A Proud
​​​​​​​History

SINCE 1885


The Petone Rugby Football Club was founded in 1885. It is the 3rd oldest Rugby Club in Wellington.

Paramount Chief Honiana Te Puni arrived in the Hutt Valley in 1817 and died here in 1870. In the first official match ever played by the Petone club three descendants of Te Puni were included in the fifteen. Today, Petone rugby has a multicultural mix of members in a very family orientated environment. Visitors are always welcome to come and share our hospitality. The Club always stands proud of this heritage.

Petone has produced 3 Black Ferns and 30 All Blacks, Ken Gray was born in 1938 and went to Wellington College.  He joined Petone in 1959 and played premier rugby there until he retired in 1970.  He stood 6’ 2’’ and weighed around 16 stone. He could play on either side of the scrum and did so for the All Blacks. He formed an incomparable partnership with Sir Wilson Whineray throughout the sixties. At the opening of the Ken Gray Academy in 1995 Sir Wilson Whineray described him as the greatest prop forward he ever saw.

Bob Scott shows off his barefoot goalkicking skills during Petone celebrations (1970s). With Scott are Fergie McCormick (left) and legendary South African Okey Geffin.


Since 1885


The Petone Rugby Football Club was founded in 1885 and is the 3rd oldest Rugby Club after Wellington (1870), and Poneke (1883). Petone celebrated its 125th Anniversary in 2010. It has been the Wellington Premier Champions 38 times between 1895 and 2005. In addition it has won the Club Championship on no fewer than 42 occasions between 1922 and 2006.


Petone had a four-year reign as Premier Champions between 1904 and 1907 and the Club set a memorable record in the 1907 season when it won all championship grades in the Wellington competition. In the 1971 season the Premier team won the Premier competition and the Jubilee Cup for the fifth consecutive season and became the first club in the history of Wellington rugby to achieve this feat since the club competition was commenced in 1868. It is noteworthy that the first three wins in this sequence were achieved under the leadership of arguably the greatest All Black prop forward in the history of the game – Ken Gray. The Ken Gray Academy was established in 1995 in Ken’s name to assist in the development of the best young players wishing to find their way through the Club to the highest representative honours.


Club membership consistently numbers approximately 800, made up of Life Members, Vice Presidents, Honorary Members, Open and Age Grade players and 400 young players in the Junior Section ranging from 4 and 5 year olds in the nursery grade to 12 year olds. The Club fields 5 teams in the Wellington Union’s competition grades from Premier to Colts (Under 21.) Our Women’s team was re-formed in 2017 (winning their grade at their very first attempt.)


The Petone Club is situated at the lower end of the Hutt Valley on a site in Udy Street. The Clubrooms stand immediately adjacent to North Park, which is used as the practice venue.

The Club adopted its familiar monogram on the recommendation of its illustrious Life Member and Maori All Black, Matt Love, as part of its 50th Jubilee celebrations in 1935. The monogram is embellished by the words in Maori “Kia Kaha Kia Maia” broadly translated as ‘Give of your best – Be confident in your own ability’. This reflects the strength of the partnership with Maori in the Club.


The centennial history records that Te Puni arrived in the Hutt Valley in 1817 and died here in 1870. In the first official match ever played by the Petone Club three descendants of Te Puni were included in the fifteen. Today, Petone Rugby has a multicultural mix of members in a very family orientated environment. Visitors are always welcome to come in and share our hospitality. The Club always stands proud of this heritage.


Petone Rugby Football Club celebrated its 125th Anniversary in 2010.