior nationals however they did pretty well for their first time and they did really well at Wīki Hā. Cullinane are not to be forgotten about either, our Whanganui kura have been away for a little while and no doubt they will be looking to remind teams that they are back.

Pool 4 - Mairehau

Wainuiomata are one of the most exciting teams around, they beat Te Kuiti at the 2024 Junior Regionals and with many of those youngins joining what was already a strong Senior team - Wainuiomata will be one of the teams vying for Championship this year. Cool to see Mt Albert Grammar along for their first Nationals. Tū Toa will be going hard in front of a home crowd which has worked well for many kura in the past. Ngāti Ruanui I don’t know too much about but they won the Taranaki regionals which is no easy feat and would have plenty of Wīki Hā experience behind them, going to be a cool pool to watch to see how the other 3 kura progress!

Pool 5 - Rangiaranaki

Te Kuiti and Te Koutu are two of my favourite kura to watch, I really hope that one will be live-streamed, could be the match of the day! I’m picking whoever wins this pool to push on to the Top 4! With these two kura in one pool it makes it difficult for Ruaatea and Te Kura Māori o Porirua for sure but anything can happen.

Pool 6 - Te Kapuarangi

TKKM o Te Waiū have to be favourites for this pool, they walked away as Senior winners at Wīki Hā at the end of last year and have consistently been one of the better performers at Nationals over recent years. Just hope that not too many of their seniors have moved on. Te Kaokaoroa and Dannevirke High have been around the scene for a while and definitely have the potential to upset Te Waiū whilst Tauranga Boys & Girls are making their debut, they will have some athleticism I’m sure and could upset any of the others.

Pool 7 - Manawatū

Another strong pool - Westlake or Rakaumanga must be favourites to top this one however I have seen the rise of TKKM o Te Whare Tapere o Takitimu and they may even surprise one of the favourites.

Pool 8 - Ruahine

A very difficult pool to predict, Ritana are the most experienced school of the lot but Waihora, Newlands and Te Rau Aroha have been at a number of Nationals now, their experience may also pay off and they’ll all be looking to top the pool. Te Rau Aroha were winners of the Junior section at Wīki Hā and are likely to have their juniors coming through now, they’ll be tough.

Pool 9 - Tararua

Again there are a few schools here with a bit of experience at National level, they’ll all be looking to top the pool, Raukura/Rautāwhiri and TKKM o Kaikohe are probably two of the most experienced Kura now and they have a chance to cement themselves in the Top 16 by topping their pool. I wouldn’t write the others off though. Be awesome to see whoever tops this pool push on to the Top 8 this year.

I wish all the teams all the best, safe travels to Palmy!