Wellington Lions 2024
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Jeff Toomaga Allen has apparently signed with the Lions and Matt Proctor is back in Wellington so that could be a hint at his next move. His son is playing club rugby for Wellington Axemen so he’s obviously settled here again.
I hope the Canes sign him up, my source said Matt was talking to the Canes about a month ago. He would be a solid replacement for Moorby.
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@Canes4life said in Wellington Lions 2024:
His son is playing club rugby for Wellington Axemen so he’s obviously settled here again.
Just like his father and Uncle BIlly also did! In fact all the three Proctor brothers (oldest bro James - think he might have cracked the Nelson based outfit for a period in the NPC!) played all their schoolboy rugby at my Axemen, just a shame that they played their senior rugby elsewhere.
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Another signing announcement, Senio Sanele who started for the NZ Under 20s and anchored the scrum against Spain today has been locked in. Reminds me of a young Xavier Numia.
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@Canes4life am I being blind or is there zero mention of his position?
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@Bones said in Wellington Lions 2024:
@Canes4life am I being blind or is there zero mention of his position?
Loose-head prop. Played in the 1 jersey for the Under 20s today and scrummed really well even though it was only Spain. Don’t expect him to play much this year if at all but he’s one for the future like many of these initial signings.
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@Canes4life was referring to Stanley Solomon
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@Bones said in Wellington Lions 2024:
@Canes4life was referring to Stanley Solomon
Can play 10, wing and fullback. Likely he’ll play wing going forward though. Will be interesting to see how far he goes. He’ll be one of the quickest in NZ but he’s obviously not very big at all which may prevent him from succeeding.
A few highlights of his play at school and club rugby below.
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Not surprised by this one. Harry Press from HIBS and HOBM signs for the Lions.
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From ClubRugby.co.nz
Jackson Garden-Bachop was back in Norths colours on Saturday, in his first game since the sudden passing of his younger brother Connor. We were asked how he could play, given he hasn’t met the required minimum of three games to be eligible for playing in the playoffs; our own Scott MacLean – who perhaps knows the eligibility rules better than most clubs – points out the possibilities: A ‘one-off’ allowance granted by WRFU that no one would argue with, or that he has a Lions contract for the NPC. If the latter, it would be a remarkable return.
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Be interesting if he was back for NPC. If so - I'd hope they stick with Clarke but having him in the squad would be good.
Musta been a lot of emotions for him suiting up in him and his Bros club colours. Good on him.
On a slight tangent, does anyone who follows club footy closely know why Norths are so terrible at the moment? Every time I check club scores they're getting trounced.
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@foobaNZ So my vague understanding was the Coach that one so much left to go coach Paramata-Plimerton he also took some of the players with him. Now what I was told those players left because when Norths won the Jubilee Cup those players that had played all season were pushed out by the likes of JGB, Perenara etc in the final and rightfully so pissed off about so left with the coach.
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@Canes4life said in Wellington Lions 2024:
From ClubRugby.co.nz
Jackson Garden-Bachop was back in Norths colours on Saturday, in his first game since the sudden passing of his younger brother Connor. We were asked how he could play, given he hasn’t met the required minimum of three games to be eligible for playing in the playoffs; our own Scott MacLean – who perhaps knows the eligibility rules better than most clubs – points out the possibilities: A ‘one-off’ allowance granted by WRFU that no one would argue with, or that he has a Lions contract for the NPC. If the latter, it would be a remarkable return.
I was also wondering how he got to play when he hasn’t played a game all year when I saw the team list.
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@mikey07 said in Wellington Lions 2024:
@foobaNZ So my vague understanding was the Coach that one so much left to go coach Paramata-Plimerton he also took some of the players with him. Now what I was told those players left because when Norths won the Jubilee Cup those players that had played all season were pushed out by the likes of JGB, Perenara etc in the final and rightfully so pissed off about so left with the coach.
Wouldn't the coach be in charge of selection?
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@mikey07 My understanding behind the exodus to Paremata-Plimmerton is there was a fair bit of interfering in the background behind the scenes by at least one well connected person (whose name I will not divulge thus respecting the confidentiality of my informant) who apparently makes a habit of it. Norths had another slump a few years prior to this one (think Tawa were the beneficiaries of it) so there could be a fair bit of validity to it. I am unable, at this stage, to determine if this person holds an elected role at Norths.
In all honesty Norths should have it easy with all the natural talent in the world sitting on their doorstep meaning you really only need to walk down the street and knock on a few doors to get a team capable of being very competitive without too many problems. That they aren't raises many questions. -
@Higgins there have been a few players that weren't aligned to Norths that have also made the shift to Para-Plim. Ethan Webster-Nonu and Alex Fidow from Ories and I think Joe Faleafaga was another one. (unless he was also from Norths originally).
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Can confirm the following players will be Wellington Lions this year. (Jeff Toomaga-Allen also apparently signed up but he's still completing commitments with the Reds).
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Matt Proctor - my source was correct on this signing, let's see if he was right with him signing with the Canes aswell.
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Losi Filipo (Petone) (injured)
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Tjay Clarke (Petone)
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Jackson Garden-Bachop (Norths)
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Peter Umaga-Jensen (Wainuiomata)
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Sam Clarke (Paramata-Plimmerton)
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Kyle Preston (OBU)
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Caleb Delany (OBU)
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Dominic Ropeti (Oriental Rongotai)
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Ruben Love (Wainuiomata)
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Sione Halalilo (Oriental Rongotai)
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Riley Higgins (Petone)
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PJ Sheck (Tawa)
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Siale Lauaki (Tawa)
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Hugo Plummer (Tawa)
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Filo Paulo (HOBM)
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Du Plessis Kirifi (Norths)
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Brad Shields (Petone)
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Pepesani Patafilo (Tawa)
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Akira Ieremia (Tawa)
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Peter Lakai (Petone)
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James O'Reilly (HOBM)
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Julian Savea (Oriental Rongotai)
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Xavier Numia (Oriental Rongotai)
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TJ Perenara (ABs) (Norths)
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Asafo Aumua (ABs) (Avalon)
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Ardie Savea (ABs) (Oriental Rongotai)
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Billy Proctor (ABs) (Marist St Pats)
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Harry Press (already announced) (HOBM)
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Mitchell McLeod (already announced) (OBU)
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Penieli Poasa (already announced) (Oriental Rongotai)
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Stanley Solomon (already announced) (Petone)
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Callum Harkin (already announced) (OBU)
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Senio Sanele (already announced) (Upper Hutt)
Some of them can be spotted in the post below.
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Great to have Colesy back, but what the hell is a spot coach? Is he a spotter in the gym? Or is he there to spot players that aren't up to it? Classic name for a role.
