Ferns duo to guide Northland

On the sidelines Northland’s Farah Palmer Cup team has a star studded lineup with former Black Fern Cheryl Smith the head coach and Susan Dawson, another former Black Fern, her assistant.

They aren’t looking too bad on the field either, with three current Black Ferns in the squad and seven players from Counties Manukau, finalists in 2017 and 2018 and champions in 2016.

The FPC newcomers may be entering uncharted territory next week against the Hawke’s Bay, but they have enough experience in their roster to win the Championship division if everything falls in to place.

Black Ferns hooker and Northland captain Te Kura Ngataaerengamate is confident they’ll come out trumps.

‘‘Our team is looking really good, like really good.’’

It’s not easy for Northland, who have several players who have to travel two hours each way for training each week, making a midnight curfew the norm.

They come together as a unit on Thursday nights, but otherwise there are trainings held all around the province.

‘‘We definitely have the team to do it,’’ Ngata-aerengamate said.

‘‘It is just about working around our challenges. Be a tight-knit group just with one day a week together, that is a challenge at the moment, but so far it’s been good.

‘‘I feel we are real contenders.’’ Ngata-aerengamate already has two FPC Premierships under her belt, one with Auckland and the other with Counties, so she knows what it takes and has no qualms about stepping down to the Championship this year after making the final three years running with her former Counties team.