Signs point to great future
He may be partially deaf but that hasn’t stopped wing Petaera Meihana from making his mark on Wellington’s premier club rugby competition.
The 25-year-old can only hear about half of what happens on the field but he was promoted to the Paremata-Plimmerton Rugby Football Club’s premier team after impressing coach Phil ‘‘Gibbo’’ Gibb earlier this year.
The centre and wing, who also plays for the Deaf Blacks, is Paremata-Plimmerton’s only partially deaf player and, as far as he is aware, is the only deaf player at the top club level in Wellington.
‘‘For the first five months I was trying to get into the rhythm . . . by the second round everyone’s starting to know me,’’ he said.
Sometimes his team-mates use basic hand signals to say ‘‘go forward’’ or ‘‘back’’. Other times they might come in closer to help him hear or read their lips.
‘‘What I do is look at my options . . . I go close to the fullback for face-to-face [communication].’’
Meihana said he could hear the referee’s whistle most of the time. The key was being hyperaware of his surroundings and focusing on the flow of the game.
Meihana does not wear his hearing aids while playing – he once went without them for two weeks after losing them during a schoolyard game.
He started playing for the Deaf Blacks, who often communicate using sign language, in 2015.
With te reo taught to him by his grandfather, and the English and sign language he learnt in school, Meihana is fluent in all three of New Zealand’s official languages.
Gibb said he had learnt to communicate clearly with Meihana, which could be ‘‘as simple as making sure you have eye contact’’.
‘‘He’s more aware of his surroundings in a game, which is actually quite good,’’ Gibb said.
‘‘I think other players could take from learning about his disability.’’
Meihana’s father, Apanui Mason, said he was proud of his only son’s accomplishments.
But he admitted he was ‘‘pretty rusty’’ when it came to sign language.