Southern Zone Rugby League Staff
Liam Turner - General Manager
Liam is well known in the Rugby League circles, having served a valuable apprenticeship leading our Events and Club Capability programmes under the watchful eye and mentorship of former GM, Steve Martin, before moving into his current role. Liam is a genuine hard-working South Islander, who grew up on the family farm in Southland. He has roles as a rugby coach, a director of sports, a liaison specialist, and someone with a keen eye for detail and statistical data that can improve performance.
He has demonstrated in his Southern Zone role that he is a dedicated and passionate league enthusiast who is willing to engage, connect and listen to Clubs and Districts. He’s a people person who prefers to get out there and do it rather than sitting at the desk, and he is highly regarded by New Zealand Rugby League, and also has the support of the South Island community.
027 5466966
Louis Carmine - Club Capability and Events Manager
Louis grew up in Westport on the West Coast and then attended Nelson College for his later years of School. Louis was heavily involved in sport during his time on the West Coast and in Tasman and has a good understanding of the sporting landscape in these districts. He also understands both the barriers that districts face, as well as the opportunities.
Louis holds a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Sports Development and Management from the University of Otago. He had been involved with Southern Zone during his final year of study through a University placement, where he mainly worked in the event management space, doing a fantastic job. Louis developed a good understanding of the role, which helped transition him into the full-time position.
027 9593 722
Jamie Lester - Director of Football, Canterbury Rugby League
Jamie will be known to many of the Canterbury Rugby League fraternity through his playing and coaching days in Canterbury as well as carrying out a previous role with Canterbury Rugby League as Coaching and Development Manager in 2006 and 2007.
Jamie comes to Southern Zone and Canterbury Rugby League with a significant breadth of Rugby League knowledge and experience. Having played for the Hornby Panthers and Riccarton Knights whiles also being a club committee member with Riccarton, Jamie went on to play representative rugby league for Canterbury and South Island teams between 2002 and 2007.
In 2008 Jamie moved to the UK where he played rugby league for the Hunslet Hawkes (South Leeds) in the English Championship. In moving to Canada in 2010, Jamie was instrumental in rejuvenating rugby league after a 10-year hiatus. In doing so, Jamie carried out the roles of President of Ontario Rugby League, High-Performance Director with Canada Rugby League, and Head Coach of the Canadian Wolverines National Mens team from 2010 - 2016. Jamie also played 13 tests for Canada and significantly contributed as an administrator, coach, and player in lifting Canada from 30th to 12th in RLIF rankings between 2010-2016.
Jamie returned to New Zealand in 2018 where he undertook the role of Head Coach at the Riccarton Knights and became Assistant Coach for the Canterbury Bulls in 2019 and 2020. More recently Jamie has been a Canterbury Rugby League board member. Alongside Jamie's wealth of Rugby League knowledge, he is a qualified and experienced secondary school teacher where he has taught at St Thomas' of Canterbury, Cashmere High School as well as teaching in Canada.
Jamie's key areas of responsibility are game and coach development, club capability and overseeing representative programmes.
[email protected]
Troy Antsiss - Development Officer, Otago Rugby League
Troy Anstiss is the regional development officer for Otago. Troy is a current Otago University Rugby League Club player and Otago Whalers, and Southern Zone Scorpions representative player. Troy is an Otago local from Queenstown and has spent the last few years in Dunedin completing a Bachelor of Applied Science at the Otago Polytechnic before moving into the role. Troy will look to carry on from the good work that Atawhai’s done and he will deliver rugby league coaching sessions in school, run local tournaments for primary, intermediate and secondary school students and help with Otago-based rugby league events and the major Southern Zone events.
027 8317073
Maima Saili - Development Officer & Women's Activator, Southland Rugby League
Maima was born and raised in Southland and grew up playing many sports. She started in rugby league as a teen and it has been a big part of her life ever since. As Maima's family grew bigger she then became a spectator to rugby league watching her youngest Aleki play as a child for He Tauaa where he still plays now in their senior Men's team and her daughter, who has gone on to play for the New Zealand Women's Sevens team.
Maima is also an accomplished coach and has a great ability to get the best out of people both on the footy field and in the office. Maima continues to help facilitate opportunities for our Southland players young and old to Play Rugby league and pursue representative opportunities.
027 507 7663
Kelly Lafoga - Youth Development Officer & Club Capability Lead, Southland Rugby League
Kelly grew up on a sheep farm in Tuatapere before moving to Invercargill at the age of 13. Kelly has been heavily involved in sports all her life, competing in equestrian events, hunting, swimming and rugby. She has 4 sporty children that love to give everything a go and all play rugby league.
With a wealth of experience in both sports coaching and administration, Kelly is the perfect fit for this role. She has experience coaching softball, waterpolo, touch, swimming, football as well as teaching Samoan Siva. Kelly has been on numerous committees and boards with executive roles including the He Tauaa Rugby League Club Junior Committee, which is one of our fastest growing clubs in the South Island! Along with this, Kelly has managed numerous Southland junior representative sides.
Kelly has a good understanding of the rugby league landscape in the Southland District and knows what it takes to ensure our game can continue to grow and thrive in Southland. Kelly's role will continue the great work in the youth space but will also have a focus on club capability and ensuring the Southland District and clubs are healthy and can be sustainable for many years to come.
027 779 1542
Brogan Jackson - Development Officer, West Coast Rugby League
Brogan grew up on the West Coast and is very passionate about rugby league. He played for Suburbs and also represented West Coast from the junior grades all the way up to premiers. He then moved south to Dunedin, playing for Otago University and the Otago Whalers, before heading to the US for a stint in Florida playing for the Tampa Bay Mayhem.
Brogan has his own personal training business, which is based in Greymouth and we look forward to utilising his skill set. He will also be supporting the West Coast Sports Activator with other sports when required to continue the great collaboration between sports on the West Coast. Brogan is looking forward to developing our great game on the West Coast and helping junior athletes reach their full potential.
027 8296693
Emily Berry - West Coast Sports Activator, West Coast Rugby League
Emily grew up on a dairy farm on the West Coast and has always been involved in sports right through her primary and high school years. She played league for Waro Rakau up until the age of 13 before taking the whistle as a way of still being involved with the game she loves. In 2022 she travelled to Christchurch to play for the Burnham Chevaliers Woman's team which lead to trialling and making it into the South Island Scorpions Under 18 side.
Emily joins the team as the West Coast Sports Activator. This role is led by Southern Zone Rugby League in collaboration with West Coast Hockey and Greymouth Touch. She works alongside the West Coast Development Officer to create more opportunities for the upcoming athletes of the West Coast. Emily looks forward to seeing what the future brings for West Coast Rugby League.
027 5831562
Contact Us
Email: liam@nzrl.co.nz or [email protected]
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