2023 Northland Taniwha Futures Squad
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Very Young Squad , basically an Under 23 Squad sprinkled with some of the younger guys who are fully contracted
Allen Craig
Esile Fono
Rory Woods
Tama Anderson
Great to see many Under 20 guys in the squad , with several who are in with a shot for Blues U20
ScheduleSaturday 11th February @ Waitemata Rugby Club
@ 11:50am v North Harbour
@ 12:40pm v Auckland
Saturday 18th February @ Mahurangi Rugby Club
@ 12:30pm v North Harbour
@ 1:20pm v Auckland
2023 Future Taniwha Squad (*denotes U20 player)
Prop: Esile Fono, Trinity McQueen, *Xavier Kaipo, *JT Pont-Bellamy, Tahi Subritzky
Hooker: Valance Yates, Puru Aboagye, *Cody Aull, *Koha Mahanga
Lock: Terepai King, Kali Vaipulu, Allan Craig
Loose Forward: *Kobe Walters, Zac Shanks, Melino Fotu, Oliver Hilton Jones, *Wessell Theron, *Rory Woods
Half Back: Jayden Kemp, *Tamatea Winiana, Iila Arona
First Five: *Kobie Scutt
Midfield: Latham Aull, *Henare Leef, Alec Tipene, Jesse Manual,*Nathan Salmon
Outside: *Kiwi Duncan, Sofai Maka; *Tama Anderson, Rome Levi, *Sabien Pihema, *Lucas Payne (injured)
Head Coach: Graham Dewes
Assistant Coaches: Marcelle Kaipo, Dan Hawkins, Ross Wright
Managers: Hannah Shalders, Brad Te Haara
North Zone Liaison: Fish Jones
Academy Liaison: Ben Wiki
S&C: Emma Heywood, James Doyle
Physio: Lauren McDonald
Analyst: Caleb Boswell-Smith
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@Steven-Harris I thought Theron still had a year at Boys HIgh, may have left, he spent a bit of time at hooker too, but more in the 6 mould to me.
Kiwi Duncan and Nathan 'Fish' Salmon are both straight out of Boys High last year too, possibly another 1 or 2 names I think I recognise from schoolboy stuff, but not sure.
Good to see players coming through WBHS too, while I dont agree with them playing in the NH Comp, it will be good for player development overall
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@taniwharugby a couple boys to keep an eye is hooker Cody Aull and Tamatea Winiana who can play 9 or 10
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Game of 3 halves
Not the results the Northland Futures team were looking for first up in the first of two Saturday hits against against their North Harbour and Auckland counterparts played on Saturday at Waitemata Park in Auckland as a curtain raiser to the preseason super rugby game between the Blues and the Hurricanes .
Both games were part of a game of 2 halves concept ,Northland playing a Harbour team that had just backed a 40 minute hit out against Auckland in their first 40 minutesDespite the final score of 17-12 to Harbour , there was a lot to like about the performance of the group that took the field for the first 40 minutes.
Having to play into a stiff breeze , the Taniwha struggled to find field position for the first 20 minutes much of issues in and around discipline conceding needless offside and breakdown penalties
Harbour by virtue of so much field position and ball eventually cracked the Taniwha defence to open the scoring.
Northland on the rare occasion they did get into the Harbour half managed to free former Blues U20 winger Sofia Maka into space ,Maka showing pace and power to finish off the opportunity
However Harbour who looked very sharp in the backs despite being pummelled at scrum time would finish off 2 very well taken opportunities the best of them a stunning individual run from first five Oscar Koller from a good way outNorthland however did have the last say with impressive loose forward Melino Fotu who showed a clean set of heels to waltz in from 20 metres out to complete the scoring
Not a bad 40 minutes but it would be fair to say , discipline would be a work on going into the next 40 against an Auckland team that had been far too strong for Harbour
The Front row of JT Pont Bellamy ,Valance Yates and Esile Fono completely owned their opposites at scrum time , fair to say some of us watching on the sideline found it amusing the official did not blow his whistle more often against Harbour
Melino Fotu with his impressive carrying and Zak Shanks who was impressive over the ball were the best of the Taniwha , both players getting through a ton of defensive work as well
Fotu and Shanks will give the Northland Taniwha coaching group plenty to think about should they continue with this sort of form
In the backs Kobie Scutt looks a player that has plenty of time and Maka on the wing who has made the move North from Auckland looks a player on a missionAuckland proved to strong in the 2nd game scoring 3 tries to one coming away with a 17-7 win
The Northland coaches made several changes to the starting lineup but despite the changes got away to the best possible start with hard working lock Terepai King crashing over out wide ,Tamatea Winiana nailing the conversion
However Auckland who were supplying such quick ball in attack were able to provide their outside backs plenty of opportunities , they also bought plenty of heat in defence , unlike the Harbour scrum the Auckland scrum was a much tougher beast
The pace was definitely a step up from the previous game ,with discipline coming back to hurt the Taniwha at crucial times
Credit to many of the boys defensively, the score could have blown out but many of these lads who are new to this level of rugby showed plenty of heart and did not disgrace themselves
Terepai King and Kali Vaipulu who played most of the 80 minutes got through a ton of work ,Vaipulu once he is up to full fitness will be a real asset to Northland Rugby
Others to impress were Tahi Subritsky who carried strong often getting through post contact
Oliver Hilton Jones , Kobe Walters and Puru Aboagye got through some great defensive work
In the backs I super impressed with Tamatea Winiana whom I have heard good things about , Winiana who is normally a halfback stepped into first five and looked like he had been in that position since day day showing plenty of composure and like many good players showing he has time with the added bonus of strong right foot and goal kicking ability
Plenty of positives for a Northland Futures team that has only had 4 training runs under the belt
They head to Mahurangi Rugby Club this Saturday hoping to reverse their fortunes -
@Steven-Harris I liked the look of Fotu in a struggling Hika team last year, have chatted a fair bit with Subritzky at the gym, he knows what he needs to do if he wants to make the step up, he reaches out to de Groot on social media last year, and he responded with some tips and measures he said they have in the abs.
