Pirates Old Boys team to beat as club games kick off
Defending champions Pirates Old Boys shape as the team to beat in 2024.
The 2023 Galbraith Shield winners have again assembled an impressive squad with the majority of last year’s team returning.
With coach Mike McKenzie stepping into a role with Rugby Southland, former Midlands coach Dayna Cunningham has been handed the keys to the premier side.
Greg Dyer, Jaye Thompson and Kaea Nikora-Balloch will be the orchestrators in the backline, while expect former Southland Stags flanker Matt James to get through a power of work, following a season in Western Australia.
A major loss is former Stags midfielder Isaac Te Tamaki, who is now in France after guiding the side to the title in 2023.
Star is another team to have taken on a new coach, with former Stag Brayden Mitchell taking over. While his brother Morgan Mitchell has moved back to the Eastern Northern Barbarians, they’ve offset his loss somewhat by recruiting Jack Sexton, who was called into the Stags late in the 2023 provincial season.
There is a host of other names that have turned up at Star in what has been a busy off-season for the blue-and-white hoops.
Outside back Johnny Vaili, a former Samoan 7s player, has joined Star with the hope of cracking the Stags.
Woodlands have picked up a couple of handy recruits and will no doubt be there at the crunch time of the season.
Two players they may see little of are loose forward Blair Ryall, who was injured playing for the Highlanders development side, and fullback Rory Van Vugt, who is playing in the United States.
With Conor McLeod out injured, Woodlands halfback Liam Howley will be looking for a big season to secure himself a Stags jumper.
The Eastern Northern Barbarians have assembled a strong squad and under the continued guidance of Bretton Taylor, they should be close to the title, come finals time.
Mitchell has returned from Star, while Stags loose forwards Jacob Coghlan and Leroy Ferguson will form a formidable combination and have some flair in the backline which should help them score plenty of tries.
It could be a difficult campaign for Marist, who have had a host of players move on including prop Shaun Stodart, who is now based in Te Anau. Outside back Curtis Tarrant has returned from a break and adds more than 100 games of experience, while they have a new coaching team in Derek Manson, Regan Wilson and Josh Sutherland.
Blues have nabbed Kepu Suli from Pirates Old Boys. However, they’re without try-scoring machine Michael Manson, who is playing in the United States, as is halfback Jay Renton.
Prop Ben Soper has returned and will form a formidable front row with Stags hooker Jacob Payne and fellow prop and Blues stalwart Michael Peterson.
Action sees Woodlands host Blues this evening, while Marist welcome Star to Miller St and Eastern Northern Barbarians tackle Pirates Old Boys in Gore.