The students at Waikato's Ngahinapouri School were in for a different kind of lesson this week after the NZ Warriors' shock win against the Penrith Panthers.
Principal and hard-out Wahs fan Mark Harrop arrived at school on Monday morning with a message about resilience for the tamariki.
In the footage of his uplifting lesson, Mark began: "No Shaun Johnson, no RTS, Captain Tohu Harris out with a broken finger…"
"Inexperienced young players stepped up. They never gave up, they played with heart and they won the game," he added. "Resilience, that’s what it looks like."
The Warriors came through with a 22-20 result, upsetting the Panthers at Suncorp Stadium.
Since the footage was posted to TikTok, Mark’s message has gained 47k views and loads of comments from Kiwis who wished they had a role model like Mark growing up.
One commenter wrote: “Awesome that the principal knows how to talk to his students about what really matters. Up the WAHS baby.”
Another said, “I could have been something if he was my teacher.”
While a third added: “Perfect example of finding your passion, knowing the message and teaching the next generation.”
Talking to Newshub, Mark said the ‘Up the Wahs’ bandwagon really connected him with the students.
"Being able to talk to them about that was awesome because it helped me share something I'm passionate about to show them it's OK to be passionate about things and get excited," he said.
Mark believes the inspirational performance of a makeshift team without some of the big players will prove to be a turning point for the mighty Wahs.
"Those young fellas are going to step things up - that's my two cents worth," Mark added.
And hey, it sure proved to be the perfect opportunity to teach resilience to our youngsters, aye?!
