The A-Z of Wellington Club Rugby for 2017

The 2017 Wellington club rugby season kicks of this coming Saturday with a full round of Premier Swindale Shield and Premier Reserve Harper Lock Shield fixtures, all at Maoribank and Awakarangi Parks in Upper Hutt.

Here is our second annual Club Rugby A-Z looking at the season ahead:

A: Axemen
Wellington’s oldest club has managed to make the Jubilee Cup for the past two years, a considerable achievement from where the club stood a mere six years ago as an also-ran in the third-tier. However after having finished eighth both times the need for Wellington to push for the playoffs is very real, and contend for that first title since their last all the way back in 1987.

B: Back-to-back
Repeating as champions in Wellington is a tough ask as - excluding the drawn final and shared title of 2008 - no one has managed it since Marist St Pat’s in 2001 and 2002. That will however be Tawa’s goal for 2017 as they go in search of a third title in six seasons and are likely to stay to the style of play that has brought them their recent success. Shaun Treeby’s knowledge of current top-level training and tactics brings an additional element to the side, and every side will know that visits to Lyndhurst Park are going to be difficult assignments.

C: College
It’s still over a month until college rugby gets underway but there’s already plenty of interest brewing. In the Premiership Wellington College will look to go back-to-back, while St Pat’s Town, Silverstream, and Scots will try to deny them that. However the latter two will have to go through qualifying having missed out on the top four at the hands of Rongotai and Wairarapa College respectively, with those two desperate to prove those weren’t flukes. There’ll also be intrigue over the expanded 10-team competition, and how those teams that qualify fare.

D: Directives
World Rugby’s edict on stronger sanctions for contact with the head has already been a talking point since their global introduction in January. While the message is simple and has already been conveyed to clubs, how players adapt and referees respond will undoubtedly be a topic of conversation in the weeks ahead.

E: Eastern Suburbs
Last year’s rugby powerbase was concentrated into the relatively small area of the eastern suburbs with all four clubs based east of the Mt Victoria tunnel – Wellington, Poneke, Marist St Pat’s, and Oriental-Rongotai – plus Old Boys-University immediately on the other side of it all – making the Jubilee Cup. Will that continue in 2017?

F: Fraser Park
Avalon hasn’t lifted Premier silverware since 2001 when they took home the Swindale Shield. Since then they’ve spent time out of the top flight, and much like their home ground of Fraser Park are in a state of redevelopment. The Wolves made a bright start last year holding Ories to a draw in the opening round and then stunning Wellington and Petone on their grounds, but fell away after that and ultimately missed out on the Hardham Cup playoffs. Can they sustain their challenge this season?

G: Glory Days
In the not too-distant past Norths were one of the strongest club sides going around anywhere, a dominant force that regularly tore opponents to shreds. The club has been in something of a malaise since that era with the production line of talent having seemingly dried up. The side should have qualified for the Jubilee Cup last year after a promising start, but back-to-back home losses to Wainuiomata and Tawa consigned them once again to the Hardham Cup. Making it back to the main show is the first goal, but that’ll be all the more difficult without the influential Jackson Garden-Bachop who is now with the Melbourne Rebels.

H: Hawks
It’s fair to say that 2016 was a struggle for Johnsonville who had to essentially rebuild their senior playing stocks after many left the club; lock Anthony Pettett was the only player who started both the 2015 Hardham Cup final and their opener last year. The Helston side won just once all season, beating OBU’s second side in the Hardham Cup, while conceding an average of 58 points per game. An improvement on that is a basic need for 2017.

I: Increase
While men’s player numbers seem to be an on-going concern, the Women’s game continues to grow on the back of the success of both the Black Ferns 7s and 15s sides. Locally it’s possible that as many as twelve sides could front this year, with both Petone and Paremata-Plimmerton entering sides for the first time in several seasons. Wainuiomata will defend their championship title, but will face challenges from the usual contenders in Norths, Oriental-Rongotai, and Old Boys-University while another team might also emerge from the pack; and all players will be looking to catch the eye of new Pride head coach Ross Bond.

