Otago 2024
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Paul Dwyer caught up with Hunter Fahey (Dunedin club affiliated, Southland provincial) and Finn Hurley. Fahey talked about the eight Southlanders in the Dunedin run acadamey. Hurley mentioned Jake Te Hiwi has a broken wrist and James Arscott is on holiday in Europe. Highlanders are slowly feeding back into club rugby. Nareki, Hurley, Umaga-Jensen, Wingham and Hastie are all listed for this weekend. Still a couple of teams to be put in. Top of the table clash this weekend. With Dunedin playing Green Island. What I keep thinking about with the Southland based acadamey, is surely we are going to get to a point where we amalgamate the premier comps in Southland and Dunedin. Make it a top draw comp. Get the players to indicate who they want to play for, and have more teams in the comp. With Te Hiwi injured with a broken hand, it might ensure Otago takes back Umaga-Jensen for the provincial season. Here is the catch up
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i dont like the idea of the southland acadamy in dunedin, that seems like the kind of high performance focus and spending unions have been condemned for, if people want to live in dunedin then they can play for otago
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@Kiwiwomble said in Otago 2024:
i dont like the idea of the southland acadamy in dunedin, that seems like the kind of high performance focus and spending unions have been condemned for, if people want to live in dunedin then they can play for otago
No issue with a small acadamey of players being based out of Dunedin. Players like Josh Augistine and Tayne Harvey may not have come down to the Highlanders Acadamey, if they knew they would be in the Otago logjam. These guys might get on the paddock for Southland this year, and it is great they are able to maintain their university lifestyles in Dunedin. Thay is a win. Across the two southern teams our goal should be to have to top 46 players on the field during the provincial season. I'd much rather see kids playing for Southland than sitting on the bemch for Otago B. Southland kids should also be able to play for Southland, if they want to, even if they are living in Dunedin. We aren't talking about a high investment from Southland, from what Fahey says it is a couple of gym sessions a week, and a training session at Shark Park.
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thats literally what unions have been condemned for, spending money on making the top team competitive without using the local grass roots clubs to do it. and we're not talking about luring marquee signing down....guys that should and could be playing club rugby in southland if they want to play for southland
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We are talking low cost players, who will either be on nil contracts or low level ones mainly held by the Highlanders. Harvey, Augistine, Rutledge (who played most of the season for Kaik Colts), Caleb Williams out of Southland Boys, Pautawa (who Otago didn't want). This is not an expensive exercise. The long term benefits for Southland and eventually the Highlanders by far outweighs the low costs. Wouldn't you consider Gregor Rutledge a local Southland player?
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Want to see something far worse than Southland running a group of young players in Dunedin @Kiwiwomble ... try Otago being runoured to be signing an Australian based winger. An absolute disgrace in my mind. It is in the Paul Dwyer weekly column here. https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/rugby/club-rugby/dwyer-three-sides-still-trophy-contention
The word on the street is that Otago are contracting in a winger from Australia to bolster their NPC squad. Surely this can’t be right, and the Otago board has said no? I’ve been banging on for weeks about there being no money in rugby. The NZRU have just announced a $9 million loss for the year to prove that point. If they have allowed this to happen, they really have lost touch with reality and certainly with their clubs. How do you explain this to Aaron McMurray from Varsity, to Kyan Rangitutia from Dunedin, to Mackenzie Palmer from Southern, to Joe Cockburn from Taieri, to name just a few. Pick any of these players and put more bums on seats at the Greenhouse. I truly hope I’ve got this wrong because if it is true we should divest our club scene from Otago and go it alone. -
both things can be bad for grass roots
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@Kiwiwomble said in Otago 2024:
both things can be bad for grass roots
One supports the development of the best players across the two regions getting opportunities. The other is an Australian taking the spot of a young Otago/Highlanders prospect. With Lachlan McCaffrey being the head coach of Gungahlin Eagles, I'd suspect we are about to see someone in the Canberra system. Absolutely disgraceful. Kyan Rangitutia is a big strong lad who has been lighting it up at Shark Park. He deserves an opportunity. Yet, here we may be spending decent money to fly over, house and pay an Australian who may be here for one season. This is exactly what NZ Rugby is talking about with its issues with the provinces.
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i dont know who you're arguing with, i dont disagree unless its someone young actually moving to dunedin with no guarantees thats going to earn their spot through club rugby
that doesnt change my opinion southland should be concentrating on players living and playing in Invercargill
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I was just fuether explaining my issue with the Australian move. I don't see the reasoning in your rigid stance on the Southland affiliated players. Especially as it allows them to attend university and be aligned to Southland. It is clear, when and if they finish uni and will be staying with Southland, they'd go down there at that point. There are plenty of other lads who aren't attending uni and have moved to Southland who are playing down there fulltime; Tupou-Taei'loa, Leroy Ferguson, Michael Manson. It is just limited to the guys attending uni. It is a player walfare focused approach. Which has to be seen as a good thing. Major League Rugby has a far bigger impact on club rugby. Especially when you have half your contracted players over there.
