All Stars role a key part of Hanley's cultural journey

When members of the Māori Women’s side assemble in camp next month and begin the process of rediscovering, or in some cases discovering for the first time, their cultural heritage, coach Keith Hanley will have a solid understanding of the feelings they are experiencing.   

That’s because for the past decade he has been on his own journey of learning and embracing his Māori heritage, which among countless hours of research has included visiting a number of marae (meeting grounds) across New Zealand to trace his genealogy.

After being immersed in the culture as a child, Hanley said he lost connection through the middle part of his life.

But prompted by the realisation that he didn’t have answers to some of the questions his son was beginning to ask about the family tree, he made moves to change that.  

“It’s an incredibly humbling experience. I sat down with one bloke who was able to teach me stuff and do it in such a way that he didn’t just give me the answers, I had to go out to different marae and talk to different people,” Hanley told pan66.com.

“I learned it far better by living it instead of just sitting down and reciting it on a bit of paper. It’s something I am very, very thankful I had the experience to do.

“Like with a lot of first nations people, when you start to go back you think you are only tied to one tribe or one iwi, and then all of a sudden you are finding these connections to other places that you were never aware of.”

In addition to developing a game plan he hopes will see his side avenge last year’s 18-8 loss to the Indigenous Women, Hanley will be ensuring his playing group have ample opportunity to explore their heritage during their time together in Rotorua for the NRL Harvey Norman All Stars.

“These experiences with the All Stars tie in lots of stories from our past. All those things that mean a lot to you,” Hanley said.

“Everyone has got their own take on it. It’s so personal to you and it’s a cultural experience and a lot bigger than throwing a footy around and having a game.

“A couple of years ago through COVID we weren’t able to play a lot of the girls from New Zealand because of the inability to travel, so we played girls who were born in Australia or had lived the majority of their life in Australia, with no connection to home other than mum or dad or grandparents being from there.

We had language classes and the girls were pretty ordinary, I don’t think they’ll mind me saying that. But when you hear them talk now it’s like ‘wow, they’ve really been learning and making an effort with it.’

Keith Hanley

In his third campaign in charge of the Māori Wāhine (women), Hanley will be relishing the opportunity to lead the team in Rotorua, where he has connects to local iwi Ngāti Rangitihi.

Involvement in the annual pre-season clash has been among the highlights of Hanley’s emergence as a coach since moving to Australia in 2019, following years spent as one of the leading domestic coaches in New Zealand.