Chance for young guns to impress at MSP this year

The loss of several prominent and long-serving players for part of or all of the season provides the opportunity for a new wave of young players to make their marks on Wellington Premier rugby in 2012 says Marist St. Pat's co-coach Murray Tocker.

Tocker, who has been involved with MSP's top sides since he started playing for the Premiers in 1978, says that while the club has lost several key players to retirement, overseas and injury, there's a number of up and coming players at the club hoping to make the step up.

"I'd say this is the youngest MSP team I've ever been involved with," he explains. "So looking ahead over the next one, two and three years it's going to be a great opportunity for some of these young boys to come through the system, take their chances and force their way towards higher honours."

First some bad news. Players gone include captain and lock Nick Passi (moved to Sydney for work), No. 8 Jesse Acton (returned to the Bay of Plenty), first five-eighth Trent Vatselias (moved to Perth), Anthony Bradshaw (retired) and Jamie Parkinson (injury).

Losing the experienced Parkinson is a blow. "We've just lost our tighthead prop Jamie Parkinson for the season with torn Achillles tendons. He was back training with us and looking outstanding but now he's out for the year."

"We've also lost last year's Billy Wallace Trophy Best and Fairest winner Liu Taituave for about a month with a medial knee ligaments injury."

Veteran Fa'atonu Fili may be available to play some games, but Tocker says that's not something they're counting on and if he plays that's a bonus. Likewise halfback Peter Sciascia, who is in Ireland and is expected back in May-June.

Now some good news. Anyone who watched first XV secondary school rugby last year will know the names of Andrew Wells (Wellington College) and Aviata Silago (St. Pat's Silversteam). Both are promising, goal kicking first five-eighths, and Silago can also play centre. Left footed Silago kicked the match winning penalty in Silverstream's one-point Traditional win over Wellington College last year.

As well as Wells and Silago, Tocker talks about Dan Turner, Donald Brighhouse and Declan McKeefry as three other players to watch.

"Dan Turner played a bit for us at lock last year and is in the Wellington training squad at the moment, and has played overseas in Scotland and Japan. Young prop Donald Brighouse played some Premier rugby for us last year and is in the Wellington Academy. First five-eighth-Fullback Declan McKeefry comes to us from Wests who he has played well with over the past couple of seasons."

In the front row, he also made positive mention of hooker Ano Kapeli, who is coming back from a broken arm, and prop Arden David who will be MSP's captain this year.

2008-2010 MSP Premier coach and 2008 and 2009 Jubilee Cup winning coach, Tocker has returned to help coach the side after a year off, where he helped out as a technical advisor and mentor to several of the club's teams.

"I stepped back a bit last year - for the first year in 30 years I didn't coach or didn't play.

"I was keen to get back and work with these young guys who are coming through the system. I can see that we've got some promising boys there and I wanted to help out."

He joins second year Head Coach Clayton McMillan, who he says is a very promising young coach. "He's keen and he works really well with these young guys and it's good to be working with him."

McMillan is a former Bay of Plenty captain who also coached in Japan before joining MSP at the start of last season.

As a player, fullback-wing Tocker played a decade for MSP from 1978-1988 and won five Jubilee Cups with the club. He was part of the famous 1979 team that played through the season unbeaten that was captained by his future coaching partner Kevin Horan.

MSP finished sixth equal in the Swindale Shield last year - beating OBU 27-21 in the last round to ensure their Jubilee Cup Place - and fifth in the Jubilee Cup in their 40^th anniversary season

As well as fielding a young team, another point to note for their supporters is their tough first round draw. Four of their first six games are at home at Evans Bay Park, but four of their last five are away.

Then there's a tough run of four games in three and a half weeks that sees them play Norths at Porirua on 21 April, Poneke for the Horan-Millar Trophy at Evans Bay on Anzac Day (Wednesday), HOBM for the Father Cleary Trophy at the Hutt Recreation Ground on 28 April and defending Jubilee Cup champions Ories whom they lost twice to in 2011 at Evans Bay on 5 May.

Tocker says that the draw is not ideal. "We feel we've got a really difficult draw, particularly those four matches in a row, and it's going to test our depth enormously. We would've liked that to have been revisited, but we just have to do the best we can over this period."

?As well as the Premiers, MSP will be fielding teams in most other grades, including the Premier Women's and 85kg Division One grades, going in as defending champions in the latter.

The MSP Blues U85kg team twice defeated their arch rivals the Poneke Dogs of War in 2011 in hard fought, low scoring matches. Five of its members, captain and first five David Rice, prop Henry Fidow, hooker Matt Thomas, lock Sam Gundersen, and wing Jared Hammington, are playing in the Wellington under-85kg Centurions squad against New Zealand Barbarians U85 team in a match at Te Whaea this Saturday.

The New Zealand Barbarians U85 team features players from Auckland, North Harbour and Waikato. The game kicks off at 12.00pm on Saturday.

The 2012 Swindale Shield kicks off the following Saturday, 7 April, with MSP playing their season opener against OBU at Evans Bay Park.

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