Otahuhu Leopards
The Otahuhu Leopards are a rugby league club based in Otahuhu, Auckland. Founded in 1911, the club has produced 49 New Zealand Kiwis. The club competes in the Fox Memorial competition run by Auckland Rugby League. Otahuhu has won the Fox Memorial Shield 12 times, the Rukatai Shield 16 times, Roope Rooster 12 times and the Stormont Shield 12 times.
History
The Otahuhu Leopards were founded in 1911. In 1943, playing in blue and white, Otahuhu produced their first Fox side at Carlaw Park and by 1945 had won their first Fox, in 1946 their first Kiwi’s were selected, Toff Johnson and Claude Hancox.
Otahuhu Leopards is where the famous Graham Lowe first made a name for himself coaching U18s in 1974 and becoming a first grade coach in 1977 and winning the Fox Memorial in his first year.
Bartercard Cup
With the creation of the Bartercard Cup in 2000 by the New Zealand Rugby League the Leopards were one of the seven Auckland sides invited to join. They dominated the competition in the inaugural season, finishing up Minor Premiers before going down to the Canterbury Bulls in the Grand Final. More heartbreak was to follow for the club, losing in the Elimination Play-Off and the Preliminary Final the next two seasons before missing the final series all together in 2003.
Otahuhu
Otahuhu is a suburb of Auckland 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) to the southeast of the city centre, on a narrow isthmus between an arm of the Manukau Harbour to the west and the Tamaki River estuary to the east. The isthmus is the narrowest connection between the North Auckland Peninsula and the rest of the North Island, being only some 1200 metres wide at its narrowest point, between the Otahuhu Creek and the Mangere Inlet. As the southernmost suburb of the former Auckland City it is considered part of South Auckland.
The suburb's name is taken from the Māori name of a volcanic cone also known as Mount Richmond. The name refers to eating uncooked huhu grubs. In colloquial speech locals typically shorten the name to "Otahu".
History
The suburb was established in 1847 as a fencible settlement, where soldiers were given land with the implied understanding that in wartime, they would be raised as units to defend it (however, the eventual fighting a decade later used professional soldiers instead). Most early features from this time have disappeared however, such as a stone bridge built by the fencibles that had to make way to a widening of Great South Road.
Otahuhu (New Zealand electorate)
Otahuhu is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the southern suburbs of the city of Auckland, from 1938 to 1963, and then from 1972 to 1984.
Population centres
The 1931 census had been cancelled due to the Great Depression, so the 1937 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth into account. The increasing population imbalance between the North and South Islands had slowed, and only one electorate seat was transferred from south to north. Five electorates were abolished, one former electorate (Onehunga) was re-established, and four electorates were created for the first time, including Otahuhu.
For the purposes of the country quota, the 1936 census had determined that some 30% of the population lived in urban areas, and the balance in rural areas. Since the 1969 election, the number of electorates in the South Island was fixed at 25, with continued faster population growth in the North Island leading to an increase in the number of general electorates. There were 84 electorates for the 1969 election, and the 1972 electoral redistribution saw three additional general seats created for the North Island, bringing the total number of electorates to 87. Together with increased urbanisation in Christchurch and Nelson, the changes proved very disruptive to existing electorates. In the South Island, three electorates were abolished, and three electorates were newly created. In the North Island, five electorates were abolished, two electorates were recreated (including Otahuhu), and six electorates were newly created.
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