J: Jubilee Cup
The Holy Grail has been played for since 1929 when it was claimed by University, and remains as keenly fought as ever. Testament to that is that Tawa were the first team this decade to claim it for a second time, having spent each of the previous few summers somewhere different. The final is obviously the high point of the season, but the 8 weeks before it host some of the best club rugby you’ll find anywhere.

K: Kelburn
Having taken their maiden title in 2015 the Old Boys-University Goats simply carried on in 2016 from where they left off, dropping just one game en route to the Swindale Shield. The bitter and controversial end to their Jubilee Cup defence will undoubtedly be motivation for this campaign, and have assembled one of the strongest squads in the province. Another change will be the return to Kelburn Park for the later part of the season with games on the Basin Reserve unlikely at this juncture.

L: Leavers
Each year there’s a new crop of college players eager to make their mark on Premier rugby. This year’s class include St Pats Town’s NZ Schools representatives Xavier Numia (Ories) and Billy Proctor (MSP), and Wellington College’s Barbarians player Reece Plumtree (OBU), though his season could be over already with a knee injury. The fourth Wellington selectee – Scots’ Connor Garden-Bachop – has headed south to Canterbury. Others from those squads include the highly touted Carlos Price (St Kents, now Petone), and Tim Farrell, Will Tremain (both Napier Boys), and Naera Tipoki (Gisborne Boys) (all OBU), while other familiar faces include Toka Sopoaga (Wellington College) who – following in his brother’s footsteps – also joins OBU, Rongotai pair Denny To’o and provincial 7’s rep Esi Komaisavai are with Norths, and U18 captain Jack Wright (Silverstream) will pull on Upper Hutt Rams colours.

M: Magpies
Oriental-Rongotai might be smaller than its two nearest rivals in the Eastern Suburbs, but seems to punch well above its weight. Holder of the longest current streak of consecutive Jubilee Cup playoff appearances at six, the club still has only that 2011 title to show for their efforts in that span. Armed with yet more talent from the local colleges, the push will be on to improve on that at the business end of the season.

N: Ngatitoa
Geographically Wellington’s northernmost club, Paremata-Plimmerton are looking to continue to establish themselves in the top-flight. Last year saw a small progression as they made the Hardham Cup semis, but like Johnsonville conceding points was an issue and in their case it often came against them in a hurry. Improving on that, and taking a ‘big-name’ scalp – as they nearly did last year against OBU – will be a major step in both the short and medium terms.

O: ‘Omata
Wainuiomata have been one of the constants of the Jubilee Cup round in recent years, but that maiden title has continued to elude them. The men from over the hill are established as difficult opponents who can and do beat anyone on their day, but perhaps struggle for week-to-week consistency. Expect them to be there at the business end of the season, but with their window of opportunity with their highly experienced playing group perhaps closing, is this their year?

P: Poneke
Conversely last year’s Jubilee Cup appearance was just the second for Poneke in the past five seasons, and even then they had to sweat on results elsewhere in the last round of the Swindale to avoid yet another season in the Hardham Cup. Getting back to being a perennial contender for the Kilbirnie side will be a priority, if not being a playoff contender, and building a series of performances as impressive as the new facility being built that they’ll be part of.

Q: Quick
The great Earle Kirton often said of all the things you could teach in rugby “you can’t teach gas”. Gas is certainly something the fastest flyers in Wellington club rugby have in abundance, so if speedsters like Paddy Hughes (Wellington), Ryan Saunders (MSP), Joe Hill (OBU), Malo Tuitama (Ories), Aleks Noble-Campbell (Petone), and Max Pearson and Salesi Rayasi (both Upper Hutt Rams) find themselves in space there’s a decent chance they’ll be winning the race to the tryline.

R: Rams
After five seasons where they have alternated between making the Jubilee Cup one year and then missing it the next, the Upper Hutt Rams will be keen to put an end to that this year and make sure they’re in the top 8 again. The Maidstone club has a clutch of youthful talent mixed with some experienced old heads, so perhaps just making it isn’t enough and there’s a real expectation of making the playoffs for the first time since 2005.

