Bluff club revived for senior competition

Bluff are back, making a welcome return with a team entered in Southland’s senior club competition starting on Sunday.

The port town previously had a stand-alone league team and more recently had joined with the Cooks to make a combined side.

However, the Cooks went back to a stand-alone team and Bluff found themselves in the rugby league wilderness.

Former Cooks player and coach Mike Lemalie, who lives in Bluff, said a group of young guys had approached him about helping them reinstate rugby league in Bluff. Lemalie agreed to coach the team if enough players could be found.

The players have been found and they are now looking forward to representing Bluff against He Tauaa in round one on Sunday.

Lemalie said the community had got behind the team and they had raised $3000 to get a new playing kit which he hoped would arrive in time for Sunday’s game.

He said they had picked up several players who had never previously had a crack at the 13-man code, with five players from Bluff’s senior rugby team set to back up after rugby on Saturday.

Sonny Rangitoheriri, Mark Nanai and Matt Birch have also transferred from the 2012 championship-winning Cooks to play for the Bluff team. Lemalie said that with several players working on fishing boats out of Bluff, it would put a strain on player depth when they were away, but he was confident they would put in a good showing in Bluff’s first season back.

‘‘We’ve got a whole lot of young guys, a whole lot of guys that haven’t played league before that are willing to give it a go, and we’ve got some old hands with a bit of experience. We’re looking at being a cup contender. I’m not really worried about our attack – it’s just as long as we can defend.’’

Bluff’s reinstatement comes hard on the heels of a couple of success stories in Southland rugby league circles in the past two seasons.

In 2011, the Lonestar Cowboys were formed and in their first year were crowned Southland club champions.

Last season brought the introduction of the Mataura Warriors, and, while they didn’t match the Cowboys, they did make a major statement, leading for a good chunk of the competition before being beaten in the semifinals.

Lemalie shifted from Wellington to Southland 11 years ago and was encouraged by the introduction of new teams to the competition.

He said when he first arrived there was eight club teams but that had dropped to four at one stage before the latest resurgence.