Home town boys bring NRL trophy back for Christmas parade

Rugby league fans won’t want to miss this year’s Tokoroa Christmas Parade.

Roosters centre Zane Tetevano and prop Joseph Manu, who helped the Australian team win the NRL Grand Final in September, have both confirmed they will feature in their home town’s parade on Saturday, December 8 from 11am.

And if that’s not exciting enough they’re bringing the NRL ProvanSummons Trophy with them.

It will be the first time the trophy has ever visited the South Waikato town which has produced some of the world’s top rugby league players.

Manu’s uncle Billy Maea, who is also distantly related to Tetevano via his great grandfather, has been working with the South Waikato District Council to organise the three men by their clothing and tattoos. In explanation for their actions, Tutuki said they had burned the hive so they could get the honey. Tutuki was sentenced in July to community work and supervision, and ordered to pay Katikati Honey a $800 share for the loss of the hives, and an additional $400 for emotional harm. Christensen has plead guilty to the charge and he is due to be sentenced in the Thames District Court on December 18.

Gurnick’s other charges related to incidents on April 11 and May 7.

In the earlier incident, he was driving a Ford Falcon along the Ngati Maru Highway towards Thames at about 1.20pm when a police patrol signalled for him to pull over as part of a routine traffic check. He hit the accelerator instead and raced off at speeds of around 150kmh in speed zones of 70 and 80kmh, causing numerous drivers to take evasive action.

At the time a funeral was under way at the Thames Rugby Club and there was a lot of traffic on the road. The police broke off the pursuit due to the danger Gurnick posed.

The next day Gurnick was a passenger in another car that was stopped by the police. He was taken to the Thames Police Station where he admitted his dangerous driving.

The May 7 incident involved him doing ‘‘donuts’’ on a grass verge of Maramarahi Rd in Thames, during which he struck the front and rear of another vehicle parked there. He was later stopped by police in Pollen St, where a breath test returned a result of 688 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath.

With no address available where a sentence of home detention could be served, Judge Simon Menzies jailed him for 12 months. He also indefinitely disqualified Gurnick from driving, and ordered him to pay Katikati Honey $800 in reparation. the visit.

‘‘What are the odds of having two players from Tokoroa in the same NRL team, let along winning the NRL Grand Final. This will also be the first time the NRL trophy will come to our little town. It is fantastic and we’re feeling really good about it,’’ he said.

The parade is set to travel along Bridge St and into Leith Pl.

Maea, who travelled to Australia to watch the grand final, said he was proud of Tetevano and Manu.

‘‘I went over with the families and it was really special for us to witness. It was surreal.

South Waikato Mayor Jenny Shattock said the whole town was excited about the return of its ‘‘heroes’’.

‘‘It’s an absolute pleasure to have the boys in the Christmas Parade. The whole town is buzzing with excitement knowing that our league heroes are bringing home the famous NRL championship trophy.