Coach loving life with Real Blokes
Chris Long has opted for a different shade of green this year and is loving every minute.
Long was a stalwart of Old BoysMarist, and Marist before the amalgamation, but with Reece Robinson appointed in his second tenure as Ob-marist coach this year, Long took the job as coach of Te Kawau, his first senior one coaching gig.
Things started well last weekend as the Real Blokes beat Kia Toa 43-17. Long had focused on intensity and attitude from his side, wanting to make them a hard-working bunch.
He said he was enjoying being a head coach but was quick to point out the help he had from assistants Jacob Meehan and Wesley Clarke.
‘‘There’s a lot of attention to detail, I just try and bring it all together.’’
Having been associated with Old Boys-marist for so long, he said the change of scene at Te Kawau was enjoyable and had found it a welcoming environment
‘‘If it was a different group of guys potentially it wouldn’t be like that.
‘‘These guys are working hard,’’ Long said.
They have another tough encounter in their first home game of the year at Rongotea against defending champions Feilding today.
Feilding were dominant for parts of their 34-10 win over Freyberg last week, but will need to play the full 80 against the feisty Te Kawau.
In other matches, both Feilding Old Boys-o¯roua and Old BoysMarist will be looking to atone for big losses last weekend when they clash at Johnston Park.
Old Boys-marist were overrun by Varsity last week in a 35-14 loss and only a couple of late tries made the scoreline more flattering.
Ob-maristwere so short on frontrowers last week two players had to be brought in temporarily from Whanganui Marist, but coach Robinson was hopeful of getting some men back this week.
The Stags were well beaten 55-17 by College Old Boys last week, where a flat opening quarter opened the floodgates, before they showed late signs of a fightback.
Freyberg had to play Feilding in week one and now face the other finalists from last year in Varsity at Massey University.
Freys had their moments in the loss against Feilding last week and have pace out wide.
Varsity looked good without having to lift to any great heights against Ob-marist and are likely to threaten Freyberg this week.
Kia Toa will also be looking to bounce back from a big loss, but face stiff opposition against College Old Boys at the Arena.
The double blues didn’t offer much in last week’s loss to Te Kawau, but still have enough firepower to trouble a side like COB.
College ran rampant against Fob-o¯roua and have threats across the park which Kias will need to contain.
Meanwhile, the
Manawatu¯
Turbos have signed two frontrowers in former Crusaders prop Harrison Allen and Fiji international Samu Tawake.
Allen, 23, is a former New Zealand under-20s representative, has played 12 games for the Crusaders and 16 for Canterbury.
Tawake, 24, played 10 games for the Turbos in 2019, but was unable to return to New Zealand from Fiji last year due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Today’s draw, 2.45pm kickoff: Te Kawau v Feilding, Rongotea; FOB
roua v Ob-marist, Johnston Park; Varsity v Freyberg, Massey University; COB v Kia Toa, Arena 3.
Standings: COB 5, Te Kawau 5, Feilding 5, Varsity 5, Ob-marist 0, Freyberg 0, Kia Toa 0, FOB-O¯ 0.