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once again trying to point at something else thats also bad like a distractions
its simple in my mind, i dont think unions should be developing players that ply their trade in other club comps, thats literally focusing on the high performance, we're allowed to disagree
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@Kiwiwomble said in Otago 2024:
i dont know who you're arguing with, i dont disagree unless its someone young actually moving to dunedin with no guarantees thats going to earn their spot through club rugby
that doesnt change my opinion southland should be concentrating on players living and playing in Invercargill
Seems stupid though... basically saying that someone from Southland Boys has to pick between University or playing semi-pro rugby for Southland.
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thats how it always use to be, im actually surprised its so hard to understand the position, getting their players to play in the club comp should be equally important
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@Kiwiwomble said in Otago 2024:
thats how it always use to be, im actually surprised its so hard to understand the position, getting their players to play in the club comp should be equally important
It is a very negative approach, and isn't focused on the player, or long-term benefit of the Highlanders region as a whole. It is a you must do this approach. If you look at the two out of town guys in Augistine and Harvey. They wouldn't have initially been approached by Southland. They would have been signed by the Highlanders, and the two unions would have been made aware of their impending arrivals. Would you have rather Harvey stayed in Manawatu to go to Uni? Or be in the Landers system and part of Southland. It comes down to having a player focused approach. Here is an article about the Southland. Acadamey. It is clear, the vast majority, including players from outside the region are in Invercargill. It is just the Uni players in Dunedin. https://www.rugbysouthland.co.nz/newsarticle/134783?newsfeedId=1204379
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but thats not what the unions are supposed to be focusing on....that the highlanders job
and i dont think saying the southland club comp should be benefiting from having the best players the local region can produce playing in it is negative
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@Kiwiwomble said in Otago 2024:
but thats not what the unions are supposed to be focusing on....that the highlanders job
and i dont think saying the southland club comp should be benefiting from having the best players the local region can produce playing in it is negative
Rugby Southland, like other sporting bodies will know they are but a bit part in the development of young men and women. Understanding that a players education and personal development is and should be the most important aspect of a players post high school years is the best thing a union can do for an athelete. Especially if it can maintain contact with them. Rugby Southland is strong for this set up. Which is only a good thing for our Highlanders region. In a perfect world Invercargill would have the set up required to be attractive to young players. It doesn't. With the support and approval of Otago Rugby it is able to find a solution to get a step up, and a very low cost one.
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Being first year out of school, it will be interesting to see how he is managed into professional rugby. Looks like the best rugby player to come out of Dunedin since Ben Smith, there will be some massive hopes around the kid. I'd hope he will be a fully contracted lander by 2026.
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Looks like a decision has been made by both Otago and the Highlanders not to push any of the young outside backs through. That they will go out of province to find another winger.
No imports signed but Otago on hunt for an outside back
Otago has not signed an Australian winger for the NPC as rumoured. But the organisation is in the market for an outside back. Otago Rugby...
*No imports signed but Otago on hunt for an outside back
By Adrian SeconiOtago has not signed an Australian winger for the NPC as rumoured.
But the organisation is in the market for an outside back.
Otago Rugby Association chief executive Richard Kinley denied the team had inked a deal with an overseas player.
However, Otago did have a lack of depth in the spot and Kinley said they were open to finding someone from outside of the region.
"We want to pick local players and from the club competition", Kinley said.
"However, if we think it is not in the best interests for the development of the next best player then we are not going to put them in an unsafe environment and we will look to go outside the region.
"We have not done that very often during the last few years. But there is a shortage of outside backs, I’m not going to deny that.
"There are some good young backs coming through. But on that ... we met with Jamie Joseph and the high-performance staff over at the Highlanders three weeks ago.
"We went through all the players at that next level down to assess what would be the best level of competition for their development and we did not identify any outside backs we felt were ready for a starting position in the NPC.
"A lot of the teams we are playing against are full of Super Rugby players, so we’ve got to make sure we are giving the players that time so they are ready when we put them out on the paddock", Kinley said.
Otago has 27 players on their books but only two of them are specialist wingers — Jona Nareki and Jeremiah Asi.
Josh Whaanga played on the wing for most of last season but Otago still view him as a midfielder, and Asi has been out with a shoulder injury but is expected to be back this weekend.
Asi plays for University in the Dunedin premier grade and they are playing Green Island at Miller Park.
Kinley said Otago would release their contracted players such as Asi for the club playoffs. But those decisions would be made on a week-by-week basis.
Players who have had a busy workload with the Highlanders are unlikely to feature for their club.
"We have a couple of players who have a few little niggles as well. But there will be players available."
Otago will open their NPC campaign against Southland in Invercargill on August 10.
They have a couple of warm-up matches before that.
They play Southland in Gore on July 26 and Canterbury in Rolleston on August 2.
An Otago high-performance team was going to play a match against an Otago Country selection team last week but the game was axed because of the difficulties around the timing of the game and player availability.*
