Newspaper articles about Māori participation in sport made up less than one percent of sports stories overall in a representative sample of newspaper articles. This tiny proportion was divided between two types. Articles about Māori codes and competitions presented them as exotic and marginal to sporting life, with no background provided about why these competitions existed. The second type assimilated Māori within monocultural sporting codes, sometimes stereotyping them as instinctive or naturally gifted players, implying that they didn’t work for their skills.