Forget Templates. Northland Rugby is Running the Most Human Feed in Sport.
Everyone’s trying to work out who’s running Northland Rugby Union's socials and fair enough.
In a competition full of templated graphics and safe captions, Northland have built something entirely different: a feed with rhythm, humour, and humanity. Their posts look like they’ve been made in Paint, but the thinking behind them is razor sharp. Every image, caption and reply is perfectly tuned to the culture of the club and the tone of the region.
When they “raised the Northland flag” over the Sky Tower after beating Auckland, it took off, a perfect mix of pride and parody that only a Northlander could pull off. They even renamed Auckland South Northland. And in the comments, they doubled down, posting “conversation starters” for Aucklanders to use, turning a joke into a community moment:
“Finally I can wear gumboots and stubbies to the office without judgement, things are better already.”
“We did a road trip back in 2023 up to Cape Reinga, spent five days there. Always felt like home.”
Just when the story seemed to peak, they raised the flag again, this time over the Beehive, after a win against Wellington A running story had been born out of a single meme and a bit of regional pride.
The consistency kept coming. Faux-Ministry press releases, AI “paintings by Panguru Pete", Word Art and dry, clever humour that sounds more like sideline banter than brand marketing.
When they travelled south to play Otago, Panguru Pete unveiled his “Scarfie in Dunedin” painting and the admin captioned it with, “Tag your favourite Scarfie.” Someone commented, “We love the admin, someone buy him a beer.” The reply? “As long as it’s not a Speight’s.” Followed by, “Lion Reds only.” It’s moments like that, perfectly timed, hyper-local, self-aware, that make the feed so sharp. The humour’s real, the timing’s instinctive, and the personality feels lived-in, not managed.
Because while much of rugby in New Zealand is chasing polish, Northland are chasing connection and winning. The sport often tries to present itself as a prestige product, forgetting the communities that built it. This account feels like a return to that, messy, funny, and full of life.
In a world of curated, over-managed feeds, this stands out because it’s different. It makes social feel like it used to - raw, human, experimental, and fun.
It’s not actually a mystery who runs this account, it’s Luke Gallagher. Hats off for being different. For making people laugh, feel seen, and actually want to engage. In a world of curated feeds, you’re standing out. Dare to be different, because no one’s scrolling for more of the same 😉