Def some talent about, just need to develop them.
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Northland Taniwha Futures stepped up another level from the previous week when they took on both North Harbour and Auckland in what turned out to be two very intense and entertaining games of 2 halves of rugby played at the Mahurangi rugby club on Saturday. The Taniwha proving too strong for their near neighbours North Harbour in their first 40 minute hit out coming away with a 19-0 victory.
Despite the very warm conditions, the visitors showed they meant business getting on top early with a series of opening phases that had the home team scrambling. Kiwi Duncan opened the scoring after 5 minutes following some great work by inside backs to free the impressive youngster into space down the touch line, despite a high shot from the last Harbour defender, Duncan showed some impressive strength to get the ball down in the corner.
Next to score was loose forward Melino Fotu running on to a short inside pass after some excellent work close in by some willing ball carriers. Fotu still had plenty of work to do from 20 metres out with the cover defence closing in, the last defender left in his wake as he showed strength and determination to cross the line, Tamatea Winiana adding the conversion.
The tactic of coming through the middle did the trick once again, on this occasion Tama Anderson showing his pace to scamper away under the posts and Winana adding the extras to close out the scoring. A couple of other scoring chances went begging during the 40 minutes, the closest being a charge down by Nathan Salmon, the bounce of the rugby ball eluding the rangy outside back with no defenders around.
Defensively the Taniwha were excellent, taking onboard the lessons from the week before, ably led by open side Zac Shanks. When he wasn't winning ball at the breakdown he was looking to pull off some big shots which had a few Harbour plays looking side ways. Melino Fotu and Zac Shanks especially impressed as did Oliver Hilton Jones coming into the loose forward mix with Kobe Walters who had moved into the unfamiliar position of lock. Both Walters and his locking partner Kali Vaipulu deserve a ton of credit, with only 2 locks available and with Terepai King unavailable it meant a full 80 minutes for both players was required and boy did they deliver. Walters with his incredible work rate and Vaipulu with some impressive lineout work, carries and offloads.
The combination of Tamatea Winiana and Kobe Scutt looked assured and could be a sign of things to come in the future for Northland Rugby. The back 3 of Tama Anderson, Nathan Salmon and Kiwi Duncan all stepped up from the week before especially on defence.
Auckland eased past the Taniwha Futures 14-0 in the 2nd game of 2 halves. Northland had their chances after a superb carry from Kali Vaipulu who took the ball on the 22 and with 3 or 4 Auckland players hanging on he still managed to get within 5 metres of the line, only a spilled pass with a couple of Auckland players looking suspiciously offside undoing the opportunity.
Only some fantastic scrambling defence when Northland should have scored prevented Auckland from going coast to coast after the ball was turned over.
Despite Northlands best efforts it would be Auckland who would score 2 excellent tries - the first coming on the very few times Auckland fully breached the Taniwha midfield scoring out wide, and then scoring from close range after a series of pick and goes close to the line.
A very game effort from the Northland Taniwha Futures in the 2nd 40 minutes given the amount of red zone opportunity. Northland had plenty of players put their hand up, Tahi Subritzky once again with ball in hand showed his power especially post contact, Subritzky who is only in his 3rd season of rugby after transferring from rugby league also scrummed very well destroying his opposite in one memorable scrum on the Auckland head and feed.
Brady Foster who came into the squad as a replacement during the week also impressed with his work rate. Foster seems to have filled out in the last couple of seasons and could be one to watch moving forward. Halfback llia Arona impressed with defensive organisation around the ruck when he came on pulling off a couple of impressive turnovers at crucial times with Arona, Jayden Kemp and Tamatea Winiana all around skirting around the fringes, halfback is one area that looks good for the province moving forward.
Coaches Graham Dewes, Marcel Kaipo, Ross Wright and Dan Hawkins I suspect will be pleased with what they were able to pull together after only 5 trainings given the resources of what Auckland especially have available at their disposal not to mention the extra time in camp. One man who will have plenty to think about is Northland head coach Marty Veale who was on hand over both Saturdays and must have been impressed with a couple of eye catching performances which turned a few heads .
