LONG READ Pouri Rakete-Stones: Newcastle's Maori strongman with Red Bull flair and England ambitions

In Te reo Maori, the word ‘Pouri’ tends to carry a solemn resonance. It often conveys a sense of sorrow or sadness; the echo of some grave event etched in community lore. In the Rakete-Stones family, it bears no such gloom. Certainly, the colourful and rambunctious prop who has signed up to join Newcastle’s Red Bull revolution is nothing like the sincere translation of his moniker.

Two recent Pouris came before the straggly-haired strongman from Napier. His father, Pouri senior, and his great-uncle, a redoubtable Maori who in later life, has retreated to the wilderness of New Zealand.

“It’s quite a sacred name in our family and has been passed down for a little while,” Rakete-Stones says. “My dad’s uncle, who he is named after, is a very staunch fella. It’s hard to get words out of him. His family had a big house and they grew up quite rich – or richer than the people around them. As soon as everyone moved out, he tore the house down and built himself a little hut in the bush because he didn’t like the fact he grew up a little bit nicer. He’s a hard man but he’s cool and I’m very proud to be named after him and my dad – two people I really look up to.”.

Pouri Snr had a towering influence on his son. A totem in every sense. Shoulders like a Charolais bull and legs as thick as oaks. He was a national-level powerlifter and shifted some back-breaking tin in his prime. He and his wife, Wendy, represented New Zealand in the historic sport of woodchopping; an array of arduous cuts with axes and saws which used to be a big draw back home.

 

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“My parents were quite successful people,” Rakete-Stones says. “My mum was captain of the New Zealand women’s woodchopping team and my dad was in the men’s team. I was surrounded by success and graft early so that stuff was just normal to me – in my head that was how you operated.

“My dad was my rugby coach all the way from when I was five to just before I became professional. He was tough but not too tough. He was supportive and knew how to push me in the right places.”

Father and son gym sessions were the making of young Pouri as a physical specimen, so much so he can now squat a frightening 302kg. Not that he ever came close to taking the old man’s throne.

I’d never get anywhere near the numbers he was doing. He was squatting around 380kg. But he didn’t have to run up and down a rugby field, did he?

“I’d come home from school and be hanging out for him to come home from work like, ‘Where is he? I want to go to the gym.’ We used to train together three or four times a week.

“He doesn’t lift much anymore. He turned 60 last year and is a little bit broken and sore, but I’d never get anywhere near the numbers he was doing. He was squatting around 380kg. But he didn’t have to run up and down a rugby field, did he? He was a big boy. I never got to that strength. There was a moment I remember to this day when I knew I was doing well, when I squatted 180kg for the first time and he shook my hand and said ‘yeah, that’s it boy’. That’s the first time I was really chuffed.”

The Maori pride baked into Rakete-Stones never dimmed. He has played close to 100 matches for Hawke’s Bay, who like Newcastle United FC, play in black and white and are known as the Magpies. He played another 61 for the Hurricanes, rising through the ranks alongside Jordie Barrett, Ardie Savea, Asafo Aumua and Cam Roigard, and helping the franchise claim the Super Rugby crown this year.

It was the dark jersey of the Maori All Blacks, rather than New Zealand’s fabled national team itself, which truly captivated him. This is common among aspiring Maori players. The expression of culture and identity their team provides. Rakete-Stones was extremely close with his late ‘nan’, Pouri Snr’s mother, and there was a poetic twist to his first Maori All Blacks selection shortly after her passing in 2019.

“We were driving up to her tangi, which is the Maori word for funeral, and I got the call to say I made the Maori All Blacks team. As Maori kids – you’d get the same response from a lot of the boys – we grow up holding the Maori All Blacks at the very top. It’s not necessarily we don’t want to be All Blacks, but we hold the Maori All Blacks really high and close to our hearts.

“When we put that jersey on, we are not only representing ourselves, it’s our family, all the little Maori kids running around wanting to be Maori All Blacks in future. Putting our culture out there. Maybe because for so long it kind of wasn’t. Being given the opportunity to put our hands up and say ‘yeah, I’m Maori and proud of it’ is a big part of it as well.”

