This weekend, the Dunedin Women’s Thunder take on league leaders Auckland Steel in the semi-finals of the New Zealand Women's Ice Hockey League (NZWIHL) season. This will be the last chance for Dunedinites to catch the team at home this year, and if Thunder players Caitlin and Manuella are to be believed, spectators can expect speed, chaos, and maybe even a punch or two.
Critic Te Ārohi sat down with these two first-year students, who, despite spending most weekends launching themselves around a pad of ice with knives strapped to their feet, were about as far from icy as possible. Within 30 minutes of meeting them, the conversation had bounced between figure skating, North Korea, hockey romance novels, and punching people.
For all you newbies to the ice, hockey is surprisingly simple. One team tries to put the puck in the net. The other team tries to stop them. The difficult part is doing that while skating ridiculously fast. Players are generally only on the ice for around a minute at a time, which means there is no shortage of action.
Caitlin and Manuella, both hailing from Queenstown, didn’t exactly arrive in Dunedin unknown. Earlier this year, both represented New Zealand with the Ice Fernz at the Women’s World Championships in Hong Kong. Caitlin is already in her third season of competing at this national level, having previously competed at the 2024 World Championship in Istanbul, where New Zealand faced off against North Korea. Manuella earned her first senior selection this year after ageing out of the under-18 programme. Not bad for two freshers. These sporting CVs sit alongside degrees in Geography and Global Studies for Caitlin, and Law and Commerce for Manuella.
Their hockey career started in a much less intimidating setting. Both began as figure skaters before eventually swapping the pirouettes for penalties. “I was not a fan of performing by myself in a fucking dress,” Caitlin told Critic. “I was like, wait, hockey’s actually way cooler.” For Manuella, the appeal was a little more fiery. “I’ve always loved contact sports,” she explained. “I did jujitsu and touch rugby and all that when I was little, so I was like, ‘Perfect. This is awesome. I just get so aggressive and angry.’”
The Thunder currently sit second on the NZWIHL standings and remain determined for a medal. Standing in their way are the Auckland Steel, who currently top the NZWIHL ladder and have developed a taste for winning. “They just win everything, and it’s so annoying,” Caitlin said. “It would be so good to beat them, " Manuella added. “We’re definitely the underdogs, but anything can happen,” Caitlin said. When asked to describe a Thunder game in three words, she did not hesitate: “Fast. Fun. Fierce.” Respect on the media training – where can we get some?
Despite the sport’s growing popularity, plenty of students don't even know there’s an ice rink in Dunedin. Well, now is your chance to check it out: the Dunedin Women’s Thunder take on the Auckland Steel at the Dunedin Ice Stadium on Saturday July 25 at 6:00pm and Sunday July 26 3:45pm. Student tickets cost $10. Follow @dunedinwhky for more information. The forecast may be cold, but the Thunder are hoping to bring the heat.
