Bill (Wiremu/William) Te Whata was a New Zealand Māori rugby union and rugby league representative. He also played one test for the New Zealand rugby league team in 1924 becoming Kiwi number 159.
Early life
Wiremu Te Whata was born in Northland, New Zealand in 1893. His father was Eru Te Whata, and mother Ripeka Ruku Te Whata (nee Kaihe). Eru died in 1907 aged 35. He had a brother, John William Te Whata. In the 1910s Wiremu (also known as William, or Bill) moved to live in Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast of the North Island.
Playing career
Rugby Union playing days
Bill Te Whata began playing rugby on the East Coast of the North Island. He played for the Waima Rugby Club from 1918 to 1921. On 28 August 1920 he played for ‘Waiapu County’ (situated near Ruatoria) against Hawkes Bay. After a “forward sweep” Te Whata "got over and scored" their only try in a 12–3 loss where a trumpet was blown to announce the end of the match. When they played four days later against a Hawke’s Bay Māori side their manager told the Hastings Standard that they were in fact a “country team, picked in Tokomaru, from a population of from 1000 to 1500 people” rather than the Waiapu district. They were therefore called Tokomaru for this match which was drawn 9 all after they scored a try on full-time. Te Whata had earlier scored a try following “a splendid bit of passing” among his teammates.
In 1921 Te Whata again turned out for the Tokomaru side. They played a match against the visiting Tolaga Bay side which saw a 6–6 draw with Te Whata continuing his try scoring feats notching a try for the hosts. Te Whata was then named in the East Coast side to play against Poverty Bay on August 13 at the Childers Road Reserve. East Coast was just beginning as combined rep team with players made up from Te Araroa, Tokomaru, Tolaga Bay, Tikitiki, and Ruatoria. Te Whata’s weight was listed as 13 stone. East Coast won the match 8–6 in front of a big crowd. A week later Te Whata was to gain selection for his opponent when he was picked in the Poverty Bay side to play against Hawkes Bay on August 27. The East Coast team he had played for was not a fully fledged union and therefore the players from there were eligible to play for Poverty Bay. Poverty Bay lost the match 12 points to 3 with Te Whata scoring their only points after a scrum on the Hawke’s Bay line. The game saw considerable interest because the match was essentially a trial to see who would be picked in the combined team to play against the touring Springboks. This saw a crowd of around 2,500 in attendance though the game was generally regarded as disappointing.
Te Whata was then selected for the combined Poverty Bay & Hawke’s Bay side to play against the Springboks on September 3 at McLean Park in Napier. The Springboks won 14–8 in front of a crowd of between 7 and 8 thousand with Te Whata playing in the forwards. He was then picked in the New Zealand Māori team to play the Springboks at the same venue four days later on September 7. The Springboks won by a solitary point 9–8 before a crowd of 6,000 spectators.
Switch to Rugby League
In 1922 Bill Te Whata made the move to rugby league. A story is related where George Gillett, the famous All Black and New Zealand rugby league player was working as a publican in the Gisborne area at the time. He approached Joe Lockwood, his twin brother Mason, and Te Whata and asked them if they would go to Auckland “for a trial of league”.
It is unclear if there was a trial but Te Whata was to play for New Zealand Māori against Auckland on May 20 at Carlaw Park as part of their build up to their Australian tour. The Māori side won by 28 points to 18 against a strong Auckland team which featured 12 current or future Kiwi internationals. Te Whata was listed as being 26 years of age at the time. He was to score a try which sealed the game which he also converted in front of 7,000 spectators. The match also saw £297 2s 6d raised at the gate. They then played an inter squad exhibition match before the departure of the team for Australia. The match was described as “more or less of a scramble” with the A team winning 44 points to 14 despite many tries not even seeing a conversion attempted and Te Whata scoring 5 tries for the winning side. Many spectators who had paid for admission asked for their money refunded and the Auckland Rugby League decided to recommend to New Zealand Council that the gate money be donated to charity. Te Whata was then officially named in the touring side alongside the likes of Huatahi Paki, George Gardiner, Sam Lowrie, George Paki, and Craddock Dufty.