Rugby league 'a sport for marginalised people' in Aotearoa

Rugby league in Aotearoa has been a safe haven for marginalised people.

That's the view of Ryan Bodman, author of a new book on league in this country.

Rugby League in New Zealand: A People's History tells the story of league through its communities stories, and from interviews featuring former players such as Kevin and Howie Tamati and well-known figures like Sir Peter Leitch, the Mad Butcher.

Bodman told Pacific Mornings that league has had a history of classist marginalisation against it.

"Early on the class dynamics between rugby league and rugby union were interesting," he says.

Bodman says union was "very antagonistic" towards league and exacerbated tensions around player payment and access to public fields and schools.

"It was a very marginalised game early on and that was embraced by many marginalised communities," he says.

"It gave those people a space where they could articulate who they were and what was important to them."

The book also covers the history of Pacific peoples first involvement and eventual domination of the sport.

Today around 45 per cent of NRL players are of Pacific heritage and more than 70 per cent of the One New Zealand Warriors are of Māori or Pacific descent.

Bodman says there are many reasons why league is popular among Pacific peoples, one being upward social mobility.

"Sports and music are ways of getting out of economic hardship and so that's a goal that if achieved can actually transform a family's life," he says.

Bodman says another contribution is the absence of other opportunities for marginalised groups which funnels them into league.

"In one way it's a positive thing but in another way it's a negative reflection of our society that the avenues are so narrow.

"It's like the hoop in America. That's how you overcome the hardship. It's an avenue out."

Watch the full interview with Ryan Bodman on Pacific Mornings: