Plunket Introduces New Names to Hurricanes Line Up

Plunket Introduces New Names to Hurricanes Line Up

22 May 2014

When the Hurricanes run on to the field on Saturday night for their round fifteen Investec Super Rugby match against the Chiefs it will feature an entire squad of ‘new names’ supported by some very passionate and generous fans.

The ‘new names’ are in fact children who won a unique charity initiative that was developed by BNZ to raise awareness and funds for Plunket during the annual charity round.

The BNZ Future Stars initiative saw thousands of Hurricanes fans bidding and entering a ballot for the chance to have the BNZ logo swapped out for their names on the front of the Hurricanes jerseys. Altogether three Hurricanes jerseys were auctioned on TradeMe with the remainder given away through an online ballot.

BNZ head of brand, Mike Davy, was amazed with the response, "We’re excited to provide Kiwi kids a unique opportunity to be involved in the national game. Plunket has nurtured their fair share of stars and this is a great way to raise awareness and funds for the brilliant job they are doing for our youngest New Zealanders.”

Six year Leo Mitchell, who is currently fighting off a virus complicated by type 1 diabetes, will see his name on the front of the Hurricanes iconic captain Conrad Smith after NZ Wireless won the auction and donated the jersey to Leo to give him a bit of boost and aide his recovery.

Two year old Kaia Prince’s name may be seen flying over the try line on the Cory Jane’s Hurricanes jersey. His Mum, who did the bidding, is a huge supporter of Plunket and thought it was a great way to make a donation while supporting their family’s favourite team.

Leo and Kaia were joined by three other children for the presentation of the jerseys to the players. Brooke Campbell (8) from Porirua will see his name on the front of Victor Vito, Monty McKeefry (10) who plays for Marist St Pats will be represented by Alapati Leiua, and Ben Foote (8) from Lower Hutt has scored Julian Savea. Ben’s brother Max also will have his name on a jersey - Bryn Hall, the halfback for the Blues.

Across the five BNZ sponsored New Zealand teams the competition was fierce. The 15 auctions, three from each team, attracted over 24,000 views and hundreds of bids. The remaining 100 jerseys were allocated through a free online ballot where more than 10,000 fans created a virtual jersey online to enter the draw.

ENDS

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