S: Scarlet
While June will see the arrival of one team wearing a scarlet jersey on these shores, another is a far more common sight on Wellington’s rugby fields. In the years following their 1970 formation Marist St Pat’s adopted the Lions strip as their own at what is said to have been a fiery club general meeting, and since then they’ve led the way in Jubilee Cup triumphs. The last two years have however ended on a down note, falling at the final hurdle to OBU and then Tawa. The Big Red Recruitment Machine has been in overdrive this year and they’ve assembled a powerful squad as they look like go that one step further this season.

T: Trophies
While the Jubilee Cup is the ‘ultimate prize’ it’s billed as and the Swindale Shield the reward for hard graft for more than half the season they aren’t the only trophies on offer. Throughout the lower grades trophies with names like the Harper Lock, Ed Chaney, Fleurs, Victoria Tavern, Thompson Memorial, Johnsonville Centennium, Paris Memorial, John E Kelly, JC Bowl, and Paul Potiki are competed for across the season, and the winners of those cherish those as much as those that win the ‘big’ ones.

U: Under 85’s
Wellington rugby’s most ‘niche’ grade, the lightweight competition has provided an outlet for smaller blokes since its introduction in the mid-90’s. Last season might have been the hardest fought in recent years in the grade, particularly in the top division where Wellington claimed the first round and Tawa defended its championship crown but only after three tight playoff contests. 2017 promises more of the same.

V: Villagers
Last year Petone suffered the ignominy (for them) of being relegated to the Hardham Cup for the first time since 1996 when a new professional competition called Super Rugby took most of their stars. Armed with a young, talented and maturing backline can the provinces most successful club revive their fortunes and end what is now the longest title drought in the clubs history? A better start than last year will be crucial to that with former All Black Graham Purvis taking the coaching reigns.

W: Woburn
Things weren’t much better across the Hutt River at Hutt Old Boys Marist. The 2014 Jubilee Cup and 2015 Swindale Shield winners crashed badly after those triumphs, winning just five of 21 matches across the next two half-seasons. Lifting the Hardham Cup against their great rivals provided some success, but like Petone they’re accustomed to much more in recent times. And as has become the norm they’ll begin their campaign with a run of matches away from their Hutt Rec ‘Nest’, with their first game at home their ‘Derby Day’ tilt against Marist St Pat’s on Anzac Day.

X: X-Factor
One thing Wellington has is a score of players who can do something special or inspirational on the field and have ‘it’ – whatever ‘it’ is. Some of these players have been doing it for many years, like MSP’s seemingly-ageless Fa’atonu Fili, Tawa’s James So’oialo, Petone’s Mateaki Kafetolu, OBU’s Tomasi Palu, and Upper Hutt’s Josh Hunt. Others – in addition to the flyers mentioned above – to keep an eye on include OBU’s Wes Goosen and Wainuiomata’s Peter Umaga-Jensen (both depending on their Hurricanes commitments), HOBM five-eighth Brandyn Laursen, Petone outside backs Jarrod Adams and Losi Filipo, Poneke midfielder Levi Harmon, loose forwards Mitchell Markov (Upper Hutt Rams), Sam Gard’ner (Wellington), and Tane McMillan-Parata (Paremata-Plimmerton), and a pair of dynamic front-rowers in NZ U20 players Asafo Aumua (Avalon) and Alex Fidow (Ories).

Y: Youth
While a number of school leavers jump straight to Premier (see ‘L’ above) the majority introduce themselves to senior rugby via the Colts grade. The sharp end – Division 1 – has been dominated by Old Boys-University’s Green in recent seasons, claiming a three-peat from 2012-14 and regaining the title last year. Hutt Old Boys Marist (in 2015) are the only ones to break that run, so will the young Goats reign supreme again in 2017 or will others emerge to challenge them?

Z: Zoom-lenses
Every week a hardy bunch venture out to capture the action on rugby fields all over the province, plenty of which we feature on our Facebook page. So to Dave Lintott, Russell ‘Chainsaw’ Potts, Hugh Pretorius, Mike Lewis,  Dave Brownlie, NZ Lenz, Stewart Baird, Masanori Udagawa, Andy McCarthur, Warwick Burke, Glen Innes and others; thanks for what you do for the local game.