It has a name that means ''be brave'', and that is quite appropriate for the Kia Toa club, which has remained an almost permanent fixture in Dunedin sport for 60 years.
In 1953, rugby league returned to Dunedin after a 19-year absence and, during the reformation year, four clubs - Athletic, Caledonian, Celtic and Western Suburbs - were set up. The popularity of the new code caused two new clubs to start up the following year in the shape of Otago University and Kia Toa.
The person largely regarded as the founder of the Kia Toa club was a former officer of the 28th Maori Battalion, Witurore (known simply as Wi) Duff.
A proud Maori of Ngai Tahu descent, Duff saw the potential of the game and, after a public meeting inside the Otakou Fisheries office on the second floor of the Public Trust Building in Moray Pl on May 3, 1954, the Kia Toa Rugby League Club was established.
Kia Toa beat Athletic B 21-15 in its first game, at De Carle Park, and won again the following week. But it lost its next six games, and finished the season in fifth place.
A regular player for Kia Toa was Joe Brosnahan, now 81, who started with the club in 1955, before finishing up five years later to take up a shearing job outside the city.
Brosnahan recalled he was recruited into the club by Moke Whitau, a Burnside freezing works mate who was always lamenting a lack of numbers.
''Rather than having to listen to Moke tell another sad story, I and my brother John decided to join the club,'' Brosnahan said.
''I found it to be a rewarding experience, as I found them to be a tremendous lot of guys on and off the field.''
The Finegand freezing works in Balclutha also used to supply the occasional player.
Some had to go under an alias due to the fact they were playing rugby at the same time.
Although Brosnahan was one of the few Pakeha players in the team, he enjoyed the camaraderie inside the club.
''We had some great parties and, as you would expect, had some wonderful singers in the team.''
Kia Toa finally won its first Otago championship in 1971, followed by a second win two years later.
In 1972, Kia Toa farewelled its original white and black strip after being donated a new orange and black strip from the Sydney-based Balmain club, resulting in Kia Toa also adopting the Tigers nickname.
During the same year, it lost former Otago representative Rangi Namana, who tragically died in August at the age of 28 after being knocked out during a club game.
The next successful year for Kia Toa was 1979, when it picked up four trophies, including a grand final win over the Leopards club, in what was now an Otago-Southland competition.
Kia Toa won its fourth championship in 1983, scoring an average of 34 points a game, and earned the right to play in the national Tusk Cup competition, where it was narrowly beaten, 20-16, by Sydenham.
The find of the 1983 season was loose forward Robert Moi Moi, who scored 20 tries in his first season of league.
Two years later, he became the first player from the club to be selected for the South Island, before going on to play representative league for Canterbury, Auckland and Western Samoa.
Moi Moi is still regarded by some as the finest player to don a Kia Toa jersey.
In 1989, Kia Toa collected its fifth championship and beat top Southland club Wakatipu to qualify for the new Lion Red club competition.
Between 1991 and 1994, Kia Toa qualified for every Otago grand final, but the Tigers were tamed on each occasion.
The 1994 game was the end of the road for 43-year-old grandfather Sid Williams, who began playing for the club's premier team in 1972.
After going into a self-imposed exile in 1995 after a dispute with the ORL board, the Tigers returned in 2002, and beat the Harbour Seals in the 2006 final.
Between 2008 and 2010, no rugby league was played in Dunedin but, after interest was reignited with a spring competition in 2010, Kia Toa beat the South Pacific Raiders 34-14 in the 2011 final.
Kia Toa has had 86 Otago representatives, including Joe McDonnell, who went on to play for the All Blacks.
The highest honour bestowed on a Kia Toa player went to Phil Joseph in 1992, when he was appointed captain of the Southern Zone side.
Although it does not have junior sides as it did at its peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Kia Toa retains a strong club identity, following in the footsteps of the late Wi Duff.
-by Carey Clements
