NRLW: Mackenzie Wiki builds on family legacy at the Raiders

The Wiki family will celebrate a full-circle moment at GIO Stadium on Saturday as Mackenzie and her dad Ruben are united in a special piece of rugby league history.

WEEKEND TELEGRAPHS SPECIAL. , PLEASE CONTACT WEEKEND PIC EDITOR JEFF DARMANIN BEFORE PUBLISHING. , Former NRL hardman Ruben Wiki whose daughter has joined the long list of daughters of former NRL stars who are forging careers of their own in NRLW. Wiki’s daughter Mackenzie is playing with the brand new Canberra Raiders side., Ruben and his Daughter Mackenzie in Canberra

Her name is Mackenzie Wiki, and don’t you forget it.

She’s a 21-year-old centre for Canberra and made her NRLW debut last week.

She’s not just Ruben Wiki’s daughter – she has an identity of her own. And the message comes directly from the hard man himself.

“It’s annoying (when people call her Ruben Wiki’s daughter), because she actually has a name,” the Rugby League Hall of Famer says.

“It’s something that my kids have grown up with for a long time, and their own identity has been affected because of who I am.

“My daughter has a name, and she’s done this on her own. She had support from her parents, but she’s the one who has made all the sacrifices to get to where she is.

“She can take all the credit.”

She’s one of a handful of father and daughter combinations across the NRLW at the moment, and it’s easy to slip into defining the athletes by who their dad is.

Mackenzie and Ruben Wiki pictured in Canberra.

But Wiki’s fierce defence of his daughter shows the passion he played with across 311 NRL games for Canberra and the Warriors and 55 Tests matches for New Zealand.

And in Women in League Round it means a lot more given the full circle moment the Wiki family are celebrating this week.

She grew up swimming and playing netball, but Mackenzie moved from New Zealand on her own seven months ago to chase an NRLW contract, and finally landed one with the Raiders ahead of their inaugural season.

She made her debut against Cronulla in round 1, but Saturday is the first home game for the new NRLW franchise.

The parallels are special. Mackenzie will run out onto GIO Stadium in the lime green No. 4 jersey for the first time in front of a home crowd, the same jersey her dad once wore.

Mackenzie Wiki in action for the Raiders.

To top it off, the last time they were at the Canberra Stadium together, Mackenzie was a three-year-old in Ruben’s arms as he ran onto the field for his final game for the Raiders in 2004.

It brought to an end his 224 game career for the club, which included the 1994 premiership.

Almost 20 years later, the family is will be there again supporting Mackenzie.

“The culture here is crazy. I’ve never been a part of a team that is so family orientated and has so much respect for their history,” she says.

“They respect their past players and now the present players. It’s so cool to be a part of.”

Although she was always a huge fan, Mackenzie took up playing rugby league in recent years after a bit of encouragement from her brother Denzel.

Ironically, she fell in love with the contact element of the game, and went on to represent the Cook Islands at the World Cup at the end of last year.

But importantly, it also helped her find a new connection with her dad.

“From not playing league and watching him, I don’t think I understood how much love and passion my old man had for it until I played it,” she says.

“And then being on that field on Sunday, everything just made sense, and I felt a stronger connection to my old man because that was his passion and now it’s mine. And seeing him after the game was a very emotional time too, seeing him and my mum (Santa).”

Ruben has chipped in with pieces of advice along the way.

“She’s pretty fast actually, she probably got that from her mother,” he says.

“But I gave her a few tips to make sure she didn’t get hurt. Just run, score tries, and don’t run at people. Spaces, not faces.

“She’s done really well.

“How it turned out and where we are to watch her play a round two game at home, it’s unbelievable.

“I’m very proud.”