Tuterangi Te Moana has been good at flying under the radar the past couple of years.

The Ōpōtiki Sports rugby player, who has had the odd injury niggle the past couple of years, put his playing efforts to the side to help create a culture and environment everyone at the club can be proud of.

It has meant a new playing style for the team, but since pre-season began in mid-January there’s been a core group of young players continually turning up to not only improve their play but help the club create a new long-lasting legacy.

He’s called in his cousin, David Te Moana, a former Reds, Western Force and Highlanders prop at Super Rugby level, who has also played for Manawatu and Wellington at provincial level, and former Bay of Plenty Steamers hooker Dean Elmiger to provide some guidance.

“It’s all Tu. The culture and everything we’re creating now, but are trying to continue with going forward, is him. He was the one who sparked change, said David Te Moana.

“Without Tu doing what he has, we wouldn’t have all of this.

“We’re one club, not a senior A and B team, we’re all training together as one.

“The younger ones are the future, and we can build a future around them.

“He is the start of this change. He’s broken away from the old-school culture. He’s added a new lease of life to the club around the new school that actually includes and uses them.

“Tu has added a new brand of rugby here in Ōpōtiki and a good style of play for us to enjoy.”

Te Moana said it’s a long term, not a straight-forward fix.

“Tu has implemented a policy of everyone training together. At training on Tuesday night, I think we had 38 from our different teams and that’s what I want, all of us training together, none of them prems and Bs stuff. Tu’s been a huge advocate of that and we’re trying to grow it.”

While it can be hard to attract players, Te Moana said having numbers like this shows people still care.

“We’ve got a great group of younger boys here. They are some incredibly talented kids.

“The natural ability to read the game with little effort, you can’t coach, and it’s something Ōpōtiki has always had.

“To come back to this has been nice. It’s really satisfying to come home and visit all of that.”

Although a lot of training this week has involved running, it’s going to help in the long run.

Te Moana loves what his cousin is trying to create and said he wanted to help in some way.

“The purpose had to be bigger than why I was coming home, and the biggest part was to give back to my club where it all started.”

They may have lost their two pre-season games, but Te Moana said there were plenty of positives to take from them – that the players cared, and they could play rugby.

Even the women have been getting solid numbers to training.

“We need to work on an infectious culture where everyone is included in everyone.

“We do have a culture and just want to get back to the old days where everyone was together.”

Te Moana is training hard to, hopefully, one day put the boots on again so he can get out there alongside his cousin Tu.

“He’s really inspired me; watching him train the pre-season down, because he’s playing this season, too. We’ve come in to help take the pressure off him.

“Tu’s set up the plans during the week and on the weekend, we distribute what he has put in place.  

“We’re basing things on what he has put in place; basing it around what he has already started. I am there to give advice, guidance and put effort in it.”

This weekend, the senior men’s A side face Taneātua at Princess Street Reserve, who have moved up a division, while the B side tackles Waimana, also at home.

You can expect players such as Mana Howe, Luke Morris, Tuterangi Te Moana, David Whyte and others to lead the way with experience but the likes of Kalin Elmiger, Braeden Elmiger and Jax Waterson are three juniors to keep an eye on.

The senior Bs are being coached by Che Tood with Letitia Collier back on board as manager.