Otago rugby league team
| Club information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Whalers, Raiders, Storm, 45er's |
| Founded | 1908 |
| Current details | |
| Competition | New Zealand Rugby League |
| Records | |
| Rugby League Cup | 2002 |
The Otago rugby league team are New Zealand rugby league team that represents the Otago Rugby League. They are known as the Whalers. In the past they have been nicknamed the Storm, the Raiders and the 45er's.
In 1908 Otago was involved in some of the first provincial matches in the country when it played a home and away series against Southland. The first game was played at Caledonia Ground in Dunedin on 3 October and used goalposts which were rented from the Otago Rugby Union. The Southland side included Ned Hughes, a former All Black. Otago won the match 11-8. A return match was played at Queens Park, Invercargill on 7 October. Southland was able to win the match 30-14 and draw the series.
The Otago side was made up of fullback D Bannantyne, three-quarters J Harrhy, WR Kirk and G Ogg, five-eighths EO Nees and P Walker, halfback J Coulter, and forwards J Bryant, E Manley (captain), T Mockford, W Harridge, J Campbell and Larkins.
Although rugby league was played in Southland over the next two years, the code ceased to exist in Otago until it was revised again in 1924, following the announcement by the New Zealand Rugby League that a Test was to be held in Dunedin that year. After securing a ground literally only days before the Test, due to blockades at different venues by the Otago Rugby Football Union, the Test went ahead at Tahuna Park in front of more than 14,000 spectators. The ORFU tried to sway the public away from the game and arranged a provincial Otago-Canterbury match at the same time. However the public sympathy went to the fledgling code and with it came the formation of the Otago Rugby Football League that year, chaired by Dunedin dentist, John Cooper.
Until the stock market crashed five years later, the ORFL soon became one of the most powerful league provincial bodies in New Zealand after its leading administrators Harry Divers founded the Art Union lottery leading to an abundance of wealth. Subsequently, the ORFL bought up a big section of land in South Dunedin, which was later subdivided, including a ground originally called Colossal Park after one of the lotteries. It soon became known as Tonga Park, which remains to this day. The ORFL also loaned the NZRL 820 pounds in 1927 to keep it out of the red as well as hosting a Test the following year at the Caledonian Ground, which by now was under a five-year lease of the code. In addition there were five clubs (Athletic, Christian Brothers, City, Kaikorai and Kaitangita) that began and in the case of Kaikorai and Kaitangita were only short lived.
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