As Hannah Myers, she made her Otago debut in 1999, before moving to Auckland, and played 22 tests for the Black Ferns, winning the World Cup twice.
She was also campaign manager for the New Zealand women when they charged to glory at home last year. She is now the head of women’s high performance at New Zealand Rugby.
Sports editor Hayden Meikle tracks her down.
About eight months now. It’s been good. Lots on - and lots to learn - but I am pretty proud of what we’ve sort of achieved so far.
What does the job entail?
It goes from strategy all the way through to how we set up systems and structures in the women’s game. We’ve set up a high-performance plan off the back of the women and girls strategy, which has been really good to give us very clear directions and recommendations for the next three years. I will be overseeing the two Black Ferns campaigns. The Black Ferns Sevens are coming off a pretty comprehensive win on the world series this past season, and the Black Ferns have a new management team in place after winning the World Cup. Where the work gets really exciting from that "teams in black" angle is that we’ve campaigned really well and had some great people involved and had success. But the work that needs to be done is building the pathway underneath that to make sure we have sustainable teams and people coming through the system. That’s where most of my focus and effort will go.
What is the biggest challenge?
I think it’s all around the pathway and the fact that women come through at different times. They don’t all follow that path of junior rugby into school rugby into club rugby and on to higher honours. Women come in at different places. So it’s about making sure we are providing the right experiences in that pathway. It might not always look like the traditional men’s rugby pathway. We have to think outside the square to give more females an opportunity to play rugby, and also to bring people through into the national teams.
Super Rugby Aupiki is getting a little bigger next year. How do you think that competition is tracking?
I’m really happy with the expansion. There’s a wee way to go but this is a good next step. It’s actually the highest-paid domestic competition in the world as it is. So while there is still room to grow, I’m really happy with where we’ve got to, and I think we’ll see some exciting talent come out in the coming years.
Do you need to get Aupiki linked with the Australian competition?
It’s one of the options, absolutely. It would be great if it worked out. But we’ve got to be conscious of not moving too fast. We need to be sure, if we expand into Australia, it would be the right time for both nations. We’re all keen to make it work, and we will keep exploring all the options to make sure we’ve got alignment. We want Australian rugby to be strong, and they want New Zealand rugby to be strong.
You were working for High Performance Sport NZ when you got seconded to be campaign manager for the Black Ferns last year. What was your highlight of that experience?
I’ve got a few. The sight of Graham Henry dancing, in a circle full of women, with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen on his face. That whole integration of Mike Cron and Wayne Smith into the women’s environment, and how wholeheartedly they believed in it, was amazing. But it’s hard to go past the last 30 seconds of the final. I was hiding around a corner before that lineout but pretty quickly came out once we got the ball back. It was a great experience.
What did the Black Ferns’ success mean for New Zealand women’s rugby?
It’s interesting. That was the fifth World Cup I’d been involved with. All of them are special in different ways. This tournament was great for really connecting with the New Zealand public. Until recently, the Black Ferns haven’t often been able to play at home, so the connection with the public hasn’t always been there. The World Cup was an incredible time to be involved in the women’s game.
How far has women’s rugby come in the past 10-12 years?
It’s come a long way. I think we can thank the women’s sevens team for a lot of that exposure, They’ve been professional for a long time, and they are incredible athletes consistently wining on the world stage. That’s really sped up the growth of the women’s game. They’ve also done amazing work in the northern hemisphere. A whole lot of people have worked really hard.
Do you still need to sort of educate people on the differences between men’s and women’s rugby? And maybe highlight the advantages of the women’s game?
Yeah, I think that comes naturally. You see more ball in play if you come and watch a women’s game, particularly in New Zealand. That typically leads to an exciting game.
We’ve now got the new WXV tournament starting this weekend, and reaching Dunedin a week later. Are you excited?
It’s amazing to get the six best teams in the world back in New Zealand, so we can expose the public to what the game looks like and get people involved again. It’s really important to play the top teams again. We’ve got a young group of Black Ferns and a new management team, so being able to expose them to pressure before we get to the next World Cup, which is actually really close, is so important.
How long did you live in Dunedin?
I was there for four great years. Only fond memories. I learned a lot and grew up and made some lifelong friends, and I also met my husband. We actually took our kids down a couple of years ago and walked through the university and to flats where we used to stay. Our youngest wasn’t too sure about any of it but our eldest was chomping at the bit to have her turn in Dunedin.
Is it true that you missed hearing about your first Black Ferns selection because the phone was off the hook at your Castle St flat?
That is true. We might have had a big night the night before. The coach took a few days to get hold of me. To be fair, I wasn’t expecting the call-up. The other cool thing was that we didn’t get paid a hell of a lot but Speight’s dropped round a pallet of beer, which was a nice surprise.
Your husband is Simon Porter, who was a very fine player for North Otago back in the day before becoming a big-time agent. Is there a lot of rugby talk at the kitchen table?
Hah. No, not really. We mainly talk about our kids and our local club rather than anything else. Poppy is 12, and Toby is 10. As we speak, Simon is actually on a plane to hopefully go watch the All Blacks in a World Cup final.
