This was the first time in 21 years that Lincoln has been able to do this, as he has been committed to tutoring secondary level groups instead. After trialling against a large number of hopefuls, he was accepted to be part of Te Matarae to stand on stage for this year’s nationals.
Lincoln had to travel from Auckland to Rotorua and back every weekend from October to February to train with the group.
For the first three days of competition they attained eight first places in different categories that secured them a place in the final. The best nine groups of the country competed in that final. The popular performance was televised by Maori TV which even saw Lincoln have a few close ups!
Lincoln’s group achieved 4th place overall out of the 42 groups competing, which was a great success, making all those weekends’ work worth it.
