Many changes to club coaching ranks in 2013

The excitement is building.

With just under a week to go before the start of the 2013 Wellington Premier club rugby season, Club Rugby details below the changes to the coaching ranks for the year ahead.

Changes this year include several coaches moving to other clubs, some returning and others taking up the reins for the first time.Of the 12 Premier clubs, just four - Hutt Old Boys Marist, Rimutaka, Wainuiomata and the Wests Roosters - enter the new season with the same core coaching panel as last year.

Three out of four of last year’s Jubilee Cup semi-finalists have new coaches. After one season at the helm of Northern United, Ross Bond and Okesene Moananu have been replaced by Thomas Perenara and Shane Pihema who co-coached Norths’ second XV Hardham Cup team last year.

2003 Poneke Jubilee Cup winning coach, Bond teams up with Brendan Reidy at Marist St. Pat’s this year. Reidy previously coached the MSP Premiers from 2005-2007 and has been coaching the St Pat’s Town First XV side since. The pair take over from Clayton McMillan and Murray Tocker who both stood down at the end of last season after guiding their team to winning the Jubilee Cup.

2011 Oriental-Rongotai Jubilee Cup winning coach Phil Proctor and his assistant Mike Brodie stepped down from the Polo Ground posting last year, replaced by Sandy McConnell (Upper Hutt head coach 2011-2012), Gus Slade and Steve Cavanagh.

Proctor, along with former Hurricanes utility back Shannon Paku, has joined head coach Paddy Gough at Old Boys-University.

Hardham Cup champions Poneke enter the new season with Shane McClure and Sam Rasch in charge, after a disjointed season coaching-wise in 2012 and the loss mid-season of their CCO Inoke Afeaki to a posting in Singapore.

Matthew Boyd and Steven Burrage have joined player-coach Steve So’oialo at Tawa. Incumbent Wests Roosters coaches Jason Adamson and Katsu Takeuchi are joined by former Wests head coach Okesene Moananu, returning from Norths.

In the Hutt Valley, defending Swindale Shield champions Hutt Old Boys Marist welcome back Matt Lee and Justin Wilson. Frank Rees and Tom Martin have been replaced by club stalwarts and 100-game veteran players Peter Green and John Cleland at Petone. Mike Woolett will look to guide the Wainuiomata Premiers to the Jubilee Cup playoffs again.

Up the Valley, Ray McDonald and Rangi Kelly return to mentor Rimutaka, who are boosted by new Club Coaching Coordinator Felipe Rayasi who joins the club after several seasons in that role at HOBM.

Upper Hutt’s new head Premier coach Nathan Williams coached the Upper Hutt second XV last year, helping them to earn promotion from Senor 2 to Senior 1 mid-season. Last year’s Upper Hutt assistant coach Logan Ili was to help Williams but he is now coaching the Tawa Senor 1 team. Tiny Graham takes over from Ili helping Williams at Upper Hutt.

Other notable coaching appointments include former first five-eighth and goal kicking sharp shoorter Corey Burt joining the clipboard ranks of Johnsonville’s Senior 1 team as they strive for re-promotion to the Swindale Shield for 2014, and former All Blacks and recent Super Rugby breakaway Scott Waldrom returning to help coach Avalon as they too hope to re-enter the Premier ranks. Waldrom joins his father Tony and Aaron Jones at Fraser Park.

Newly promoted Senior 1 team Wellington Axemen will hope to continue their resurgence with Tracy Smith and Richard Deck on board. Alphonso Parsens coaches Paremata-Plimmerton and Rangi Karehana coaches Stokes Valley.

Some First XV college coaching changes include Wellington Pride coach Damien Rapira-Davies taking over from Reidy at St. Pat’s Town, Dave Meaclam leading the team at Rongotai College and newly appointed New Zealand Secondary Schools coach Earl Va’a re-taking the reins of Scots College.

The first round of Premier Swindale Shield, Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield and Senior 2 National Mutual Cup matches are this Easter Monday, 1 April. Swindale Sheld Starting XVs will be named on the Draws & Results section of this website on Friday. ?

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