Pronunciation guide developed for NRL Māori and Pacific players

A unique guide has been developed to help pronounce the names of Māori and Pacific athletes playing in the NRL.

The NRL Pronunciation Guide is a complex collection of athletes names, providing a phonetic description and a voice recording for each.

App designer Stephen Gallagher says this was needed, after years of mispronunciations of the names of athletes.

“There’s so much pride and cultural significance in our names for our Māori whanau and Pasifika aiga, so it’s really important we get this right.

“The commentary (in the NRL) is so Australian, it’s no fault on their part they’re saying it how they think it’s been said.

“It’s time we move in the right direction to get these names right when in the NRL 50% of players are Māori and Pacific.”

Gallagher went through every player’s name listed on the NRL website, writing them out phonetically with a recording of him saying the name.

He talks about the importance of his own background as a Māori, growing up around his Pacific relatives, and how that helped influence the conception of the guide.

Gallagher says the app has been positively received from fans and professionals.

“Honestly it’s for everyone, I’ve had a lot of people who are generally footy fans just wanting to stop butchering Polynesian names.

“People from podcasts recording footy podcasts, and also members from big media organisations reach out as well.”

He says that something like this is long overdue, and this is just the start for cultural appropriation with names in the sport.

“In 2024, this is well overdue for something like this and it’s important we are getting it right and doing it properly and people are taking notice.

“There’s room for so much growth in this space. When people are trying to say Polynesian, they’re just scared and don’t know how to say them.

“I’m just trying to give people confidence like ‘here this is how you say it’ and giving them confidence.”

Watch the full interview on 531pi’s Pacific Mornings: