Dwayne Sweeney always knew he was Māori — but growing up, he'd never set foot on a marae outside a school trip, and he jokes that his own mum was "plastic Māori" because neither of them grew up connected to the culture.

In this episode of ShedLife NZ with Jason Davis, Dwayne opens up on what it really meant to earn a jersey for the NZ Māori All Blacks — and how making the team forced him into the deepest identity crash-course of his life. Just days after selection, Dwayne got a call telling him he had to present his pepeha — his personal introduction and genealogy — in front of the entire squad on day one of camp. There was just one problem: he had no idea what a pepeha even was.

What followed was a frantic two-day scramble, leaning on family members who'd reconnected with their own Māori roots as adults, just to be ready to stand up in that room. Dwayne also breaks down why the NZ Māori environment is unlike anything else in New Zealand sport — a nightly kapa haka session, learning the haka from scratch within a week of joining, and the deeper truth behind a team that, unlike the All Blacks, is bound entirely by blood.

We also get into the emotional legacy left behind by two of the culture's most important guides in his journey — Fetu and Luki Crawford — both of whom have since passed away, and the lasting impact they had not just on Dwayne, but everyone who came through under their guidance.