South Auckland teacher uses rugby league stars to inspire Pacific kids to read

With the 2026 Rugby League World Cup in full swing, a South Auckland teacher is highlighting some of the tournament's biggest stars to encourage Pacific kids to read.

David Riley, a former Tangaroa College teacher in Ōtara, has released a new series of books called Rugby League All Stars, focusing on players like Brian To'o, Jason Taumalolo, Isaiah Katoa, as well as the Samoan and Tongan national teams.

But his passion for the sport goes back much further than this recent tournament.

"That's cool that you went back to when I was born, because my dad's Australian, so he brought us up with rugby league. We played from the age of five, for the Manukau Magpies Rugby League Club ... it's in the DNA," Riley said.

However, the idea for the Rugby League All Stars series was born out of seeing the waves of Tongan fans pouring into Eden Park for last year's Pacific Championships game against the Kiwis.

"There were kids everywhere, dressed in red and flags and everything. The sipi tau started, and they all knew the words. I was just watching them, like really fascinated, seeing how they knew the words and they were chanting everything. I was thinking, man, there's a lot of literacy here that we can we can tap into. For Samoan children and Tongan children, I know how much they love their sport team, and they love their culture. I knew that we could use that to get them reading, and to inspire them," Riley said.

Riley has released other series related to Pasifika culture, as well as sports like rugby union and professional wrestling, and he adds that libraries are also yearning for these types of books.

"There's not a lot of written material for Pacific young people, so libraries and librarians are looking for content that they can give to Pacific children. I come from a teaching background, so I'm always concerned and caring for our kids' educational achievement and academic achievement at school, and a lot of that is to do with reading," said Mr Riley.

Riley hoped his stories can provide an alternative to the more negative content they might see on social media or TV.

"I think it's important to counter that and push back with stories that inspire and give hope for children about you know the future, about who they are, where they come from, and what the future can look like for them," said Mr Riley.

While he doesn't get much feedback from the kids themselves, librarians have shared some cool stories about how in demand these books have become.

"One librarian told me that three boys sneaked into the library before she even got to school to wait for her, so that they could get the books before their friends could. So I knew that our kids would feel this way about these books," said Mr Riley.

Looking ahead, with permission from Tonga Rugby League and Samoan Rugby League, he is also working on books about Toa Samoa's Siva Tau and Tonga's Sipi Tau - which are the traditional war dances or challenges the teams perform at the start of games.

"[It's about] finding connections between the words of the Siva Tau and life for the children. They can use some of the ideas in the Siva Tau, not only to do with playing a game against another team, but also how you can carry that same spirit into other areas of your life, such as school," Riley said.

The final two books of the series will be on Kiwis captain James Fisher-Harris and fullback Kalyn Ponga, which are due to be released sometime in November.