Rakete-Stones has English heritage through his mother’s parents too. He is fiercely proud of these links and equally unabashed in his desire to harness them. He falls into the English Qualified Player (EQP) bracket which was a big attraction to clubs in the Gallagher Prem. The Red Rose is his ultimate goal. Most players shy away from this kind of proclamation. Rakete-Stones sees no reason to shroud his ambition in vague language and platitudes.

I’m definitely aiming to play for that England team but the first thing is trying to get better and learn the English game – and I already have learned so much from the coaches and the boys who’ve played here for a long time.

“100%,” he says, when asked if playing for England is on his radar. “I’ve always had big goals. I’m keen to push and play the best rugby I can and really strive to make that team.

“There’s an old saying in Maori, you’ve probably heard it repeated in English: you shoot for the stars, you’re at least going to end up on a lofty mountain. I believe big goals are the best way forward because if you do fail, you’re going to be getting better anyway.

“I’m definitely aiming to play for that England team but the first thing is trying to get better and learn the English game – and I already have learned so much from the coaches and the boys who’ve played here for a long time – winning games for Newcastle, and then I’ve got high aspirations and we’ll see where it goes. I might not be good enough but I’ll give it a hell of a crack.”

In his prime years, with a strong CV from New Zealand rugby, Rakete-Stones is in a decent spot to make the most of his dreams. He’d begun exploring options in England around this time last year, and when Newcastle showed an interest, he was quickly sold. With wife Lily and their two young children, Rakete-Stones has settled quickly in England’s Northeast.

The Red Bull takeover is a watershed moment for rugby; a true behemoth with genuine cut-through grabbing a piece of the sport. Financially, Newcastle have gone from paupers to princes. Some 25 players have signed up, as they exhaust the Prem salary cap for the first time in forever. All Black Hoskins Sotutu and England scrum-half Raffi Quirke are among the headline arrivals. A sharp coaching staff has been assembled with Dan McFarland at the top and the guiding hand of Gregor Townsend in the background. The usual caveats about overnight success exist, but the club’s long-term trajectory is obvious. It is a fascinating project which transcends the boundaries of rugby.

“Anything Red Bull touches turns to gold and there is a rich history here, they seem to be a really proud rugby club,” Rakete-Stones says. “Even watching last year, they were losing by a bit but still packing the stadium. Those fans deserve something and deserve us to play well for them.”

The trippiness of this new era was underscored by a pre-season jaunt to Red Bull’s Salzburg HQ. At first, the players were given a beasting. Then the fun began. Their new kit was dropped onto the training park by a helicopter. Red Bull athletes descended upon the camp and put on a show for the rugby lads.

I like to play fast, free – both teams I played for in New Zealand are big offloading and counterattacking teams.

“We got put through our paces the first couple of days and the boys were a bit doom and gloom. We got thrashed. But come Wednesday, we leant into the Red Bull side of things – lifting Red Bull trucks across the pitch, dropping our kit from helicopters, out on the lake wakeboarding, the best mountain bikers and crossfitters in the world coming in. All the stuff you see on TV. Cool to see what we’re a part of and get a real understanding of the duty we have as players to bring that into rugby.

“I’ve had a little bit of a calf strain – nothing too serious – and they’ve sent scans to Austria and got specialists to look at them. Everything moves fast. You are getting good information because the people they’ve employed are the best in the business. That was the most impressive thing to me.

“It was unbelievable to get to know the boys as well, a fresh team, spending a whole week together and sharing a couple of drinks is massive for the team.”

 

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Kingston Park has long been viewed a windswept, inhospitable venue for opposition playmakers, where moneyed clubs might be roughed up and sent packing with stud marks down their back. Red Bull will demand a more pyrotechnic brand of rugby. Newcastle will not morph suddenly into Bristol Bears but they will play a style which caters to Rakete-Stones’ all-court skills.

“I like to play fast, free – both teams I played for in New Zealand are big offloading and counterattacking teams. I like to play ball in hand, I see myself as an explosive player and hopefully I can get some scrum penalties as well.”

From the Maori heartlands to the Red Bull Toon, the latest ‘Pouri’ brings only positivity.