AndersonHeather club captain
SAM AndersonHeather will captain the Otago side this year — but he may not be the skipper in every game he plays.
The Otago squad for the upcoming Mitre 10 Cup was named on Thursday night by new coach Ben Herring and includes six new caps.
Herring confirmed yesterday AndersonHeather (30) would be the club captain of the side but would not necessarily lead the team in every game.
Herring said the move has been done to help build leadership within the playing group and give AndersonHeather — who captained the side last year — time to be able to work hard pushing for his spot.
All Black Liam Coltman is also a contender for the hooking spot if he does not make the national squad, while Sekonaia Pole was the third hooker in the squad.
Herring said he was a fan of the club captain approach which was used in England.
‘‘He’ll be a figurehead, a guy that everyone can look up to. A respected sort of guy who, regardless if he plays, is the captain of the team,’’ Herring said.
He said AndersonHeather was a guy who would be part of the Otago campaign right from the outset and did not have Super Rugby commitments.
‘‘He is going to be here, on the ground, and is someone the younger guys can go to and ask for advice.’’
Herring said the players would have the next two weeks away from Otago training and would then start training on Tuesdays and Wednesdays with Otago, before going fulltime in training on July 15. The players would be pulled out of club rugby from that date.
Otago would have a preseason match against Southland in Alexandra on August 3 which would be followed by a short cam. The team will sleep in a wool shed.
The side will play in Christchurch on August 10 in the game of three halves against Canterbury and the All Blacks.
Those players who have not had a run in this game will play for the Sassenachs team which will take on a Spartans side in Invercargill on August 12.
Otago will play Wellington in its first game of the Mitre 10 Cup on August 19.
NEVILLE Ives is never at a loss on what to wear.
Although it is mainly a shade of blue and gold with a hint of maroon.
Ives (62) has stepped down this season as the Highlanders baggage manager. He was the man who looked after the most important thing for all players — the gear; the playing jerseys that were worn for every game for every season for more than a dozen years.
Ives said it was an allencompassing position which involved plenty of work during the season.
‘‘It is a very time consuming job. I loved it and all but it all took time,’’ he said.
‘‘You have to sort out all the jerseys after the game and help clean it all up. We used to store a lot of it at the shed at Logan Park but that ended up not being big enough for all the stuff we had.’’
There were three sets of playing jerseys used throughout the season but well over a hundred jerseys were used as different players came in during the season.
The jerseys were a lot tighter these days, he said, and players needed a hand to get kit on sometimes. Few jerseys ripped these days.
There was not a new set of jerseys used for every game.
Players received 56 items of gear at the start of the season — everything from shoes to training gear to singlets.
Once the players got the training gear and all the other items — apart from the actual playing kit — it was the player’s responsibility to wash it and keep it clean.
A match day for Ives started about 11am and finished well after kickoff as he collected the jerseys and helped declutter the changing room.
As well as the gear he was in charge of filling water bottles for trainers. There was food to organise for the players afterwards — players usually got food such as sushi, chicken nibbles and soup.
‘‘I used to have some lollies that some players liked. Jamie [Joseph] did not like the players having the lollies so I used to have to sneak them to them.
‘‘You used to have a TV in the changing room so you could keep an eye on the game. But you had to get all of the halftime stuff ready. Before the game you’d be in there helping but five minutes before they ran out you’d get out.’’
The highlight of his time with the franchise — he started out with Otago also but found it too busy to do two teams so stayed with the Highlanders — was the title win in 2015.
‘‘That was outstanding. Just all the hard work that had gone in. Quite overwhelming to be honest. It was that ‘‘is this really happening sort of thing.’’ That was the best part of the job.’’
He had collected plenty of jerseys and gear over the years, he said, and was never lost for a top to drag on or shoes to wear.
Ives, who is a stock controller at General Tyres, had shoulder surgery last year and decided it was time for someone else to come on board. He was paid for the job but did it for love of the game rather than the money.
The franchise had given him a couple of platinum tickets so could now sit in the stand and watch games.
Ives’ standingdown mirrors that of his son Justin, a Japan ese international lock, who has also retired.
Justin Ives went to two World Cups for Japan and played in the country for 12 years. He is now back living in Nelson, working as a builder.
Ives has been replaced in his baggage job by Hugo Hyndman, a former AlhambraUnion premier team manager.