Meet the brains behind Auckland Blues' digital revolution

Following the Blues' historic championship victory, you might have seen a collection of posts across the Super Rugby team's social media channels.

That’s the work of two young Māori and Pasifika specialists who have created a storm of content for the Auckland franchise.

Taane Wolfgramm and Nooroa Takairangi are the masterminds behind the Blues' social media platforms, creating unique pieces of content for the past four years.

Wolfgramm joined the Morning Shack to discuss their work, and how important it was to show a different side of the playing group.

“I think of it like this, the Blues before Moana Pasifika came in were sort of like the token brown team in the competition. And as soon as Moana came in, that title got taken off us.

“So I decided how can we bring some sort of Pasifika flair to our team without being that brown team Moana Pasifika is. I decided what I take (with) me being brown running this page, and (that) was our joy and our humour.

“If you spend 25 minutes with our team, you’re gonna be laughing! All I wanted to do was bring our boys' humour who are mostly Pasifika in the team, and bring that to our audience.”

The pair started a sports social media account “On the Radar Sports” in 2020, producing videos, and interviewing prolific Kiwi athletes with in-depth breakdowns.

They were then picked up by the Blues as digital creators, producing fun content for the team.

Wolfgramm said the posts were endorsed by the team's huge Pacific fan base.

“It achieves two things - it satisfies the huge Pasifika audience we’ve grown over the last 26 years. And it really speaks to the players we have in our team currently so all our Pasifika boys who are really enjoying our content, having a laugh, they really feel like they can be themselves.

“When I’m sitting there putting a camera in their face, it’s not ‘oh I have to say this, the game is this or that’ nah, it’s like telling a joke!”

A comment from Taane's interview on the Morning Shack.

In doing so, Wolfgramm explained the importance of showing fans a more “human” version of the athletes.

“It’s more the humanising stuff for the boys, cause (some of) these boys are All Blacks and people (can) put them on pedestals. They’re just normal dudes, and we only see them for 80 minutes in a game, and you’re supposed to judge their character just by playing rugby?

“My whole job is to go in, show them as human beings, as real people. The boys really enjoy it, showing a different side of them.”