Latefledging Hawks soar
HARBOUR is setting the highwater mark.
Arguably, the Hawks are the form team in the premier grade at the moment.
They dispatched ZingariRichmond 7114 last weekend, thanks to some aggressive play and strong running.
The tight five laid the platform for a 4033 win against Kaikorai a week earlier. But it was probably their comfortable win against Dunedin on May 12 that signalled the team had moved on from a rather pedestrian start.
Coach Ryan Nicholas put the improvement down to a better work ethic.
He arrived at the club two weeks before the tournament got under way and there was a fair bit of work to be done.
‘‘We hadn’t had one team training before that,’’ Nicholas said.
‘‘Half the guys weren’t turning up to training . . . and come Saturday [the game plan] was just falling to bits.
‘‘In the first half of the season I didn’t see it going that well.’’
Harbour recorded just one win in its first five games and its playoff prospects looked like they might be slipping away.
The 3023 loss to Green Island in late April was followed by an honesty session.
The leadership group agreed to some changes to the game plan and it helped Harbour return to form.
‘‘We’ve definitely turned the corner. The guys have bought into what we are trying to do and I’m starting to get all my players back, which is good, because we have a lot more depth.
‘‘We just had to change attitudes and get a little more buyin. But we are seeing that now with guys performing better and more consistently.’’
Harbour will need to be at its best tomorrow. It will play Southern at Bathgate Park.
It is a repeat of last year’s final. The teams drew 2929 at Watson Park in March and the secondround game promises to be just as close.
‘‘Southern are one of the better teams . . . but it is more about us nailing what we want to do and getting that right.’’
Loose forward Joketani Koroi has been impressive.
‘‘He has been playing outstanding. All of our forwards have been going well, really.
‘‘Young Abraham Pole and [Sekonaia] Pole in the front row have been good. Our scrum has just been demolishing teams at the moment and we are starting to get good performances from Solomon [Pole], JT [James Tomkinson] and Charles [Elton].
‘‘Our whole forward pack has been leading the way.’’