ABOUT US

welcome
to the
southern orcas

Christchurch’s bid to join

the NRL

WHO WE ARE

The Southern Orcas Rugby League Club will be a bold new force in the NRL, backed by strong investment and led by an experienced team with a proven track record in professional rugby league.

Anchored in Christchurch, we are committed to developing local talent, creating pathways for youth, and competing at the highest level in both the NRL and NRLW Premierships.

With our world-class facilities and the passion of the Southern region behind us, we will bring a fresh, innovative energy to the NRL and help drive its future growth.

our people

Sir graham lowe qsm

Chairman

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Andrew Chalmers

Managing Director

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The city of Christchurch and the South Island of New Zealand have a rich rugby league history - and the Southern Orcas will add to that story by developing the rich seam of talent into NRL and NRLW talent.

Great players to emerge from the Canterbury competition include Mark Broadhurst, Whetu Taewa, Adrian Shelford, Brent Stuart, David Kidwell and Terry Hermansson. Current NRL players include Jordan Riki (Brisbane), Jazz Tevaga (Manly) and Jamayne Isaako (the Dolphins). The national schoolboy champions for the past two seasons has been St Thomas of Canterbury College.

We will produce our own players using a satellite development model with 10 regional centres operating a sports education model with an annual intake of 25 male and 25 female athletes at each centre so that by year five, 2,500 young athletes would be part of the programme.

They will feed into a 20-hectare Centre of Excellence 15 minutes away from the Christchurch city centre, with a project value of $NZ100m, which would include seven full-sized training fields (one of them roofed), sports science, gymnasium and medical facilities and accommodation. The design phase is nearly complete and a target to have the first phase open in the second quarter of 2026.

Southern New Zealand presents a catchment population of 2.07m people, over 37% of the New Zealand population.

The Canterbury province we will call home has a population of 665,000, and is New Zealand’s second largest and fastest growing region.

There are 18,000 registered rugby league players in our zone, and our target is to increase that figure to 35,000 by 2028.

There are 75,000 registered rugby union players - over half the New Zealand total - and three Super Rugby teams, including the competition’s most successful franchise, in our zone.