Looking forward to 2019...
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@Steven-Harris got up to experience some North Zone club footy today. Watched Otiria v Rarawa at Ahipara. Paora Allen is a big unit, didn’t really show out as being overly physical, but having said that the standard of footy was poor. He was the only lineout option for Otiria and took every one.
He stood out like dogs balls in terms of physique, the rest were pretty much carrying beer guts and love handles!
I haven’t had the chance to get to many games this year up north so I couldn’t really fill you in on the other Far North prospects unfortunately.
Good to see Jone Macilai back running about too..
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Renata Roberts-Te Nana (outside back) re-signed with Northland for 2019, Aorangi Stokes and Sam McNamara (both Loose forwards) re-signed through to 2020
New signing, Harrison Levien (halfback) for 2019 season.
Scott Gregory recommitted to Northland through to 2022!
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@taniwharugby hope Renata stays fit. Looked good with limited time last year.
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@kev yeah I think he has a huge upside if he can get some solid game time, good pace, and balance.
Hearing good things about Jonty Rae though, looks a big strong runner, although they both play for OBM and last game I saw of them, RRT was at 10 (Rae wasnt playing that game)
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Really excited about the prospects of Jonty Rae,if this turns up trumps, the non signing Alaimalo could be a blessing.
Had a good chat last night to my cousin Waka Harris who coaches Kaikohe in the Bay of Islands.
Got some more information on Bodene Davis, apparently he has a younger brother by the name of Micheal who in my cousins words is an absolute mongrel and is potentially better than Bodene.
Micheal played league for Moerewa tigers and has surprised many with his transition to Union.
Currently out with a shoulder injury at the minute and is around 19-20 years old .
.Bodene is around 22,runs very good lines and 6’3 is big for a 7, can be used in the lineout has superb hands.
According to my cousin his one weakness is he tackles a little on the high side similar to Kara Pryor..uses their body weight to ride down and pilfer.
He has mainly schooled up North but has been studying over last couple of years and put rugby on hold but is fired up and ready to see where the rugby journey takes him.
Both boys are Grandsons of Tass Davis who was local playing legend for Hokianga back in the halcyon day’s of the Harding Shield (remember those days..)
Waka had some really high praise for Derrin & George getting out and about to watch rugby in the more rural areas not to mention turning up to help at a couple of practices ..
Kaikohe are going well,3rd in the North Zone comp,and he has seen a real improvement across the board with good competition -
@Steven-Harris we often see players drift in and out from the North Zone or move South. Be great to see a contingent of players selected from Northern clubs for both the main squad and the reserves.
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@kev some issues with the North Zone comp is the distance of travel, and then the gulf in quality, which is why most will drift south, but there is no denying there is talent a plenty there.
The other issue is then with how little they get paid to play for Northland, they will likely need to move to at least Kerikeri (although Kaikohe being strong will help too) or further south if they want to further thier careers...which then reduces the quality of the comp up North....
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@taniwharugby said in Looking forward to 2019...:
trial squads announced:
This Saturday! Northland Mitre 10 Cup Trial Game @ Hora Hora
Check out the North and South Zone Teams and Management for the Northland Mitre 10 Cup Trial Game. The game will be...
copy and paste is a mess from thier site....
So form those teams, the follwing missing for a Blues dev game:
B Wiggins
T Mayanavanua
S Caird
W Faiane
T Tua
P LeiluaAssume Konia gone form coaching one of these teams too, although guess he could still do both
Shame for the sake of the game, but great for the guys involved.
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@taniwharugby totally agree, a nothing game for the Blues Dev squad...seriously, tomorrow’s Northland trial game means a hell of lot more to me..would have been good to see many of the best players running around at their best..
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as it turned out, most of those who played last night, played today.
As @Steven-Harris will attest to, were some damn good players on display today.
I was guessing who was who most of the time, but had most correct.
With some squally showers early on, patches of sunshine but a freezing southerly, game was still played at a good pace with some good skill on display with South Zone taking the lollies 21-19 (I think)
Players to stand out:
Leilua - big solid unit for an outside back, good pace, talks alot on defence too.
Rae - this guy impressed, had one very telling run beating a number of defenders, solid on d with his own game and organisation, and a decent punt on him, he and Leilua swapped wing to FB. ONe to watch for Northland I reckon.
Tua - looked good in the first half, looks to have bulked up a bit too.
HOhaia - best game I seen him play this year, strong running and defending.
Nikau Graham - kid looked handy behind and underpowered Kamo pack with average service from his 9 (before Sykes came back) , but looked good today, good punt on him, not afraid to mix it up on defence either!
Boyd wiggins is a big lad, started a bit slow and he got dominated early on (although found out he had copped a stray boot or somethign early on to his head and had a massive egg on it) but worked his way into the game and looks a good prospect
Caird - got through a ton of work, could be a very good signing for NOrthland
JOhnson - didnt stand out on offence, but organises and talks well on d, and a big strong lad
MAcilai - looking a bit unfit, but still has it, step, accelaration, gas, even put in a huge effort on defence a couple of times, promising signs!
All the halfbacks had thier moments, slick passing (and some poor passing) with both packs gaining ascendancy and then losing it...A few others showed patches of talent, but overall thought it was a good hitout, gonna be some handy players missing out on contracts this year, but our dev side should be pretty strong.
am sure steven will add to this at some point
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@taniwharugby hey buddy can’t disagree with too much you have said..
Really excites me to see that Northland are heading in the right direction ,today’s game highlighted to me that many of the local club players are lifting their levels wether you play in the main premier A section or the North or South zone comps.
The players who came from the various competitions all bought their A games and those even from the lesser club sides impressed.
