Tasman enters women’s NPC
Tasman women’s coach Marty O’Cain is expecting the team’s first foray into the Farah Palmer Cup to be tough.
‘‘There’s a lot of hard work in a short matter of time,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s not contracts, it’s not payments, it’s voluntary, it’s after work, it’s weekends - it’s going to be tough.’’
But it should be a case of shortterm pain, long-term gain as women’s rugby players in Nelson and Marlborough finally get a chance to test themselves in the national provincial championship.
Tasman is the new addition to the expanded 11-team competition.
Tasman will contest the second-tier championship, with two crossover matches against premiership teams Waikato and Canterbury.
The first of their six games will be played against Waikato at Lansdowne Park in Blenheim on September 2 with their two other home games being played against North Harbour and Hawke’s Bay at Trafalgar Park in Nelson on October 8 and 14.
‘‘If you talk to the girls they’re getting pretty excited,’’ O’Cain said.
Tasman chief executive Tony Lewis said as a provincial union it was up to them to provide equal opportunities for men and women, which is why they pushed for inclusion.
‘‘We wanted to give them a pathway and it’s another pathway for our coaches and management. From the players’ perspective we hope it will keep the girls in the region, give them some meaningful competition and there’s exposure for players and sponsors with two televised games,’’ Lewis said.
‘‘We decided to get serious about it three years ago. We set up a proper competition with two teams out of Blenheim, and we want to grow that more, and the girls have become become very enthusiastic about training and wanting to play.
‘‘It’s really positive and the key is to not get too far ahead ourselves and carried away with results. If we can get the development right and get the underneath right then those things will take care of themselves.’’
O’Cain has picked on form with 12 players from Moutere, Tasman club champions, making up the bulk of the squad.
‘‘We think the make-up of the squad reflected the competition in terms of representation.’’
The team also includes Black Ferns Sevens player Jess Drummond and New Zealand development player Risi PouriLane.