After six and a bit months, the winter sports season has finally come to an end with Copthorne Wairarapa Bush’s Lochore Cup semifinal loss to West Coast.
So, without further ado, it’s time to scan over a few of the highs, the lows, and other bits and pieces of an intriguing winter season.
The Three Waters Award
Water, water, water! That’s what we got from the very start of the season in April, and in my 30-plus years covering sports in the region, I cannot recall a wetter winter.
Greytown’s Soldiers Memorial Park turned into a quagmire, with Greytown football club members on one occasion spending most of a Friday before a game sweeping off the water, and Masterton’s Park Sports Ground was muddy, bumpy and not suitable for good football, to name only a couple of the grounds.
Team of the Winter
There are plenty of contenders here, starting with Wai Bush and their Lochore Cup semifinal appearance, a big step up from recent seasons, the Wai Bush women, who showed massive improvement for third in their North Island Heartland competition, and the Wairarapa Women’s Hockey team, who were third at the national tier two tournament.
Celtic United completed an unbeaten season in Holmes Construction Wairarapa Premier One Netball, and Tumu Douglas Villa won promotion to Capital Football Division One. Not to be outdone, Greyfriars Motel Greytown also did enough to earn a step up to Capital Football’s third division for next year, while Carterton lifted the ‘Moose’ Kapene Cup as Wai Bush rugby premier champs for the second year in a row.
Top of the crop, though, has to go to Farriers Dalefield for winning the Wellington Hockey Premier Women’s Championship, wrecking Northern United’s unbeaten season with a 3–2 win in a thrilling final. Their male counterparts fell short of glory, going down 7–5 in a bizarre high-scoring final with bitter rivals Hutt United.
Coach of the Season
Again, there are several contenders here and, not surprisingly, mostly linked with the previous category.
Mark Taylor [Douglas Villa], Phil Keinzley [Greytown AFC], Eleisha Clarkson [Celtic], Reece Robinson [Wai Bush], and Scott Collins [Wai Bush women and Wahine Toa] all deserve praise, but Mike “Mook” O’Connor and Katherine Reisima take the top gong for steering Dalefield to their Wellington title
Game of the Season
It’s hard to go past Carterton’s last-minute 29–26 win over Greytown in the ‘Moose’ Kapene Cup final with a penalty to Ben Brooking sealing a thriller when a draw and extra time looked on the cards.
For sheer guts and determination, though, the Wai Bush women take the chocolates, with captain Lisa Te Moananui scoring the match-winning try with time up in the North Island Heartland third-fourth playoff against Thames Valley.
Rising Stars
New Zealand Secondary School netball representative Sovaia Sabutu, Emma McLeod, who added a NZ U18 hockey cap to her age group national cricket honours, Maggie Shields, who also excels in two codes – netball and softball – the latter she will represent at this month’s World U15 Championships, Rathkeale first-five Will Cole named in the NZ U18 Maori Nga Whatukura Boys rugby squad, and flanker Xanthe Sommerville selected for the Hurricanes U18 development squad, just to name a few.
Score of the Season
Kate Donald’s brilliant 60m solo try against King Country. The flying fullback received the ball on her own 10m line, used her speed and swerve to breeze past three or four defenders, as well as a hair pull to score under the posts. It was one of, if not the best, individual try I can recall at the home of rugby.
Groundbreakers
Wairarapa Wahine Toa were constituted as only the second all-women’s rugby club in New Zealand and the only one in the North Island. The ambitious club also established its own facility at the Solway Showgrounds – a good venue, but a pity how the field quickly turns to mud with a small amount of rain.
What were they watching?
Wai Bush could feel rightly aggrieved with some of the officiating in their Heartland campaign.
The second half of the Horowhenua-Kapiti clash looked like it had started perfectly when halfback Isaac Bracewell strolled through a big gap to score. Initially awarded, the referee then bizarrely and incorrectly changed the call on the advice of the assistant ref because of obstruction. Instead of 21–7 down, Wai Bush were soon trailing 24-0 and game over.
Then, in last Saturday’s semifinal against West Coast, with Wai Bush hot on attack and down 33–27 with five to go, second-five Tafa Tafa was taken out off the ball by a no-arms tackle. Despite the ref being right there on the spot, he took no action, and the rest is history. It was a poor miss, and that was backed up by the “offender” being reported to NZ Rugby for his actions and potentially facing a disciplinary hearing.
It makes me wonder, though, why is our top whistleblower, Alistair Payne, not on the Heartland panel. He is demonstrably better than most, if not all, of the whistlers I have seen, and most importantly, he has a great feel for the game and will make the crucial calls at the crucial times.
The Concerns
The state of premier club rugby. Three or four of the eight teams regularly struggled to name a full squad, with one team starting a game with 12, which is not a good look. There are plenty of questions to be asked and some difficult decisions to be made by the Council of Clubs. One can only hope the right calls are made for the good of the game and not just for the club each delegate is representing.
Thank You
Finally, big thank yous to all the coaches, players, managers, administrators, officials, and everyone else I have pestered, prodded and chased over the season. You make my job so much easier. Enjoy the summer off! a hair pull to score under the posts. It was one of, if not the best, individual try I can recall at the home of rugby.
Groundbreakers
Wairarapa Wahine Toa were constituted as only the second all-women’s rugby club in New Zealand and the only one in the North Island. The ambitious club also established its own facility at the Solway Showgrounds – a good venue, but a pity how the field quickly turns to mud with a small amount of rain.
What were they watching?
Wai Bush could feel rightly aggrieved with some of the officiating in their Heartland campaign.
The second half of the Horowhenua-Kapiti clash looked like it had started perfectly when halfback Isaac Bracewell strolled through a big gap to score. Initially awarded, the referee then bizarrely and incorrectly changed the call on the advice of the assistant ref because of obstruction. Instead of 21–7 down, Wai Bush were soon trailing 24-0 and game over.
Then, in last Saturday’s semifinal against West Coast, with Wai Bush hot on attack and down 33–27 with five to go, second-five Tafa Tafa was taken out off the ball by a no-arms tackle. Despite the ref being right there on the spot, he took no action, and the rest is history. It was a poor miss, and that was backed up by the “offender” being reported to NZ Rugby for his actions and potentially facing a disciplinary hearing.
It makes me wonder, though, why is our top whistleblower, Alistair Payne, not on the Heartland panel. He is demonstrably better than most, if not all, of the whistlers I have seen, and most importantly, he has a great feel for the game and will make the crucial calls at the crucial times.
The Concerns
The state of premier club rugby. Three or four of the eight teams regularly struggled to name a full squad, with one team starting a game with 12, which is not a good look. There are plenty of questions to be asked and some difficult decisions to be made by the Council of Clubs. One can only hope the right calls are made for the good of the game and not just for the club each delegate is representing.
Thank You
Finally, big thank yous to all the coaches, players, managers, administrators, officials, and everyone else I have pestered, prodded and chased over the season. You make my job so much easier. Enjoy the summer off!
