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HomeNewsCommunityThe Dark Destroyer hits Pukekohe

The Dark Destroyer hits Pukekohe

Times Team
By Times Team
November 27, 2025
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
Shaun Wallace is always happy to lend a hand to CureKids. Photo supplied Will Hall

The recent fundraiser for Cure Kids featuring The Chase star ‘Dark Destroyer’ Shaun Wallace has been an enormous success.

MC for the night and the Cure Kids engagement lead, Will Hall, said that the evening was an unqualified success and helped raise crucial funding for children in need.

A record number of 240–250 people came out to support the event, and Hall said it was the most successful of the eight-stop tour.

“It was a huge success, there at Pukekohe at the Navigation Stadium, we raised in excess of $26,000 on the night. We’re really proud of Monique and the crew from Columbus Coffee inside Mitre 10 Mega.

“They did an outstanding job, the buffet table was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, really well presented. They went above and beyond; they had the team doing a 360-degree video booth down the back.

“It was great to be on the hallowed turf, the old stomping ground of the late former All Black winger Joeli Vidiri and Jonah Lomu. We had some rugby-themed questions, so it was pretty special to watch.

“Jonah’s famous try from the 95-world cup, where he ran over Mike Catt (a fullback for the 1995 English rugby team), we got to actually watch that as a quiz question, at Jonah’s home ground, which was pretty cool,” said Hall.

The Dark Destroyer himself was on top form on the night, with him mentioning that out of the six or seven tours he has done, the New Zealand one was his favourite.

Hall added that Wallace thoroughly enjoyed himself and would love to come back.

“He really enjoyed it; he was very emotional about that. That was the end of it. He’s told me that it’s his favourite tour that he’s done so far. He was in great form for the last two shows.”

In the end, the team dubbed “The Shades of 58” won the night, winning a case of Rifters Gin from Arrowtown, which was crowned the best gin in the world by the World Drinks Awards in London earlier this year.

They also won one of eight “Shaun Wallace 2025 trophies for Cure Kids Quiz”, and four out of eight of them got to take on Wallace in the final chase.

“All in all, a great night, and everyone enjoyed their time with the Dark Destroyer.”

  • Tags
  • Cure Kids
  • Dark Destroyer
  • Shaun Wallace
  • The Chase
  • Will Hall
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