Brendon Pongia

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Brendon Pongia
Occupation	Television presenter former Tall Black

Brendon Pongia (born 27 July 1969) is a New Zealand television presenter and a former Tall Black. He is currently co-hosting Good Morning alongside Sarah Bradley. He has also appeared on the Māori Television show Iwi All-Stars.

His home town is Greymouth and he is of Māori descent.

[edit] Career

Pongia played basketball with the Tall Blacks for nearly a decade, before going on to work as a sports presenter, reporting courtside and commentating, and a radio host. He has a degree in marketing.

A stalwart of the National Basketball League through the 1990s, Pongia earned greatest recognition in 2001 as a member of the Tall Black squad that defeated Australia to qualify for the 2002 world championships. Although he saw little actual court time, he was front and centre in the pre-match build-ups as leader of the haka. He finally captured an NBL title with the Waikato Titans in 2002, but lost his place in the national side. Pongia attended the world tournament in Indianapolis as a spectator and enjoyed a high profile in TV coverage, leading the supporters' haka. He was subsequently offered a presenter's role with TVNZ and, later, Sky TV in 2003.

Brendon has also participated in Dancing With The Stars in 2007, with partner Hayley Holt.