While Otago is known to bleed blue and gold with its staunch rugby roots, there are new colours players are striving to wear — and it's all thanks to one of the Warriors' newest satellite programmes.
Southern Zone Academy in Dunedin is only in its first year but it's already making huge gains.
"It's awesome aye! It's so special!" Southern Zone Academy player Anya Clarke said.
"It's my goal to one day play in the NRLW."
Mason Lome-Hindle, 18, is the first to be snapped up through the new pathway. This month the teenager inked a two-year deal with the Warriors to play for their under-19 side.
"It's crazy, aye" Lome-Hindle said. "I'm a bit nervous moving up but I don't think it's fully hit, aye?
"Once I get to Auckland, that's when it will hit!"
Otago is making big moves in the sport this year, with league registrations having gone up by 40% — the fastest-growing region in the country.
"We've been given a lot of good feedback from the Warriors," Southern Zone Rugby League general manager Liam Turner said.
"We know we are a wee bit behind in terms of the rest of the country because just the limited games they do get down here at the moment.
"Moving forward, we really want to nail more than the rugby league development. We're currently doing the field and gym sessions but we want to get more resource and financial support so we can grow nutrition and mental skills, off-field player development which is just as important for these kids."
Turner put the growth in the region largely down to the Warriors' success and ability to draw in fans.
"We've been really good to capitalise on that. We've also aimed to work alongside union, fitting around them in terms of pocket windows," he said.
So far, the pocket windows are paying off. Last year, there was no junior League club competition in Otago but now it has 26 teams competing. There's also a women's competition too. At the national level there's the Otago Whalers, who compete in the premiership. This year, they were the only team south of Rotorua competing for the top title with other South Island teams playing in the second-tier championship.
"There has been a lot of people behind the scenes who work hard at the grassroots level to get them into the premiership," Turner said. "Considering the landscape and the resource, to have them in the premiership is massive and to have them playing at Forsyth Barr is great for these kids to look up to."
Otago Whalers coach David Reedy has seen the benefits to his squad by having league and union working alongside each other than against.
"There were a few rugby clubs that pretty much took half my team but now boys can play both!" Reedy said.
"That's why more kids are coming now. They see the pathways; they see their mates and they're like 'I can do that. I want to be a part of that'."
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