Talking to George Konia at games end, he’s was extremely pleased with what he saw and he and DW will definitely have a couple difficult decisions in terms of whom to select or leave out..From what I could gleam, there is still an opportunity for 3 outside backs..Pisi Leilua definitely put his hand up today..tall,solid,quick and extremely strong he was always looking for work and featured in a couple of strong breaks..Jonty Rae who started on the wing looked really good when given space, has a very solid left boot which would be more than handy in an exit situation..
Jone Macilai still posses the ability to beat players and was always dangerous with ball in hand
We know what he’s capable of but is probably in a race against time to get up to speed in terms of conditioning..several KGs to heavy at the minuteThe scrum battle was very even, with tightheads Alex Gale and the contracted Boyd Wiggins impressing ..
Sam McNamara looks a few Kgs heavier and looked good ,
Jared Byrnes from OBM was into everything, very physical at Breakdown and accurate on the tackle..really impressed me. -
@Steven-Harris yeah McNamara is a big unit, could slot in as a shorter power lock as well.
Was Wiseguy even there today?
Jordan Olsen was playing at 8 today, looked pretty damn solid.
Slot in our other contracted players and super rugby players and things looking, er, alright I guess...
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@taniwharugby Olsen was bloody awesome when he came on at 8..always made ground on the carry..!
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After the High Performance Programme concluded with an internal trial game at Hora Hora on Saturday 1st June the Northland coaches have named a Mitre 10 Cup Wider squad.
The last contracts for the 35 man squad will be secured over the next month before the team goes fulltime on the 11th July.
Mitre 10 Cup Wider Squad
Prop
R Wright - Contracted (Wellsford)
J Straker - Contracted (Kamo)
T Stevens (OBM)
I Tu'ungafasi - Contracted (M Northern)
B Wiggins - Contracted (OBM)
A Gale (Kamo)
B Abdale-Weir (Waipu)Hooker
J Olsen - Contracted (M Northern)
C Matthews (Hikurangi)
PJ Atkins (Wellsford)
N Hyde (W Sharks)Lock
T Mayanavanua - Contracted (Waipu)
S Caird - Contracted (OBM)
L Albornoz (Waipu)
J Goodhue - Contracted (Kamo)
S Sweetman (Wellsford)Loose Forwards
T Robinson - Contracted (Kerikeri)
S McNamara - Contracted (Waipu)
M Matich - Contracted (W Sharks)
K Jacobson - Contracted (Kamo)
J Byrnes (OBM)
S Uluinakauvadra (Waipu)
J Matiu - Contracted (Hora Hora)
A Stokes - Contracted (OBM)Halfback
S Nock - Contracted (Kerikeri)
H Levien - Contracted (OBM)
C Taylor (Kerikeri)First Five
J Debrecezeni - Contracted
D Hawkins - Contracted (OBM)
T Smith (Kerikeri)
N Graham (Kamo)Mid Field
T Tua - Contracted (Kamo)
B Hohaia - Contracted (Kamo)
J Cherrington (M Northern)
M Johnson - Contracted (OBM)
R Ranger - Contracted (Wellsford)
J Goodhue - Contracted (UK)Outside Backs
P Leilua (Waipu)
R Roberts-Te Nana - Contracted (OBM)
J Hyland - Contracted (Wellsford)
P Malimali (W Sharks)
S Murray (Kamo)
S Gregory - Contracted (Hikurangi)
Jonty Rae (OBM)With 26 x players contracted that leaves about 9 x spaces left to fill some good room to debate,
My final 9 prediction
P Leilua
C Taylor
T Smith
J Rae or P Malimali
S Sweetman
P J Atkins
A Gale
J Byrne or S Uluinakauvadra
Unknown guy ,sort of,can’t say..! -
Northland Bs Wider Squad
Prop
M Tulioma (Waipu)
H Richardson (W Sharks)
D Patua (OBM)Hooker
Z Anderson (Kerikeri)
B Tou (Waipu)Lock
T Attwood (OBM)
P Allen (Otiria)Loose Forwards
R Moemoedonu (Waipu)
F Funaki (Waipu)
H Jurlina (Eastern)
B Davis (Kaikohe)
S Windleborne (Awanui)
M Halapio (Wellsford)Halfback
E Pittman (Waipu)
I Arona (Hikurangi)
W Grant (Hora Hora)First Five
K Wiki (OBM)Midfield
N Warnock (Wellsford)
M Miller (Kerikeri)Outside
P Drummond (Kerikeri)
P Manako (Waipu)
J Macilai (Awanui)
M Tuatagaloa (Awanui)Not a big squad named but I would imagine several will drop down once the main 35 Mitre 10 Cup are named..
Some real quality in the Dev squad, shows depth is starting to come through. -
@Steven-Harris You must be well off for outside backs if J Macilai (Crusaders? & Awanui) can only make your Northland Bs Wider Squad
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@Higgins he would probably be in the main group if he came back in reasonable condition.
I was at the trial on Saturday, (match report is on the Northland website)
Macilai has still got the ability to beat players, but he is so out of condition it’s not funny..
The union tried to help him out at the beginning of the year with a programs along with an opportunity to train with the HP squad but he declined stating he was gonna just play club footy..
But to answer your question ,there’s some talented outside backs running in Northland club footy at the minute that are ticking all the required boxes.There looks to be much more depth in Northland rugby this season, but I will hold the phone a bit and see how we go.
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@Steven-Harris good write up on the Northland page.
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@taniwharugby it just feels like in terms of planning we are way ahead of where we need to be 2 months out, along with what’s seem a decent amount of depth .🙏 there are no injuries..!
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@Steven-Harris yeah I will temper my excitement at some of these players with the fact I have been burnt with optimistic thoughts too many times!
