Small club tries to stay bullish

It’s not just the tackle bags taking the hits at Otorohanga Rugby Football Club after New Zealand’s move to Covid-19 alert level one last week.

Before the national lockdown announcement in March, Otorohanga had ambitions of fielding an under-85kg team in

2020 – the first time the club has been represented in the grade since 2007.

A fortnight before the season was scheduled to start, Otorohanga, known as the Blue Bulls, had a pre-season game against Hamilton Marist. With

22 committed players on the books plus a few extras, the signs suggested Otorohanga’s return to the grade would be more than competitive.

A little more than a week later, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the country was going into lockdown, and rugby became a distant memory.

Fast-forward to the present day: the posts are back up, the grass is cut and the lines are repainted on Otorohanga’s Island Reserve (aka the Bull Ring).

Figures from the Waikato Rugby Union (WRU) show 86 per cent of pre-Covid club rugby teams in the Waikato will successfully take the field on Saturday, as New Zealand Rugby’s grassroots rugby road to recovery moves forward.

Unfortunately, the Blue Bulls

Jae Boroevich coach of the Otorohanga Blue Bulls may be one of the teams to miss out. Coach Jae Boroevich has quickly realised the impact of Covid-19, as the squad has shrunk from 22 (pre-Covid) to 10 players days before the season restarts.

As a country club, Otorohanga attracts plenty of local farmers and tradies. With calving season approaching and a lot of trade work backed up from the lockdown, many of the initial squad have ruled themselves out of rugby.

‘‘The main reasons why the boys are pulling out is having to work night shifts and having to enter another team under the [Otorohanga] flag – the town and whanau were all behind us and ready to cheer us on.

‘‘I’m feeling truly gutted along with a lot of the keen committed boys; they really love the game and just want to get out there, put some hits in, score some tries and most of all, meet new friends and have fun,’’ he said.

WRU participation and development manager Carl Moon has witnessed similar events happening across Waikato’s club rugby landscape, but believes the upbeat approach of rugby clubs to the recovery has minimised the damage.

‘‘The clubs have been awesome – very proactive, positive, and rolling with the punches. Things have changed so often and very rapidly, and they have just adapted and got on with things. Thankfully we are now in a position where they can run their clubs without the bulk of the challenges that we were planning for,’’ Moon said.

‘‘Some have lost their employment, some have retained their employment but it has changed and they are no longer able to commit. For other people, their priorities have changed for all sorts of reasons, which is understandable in the circumstances,’’ he said.

The Blue Bulls are still hopeful of getting a team together for their first-round match against the Hamilton Marist Bulldogs this Saturday.

Carl Moon

WRU participation and development manager now work Saturdays to make deadlines as a lot of tradies were in the team; and a lack of interest after doing no exercise during lockdown and now being two-to10 kilograms heavier,’’ Boroevich said.

‘‘We were amping, hissing. We were so proud and happy to

‘‘They really love the game and just want to get out there.’’

‘‘The clubs have been awesome – very proactive, positive.’’