Season arrives early for local clubs
Winter is arriving early this year for the legion of local grassroots rugby supporters, with the North Zone senior club competition featuring teams from the Mangonui and Bay of Islands sub unions kicking off on Saturday.
Many commentators have noted the season seems to be starting earlier every year, with some of the more cynical wondering if that’s a bid to compete for players with the local 13-man game — the Taitokerau Rugby League competition which begins on March 9.
However, the actual reason cited by the governing Northland Rugby Union body for the March 2 start is that all club rugby — and subsequently, the national provincial championship — needs to be finished to allow for an appropriate build-up to the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Meanwhile, it won’t just be farmers and market gardeners pleased with the rain which fell last weekend.
Players will also be somewhat relieved to see some moisture doing a little to soften the rockhard grounds left from the summer heatwave.
The pick of the matches on Saturday was the clash between traditional Mangonui powerhouse Awanui and two-time Bay of Islands champions Moerewa United Kawakawa at Awanui.
Moerewa UK were comfortable victors the last time the two sides met in 2018 but there were also concerns the Bay team was still coming to terms with failing to qualify for the Whanga¯rei-based Bayleys Premiership competition at the end of the 2018 campaign.
There’ll be no shortage of interest in the other games, particularly with Kaeo having returned from the abyss for their centennial celebrations and hosting Te Rarawa in round one.
The Ahipara club has reportedly undergone significant rejuvenation this season under new management and with several quality players returning.
Elsewhere, perennial cellar dwellers O¯ tiria host O¯ kaihau, the latter back to going it alone this season following the previous two years’ collaboration with the Taiamai O¯ haeawai club.
Likewise for O¯ haeawai in hosting Kaikohe in what will likely be a typically bruising Mid North derby.
In the other game Panguru is hosting Bell Shield holders (x2) Eastern in an all-Mangonui derby and classic East vs West clash.
The visitors by all accounts have enjoyed a very strong preseason campaign, having started training in December and enjoying strong player turnouts since.
Kaitaia City get the bye in the opening round. All games are due to kick off at 2.30pm.
The first round of the North Zone competition will wind up in late May, followed by round two where the 11 teams will be split into top six/ bottom five with the semis and finals tentatively scheduled for late July.
Teams will then return to their respective sub unions to compete for domestic honours — Mangonui’s Bell Shield and the Bay of Islands championship — although the format for that was still being ironed out at edition time.
The Robbie Ball Memorial subunion challenge between Mangonui and Bay rep sides will also feature in the season’s equation.
As always, match reports, results and updated standings from the North Zone will feature in each Tuesday edition of the Northland Age for the duration of the season.
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The other Far North club involved in senior competition this season is Kerikeri, which is back with two teams in the Bayleys Premiership (A and reserve grades). Both sides’ seasons start on Saturday, March 23, with an away trip to Hora Hora.
■ While every effort will be made to contact coaches for all of the above-mentioned teams, to guarantee inclusion in the Tuesday edition write-up and maintain the team’s profile, each club was encouraged to submit a brief match report featuring the result and how the game went, along with try scorers and standout players as well as any yellow or red cards issued to sports@northlandage.co.nz