 Owens performance in "Whatungarongaro" influenced her being cast in Once Were Warriors.Playwright and director of theatre company Tawata Productions Hone Kouka cites seeing "Whatungarongaro" in 1991 at the Depot Theatre in Wellington as being life changing and convincing him that innovative Māori theatre had no boundaries.Another New Zealand theatre and film writer Briar Grace-Smith was an assistant to Potiki and learnt from the process of making "Whatungarongaro".