Taieri has ‘plenty of character’
HONESTLY — how has Taieri strolled into the playoffs on the back of seven consecutive wins?
The Eels are a good side. They are wellstructured, disciplined, fit and they have an experienced core of players who do not seem to panic in those critical moments.
That is plenty to work with but would you really pick Taieri out of a lineup and say, ‘‘Boy, that team will be hard to beat’’. Probably not, right?
Coach David Hunter is the first to acknowledge he does not have a team of stars. But he does have a solid team which is seemingly greater than its individual parts.
‘‘We’ve got plenty of character and you can’t win three games by one point and a couple on fulltime unless you carry a bit of character with you,’’ Hunter said.
‘‘But we are a team that just sort of rolls its sleeves up and gets on with it.
‘‘We don’t get too carried away with ourselves. We could have easily been at the bottom end.’’
Not having a lot of ‘‘star power’’ has its advantages. There are not the same amount of distractions with players coming and going depending on their representative commitments.
Other teams who have Highlanders in and out have been boom and bust. Taieri has been more constant and it has shown in its performances.
None of that is to say Taieri does not have quality players. It does. Loose forward and captain Nick Henderson has to be close to the best player in the competition this year.
‘‘He is just one of those players who shows up in good places to make an impact, whether that is around the fringes on defence or linking on attack . . . and reads the game really well.
‘‘He is probably not that fashionable as a No 6. He is not six foot four [1.93m] and runs the 100m in 11sec or whatever. But we wouldn’t swap him for anyone.’’
Taieri is full of guys like Brodie Hume, Vinnie O’Connell and Kori Rupene who give it their all each week.
Corey McKay had been steady at firstfive and has landed the important goals.
Will Ngatai is threatening out in the midfield and fullback Taine CraigRanga has had a good season.
Taieri hosts Southern at Peter Johnstone Park tomorrow. It is the topplaced side versus the sixth, so Taieri will go in as a strong favourite.
In the other playoff games, Dunedin is hosting Harbour and Kaikorai will play University at Bishopscourt.