Hundreds gathered in Northland on Wednesday to farewell and celebrate the remarkable life of Cheryl Waaka, who passed away following a battle with bowel cancer.
Waaka, who was 56, lay in state at her marae in Tāheke, located approximately 15 kilometres west of Kaikohe, and is remembered as a fierce competitor on the field and a dedicated community advocate.
The two-time Rugby World Cup winner played in a golden era for women’s rugby, alongside iconic teammates such as captain Farah Palmer, Anna Richards, Vanessa Cootes, and Melodie Robinson, securing world titles in 1998 in Amsterdam and in the 2002 tournament in Barcelona.
Former Labour MP Louisa Wall played alongside Waaka for the Black Ferns; Wall made the trip North to farewell Waaka.
“She was formidable; honestly, people were scared of her. If Cheryl Waaka tackled you, man, you knew it.”
“She is a Tai Tokerau taonga, rangatira, and I think the legend of Cheryl Waaka is going to live on.”
And according to kaumātua Whakatau Kopa, her legacy will live on particularly within the younger generation.
“He maha ngā mea kua mau i ngā akoranga i tukuna ake ki a rātou. E mātau ake ana ahau e kore e ngaro ērā āhuatanga i waenganui i ngā rangatahi o roto o Te Tai Tokerau nei.”
International hero to local legend
Beyond her international exploits on the field, Waaka’s heart remained deeply tied to the Far North; she broke coaching barriers in 2005 as the first woman to lead a Northland senior men’s club team in Kaikohe and later guided Northland’s inaugural Farah Palmer Cup women’s side in 2019, ultimately earning recognition as a Northland Legend of Sport.
Josh Hyde, Community Rugby and Operations Manager for the Northland Rugby Union, says Waaka’s fingerprints are all over rugby in Northland.
“She was such an inspirational person. There was no challenge too big, no problem that couldn’t be solved, and you’d never challenge Cheryl.”
A final fight for equity
Diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in 2025, Waaka faced an uphill battle to fundraise the over $70,000 cost for Avastin, a chemotherapy drug for metastatic bowel cancer not publicly funded by PHARMAC.
Far North Deputy Mayor Chicky Rudkin—who started the “Pack down for Cheryl Waaka - Rugby Legend” Givealittle page to raise over $82,000 for the unfunded cancer treatment—says rugby is a small legacy Waaka leaves for the community.
“I’m just so proud of the legacy she’s left behind, so proud that she represented Te Tai Tokerau, Ōtaua, Kaikohe. Kaikohe often gets a bad rap, but people like Cheryl shine a light on places like Kaikohe, and I’m just so proud of her for that.”
Louisa Wall says the passing of her longtime friend was avoidable.
“She used her voice to highlight an issue. We have the technology to prevent what happened to Cheryl, and we’re not using it. And that’s what I love about her: she saw an injustice; she didn’t sit back and be silent; she used her platform and her voice to advocate for others.”
