CSB - Liam Messam - Taniwha Unleashed

Nestled on the banks of the Waikato River, in the rugby heartland of Aotearoa, the Chiefs Rugby Club is a breeding ground for some of the biggest international superstars of the game. For the first time ever, an Emmy Award winning documentary crew has been granted access to the inner sanctum of the Chiefs where this unique club, steeped in Māori culture, transcends the sporting battlefield and inspires all.

This three-part series offers a rare front-row seat to the extraordinary highs and the dream-shattering lows of life inside the men’s and women’s squads across an entire season of Super Rugby. As the cameras turn to staff, coaches, players, whānau and die-hard supporters, their stories are revealed candidly and uncompromisingly.

The club’s blueprint for success this season will be rooted in their profound and unrivalled connection to Māori culture, providing a source of strength for every player both on and off the field. At every bend a Chief, on every bend a Taniwha.

Coming to TVNZ+ on 28 November 2024

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Whether it's gum boots or rugby boots.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
The Country Sport Breakfast has you covered on gold Sport
your home of live commentary, And there's a game, but
it's kind of a way of life in New Zealand.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Let's just how people shape their families.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Rugby's New Zealand's number one sport for sure.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
And I guess there's a young kid growing out by
played rugby, My dad play rugby. My brother played Raggy.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
That's a little piece of the action from a documentary
series that's about to screen on TV and Z Plus
called The Tanapa. The Tanafa is Unleashed. It's the story
of the Chiefs going inside there inner sanctum, a little
bit like Formula Ones Drive to Survive and joining us
out of the Chiefs camp. He is are now their
development coach Lia mess and Morning Lamb.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Good morning, how are we?

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Very very well? Thank you? First off, I've watched the trailer.
You've no doubt seen the three episodes. What do you think?

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Yeah, no, you said it's like Drive to Survive. I
would just say it's a lot better.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
But you're biased, don't you.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Yeah, I'm very biased, and I look at the great
opportunity for our fans and then just the smaller people
they're not fending the Chiefs. Maybe just to get a
little bit insight into to who we are and then
what we stand same for and what we're about here
at the Chiefs.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
What was it like letting the documentary crew, I guess
inside the inner sanctum.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
Yeah, look, that's for myself. I'm still a little bit
of old school, and I took a while to sort
of to get used to the cameras coming in and
sort of filming things. But Bread and the team maybe
they shot the actual doco. You know, we made themself
part of the team, and they were around us twenty
four to seven, and by maybe the first couple of weeks,

(01:44):
you didn't really notice that they were there, and we
just integrated with them as part of our team. So
I took a little bit, well for the I guess
the older place to sort of understand it. But that's
just the way that we'll work at the moments that
were for technology and where it's going and the opportunities
you get to tell your story to a bigger audience.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
So it not only goes into the inner sanctum of
the means team, but also the women's team, across the squads,
across the coaching staff. It basically covers every aspect of
the Chiefs Club, doesn't it.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
Yeah, that does. That's I think that we are the
Chiefs one of the team and a Chiefs team. And
also it shows the fan that our players are just human.
They go through some some things that are not outside
of rugby, the outside of rugby. So that's a good
little watch to get a better understanding of what players
and management and coaches actually go through to day every day.

(02:40):
For looking at a sufficient little players because at the
end of the day, our fans will not only really
get to see the introduct which is assarily, they only
get to see the day to day, but Brian which
happens the sort of gets you a little insights us
for what happens.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
So Lee and we'll learn from this TV series unleast
just what makes the Chiefs special, but to summarize what
what does make the Chiefs club so very very special?

Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, Oh that's that's that's the Christian and that's why
you need, if I need to watch this documentary. So yeah,
hopefully there will there'll be a better understanding I guess
the word Chief Moner has been spoken about a lot
for the last ten ten or so years, and hopefully
people will get a deep understanding of what it means
to us, what Chief Moneys means to us, and how

(03:26):
we connect with our people here and hopefully it connects
deeper to our to our fans, and you know, we
may even create a defense of the chiefs. So yes,
it's a great documentary for that.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
How did the how did the chief chief? So to speak,
Clayton McMillan's got to handle it all.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
Yeah, it was a Hollywood start, a Hollywood start put
on his his performance and now the best thing about
it is, you know, he's organic. Since war, no one
was putting on a show. Even though the cameras are there,
they're full access, so it's genuinely who we are as people.

(04:06):
And yeah, I think I took a while for people
to get easter cameras being in their face. But other
than that, of the whole squad done our fantastic job
and telling our story.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
And for what I've seen too, it's not just on
the field stuff that you see. There's a lot of
off the field as well.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, there is, and that's I guess you ask us
what it is the Chiefs about, and a lot of
it is the connection off the field for us. And
like I said, we're going to get a real good
understanding of what those connections mean to us and how
deep emy regions we are to where we come from
and to the people that we represent. And I think

(04:46):
that's the beauw thing about it. Fans get to get
the opportunity to see what it actually means for us
to be representing representing the Chiefs.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
The doco series is called Unleashed Inside the Chiefs Rugby Club.
It's something very very special and the kicks off on
tv NG Plus on the twenty eighth of November. Then
watching you all the best house the team looking for
for next season? Mate, Yeah, all the.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
Boys are slowly dripping back in from NPC. A couple
of the had a couple of weeks off and yeah,
so they're slowly getting back into the gym. And we
kicked off three season end of November actually, so it
might be actually the same date as the unleashing of
our documentary. So the boys were back back into into
the nice hot Hamilton Sun. And then then I am
looking forward to getting into next.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
Season and are you enjoying your role as athlete development coach?

Speaker 1 (05:35):
Yeah, I thought some I couldn't have been glass or
a better job coming out of rugby from playing actually
into what I am at the moment, and I still
get to have a positive impact within the group. And
we'll say young players. And I really enjoyed the pathway
space on sort of between our pathway space and our
main team. So I start to, I guess, install some

(05:59):
values and standards that we have here at the Chiefs
into our younger players and and that that's a really
great motivator for me every day to wake up and yeah,
I just love it. I love I love playing for
the Chiefs.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
I love being a Chief, in love waking through da
and and sitting watching some of the Chiefs playing in
the abs at the moment on the Northern Tour. Damien
McKenzie not doing too badly, mate.

Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yeah, it's a few Chief boys are running around the
note which is awesome to see. Enjoyed the late kickoffs
and an Orang which is a nice Saturday after Saturday morning.
Got to watch the police. Yeah yeah, yeah. Young Wallace's
has been fantastic this year. A lot of being spoken
about him already, but he's been like that since day

(06:40):
one of pre season actually at the start of the year,
so he's just been there. He's just been Wallace. So
I was also to see the guys out there and Damien.
Obviously a lot of things have been spoken with Damien
and he's been a hot topic of late, but just
to go out there and show his performance and the
men that he is really critical him. So okay for

(07:01):
the season, come back to New Zealand and Hamilton, then
get into some some preseason training with the lads.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
Well Liam, we're looking forward to becoming a huge TV
star in New Zealand with unleased mate. Well done.

Speaker 1 (07:13):
I don't play too much of a starring role and
the soccomon gives as popping now and then, but hopefully
our fans work they can committ to us on a
deeper level.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
Go the Chiefs, get on you Liam, awesome mate, they're
missing joining us out of the Chiefs camp. Tenafar Unleashed
Inside the Chiefs Rugby Club and Its Screens is three
part series. Basically you get a front row seat to
the Highs. I guess the lows of Super Rugby twenty
eighth of November TV and Z plus