Opinion: One of Southland rugby's most important signings in 20 years
Sean Withy’s signing is more than just adding another quality loose forward to the mix. It is Rugby Southland putting a stake in the ground in its quest to bring Southlanders back home.
OPINION: Here’s a somewhat humorous story I was told from many years ago to set the scene.
A bunch of Southland mates had had a big New Year’s Eve in Central Otago. They woke up on the morning of January 1 in a garage very dusty.
It was pre-Facebook and smartphones.
One stood up, shook himself off, started to put his shoes on, and headed for the door.
Another quizzed him about what he was up to.
“I’m going to the shop to get a Southland Times and check if there are any new Stags signings,” he stated, much to the humour of others.
I’m in my 20th year writing stories about the Stags, and one thing I do know is the diehards love a good signing story. Especially one with a bit of excitement attached.
On Thursday Rugby Southland confirmed it has signed Highlanders looseforward Sean Withy on a three-year deal.
I’m going to make a pretty bold statement but hear me out. During those 20 years writing about the Stags, I don’t think Rugby Southland has made a more important signing than that of Withy.
And that’s not a sentence that’s meant to lump a heap of pressure on Withy. Withy is a Super Rugby player on the up.
But it’s the statement that the signing makes which is why it is so important for the future of Southland rugby.
One of Southland’s best young products is willing to return home.
If you viewed the recruitment, simply with a “money-ball” type lens you’d probably have targeted elsewhere.
A lock, midfielder, or maybe a first five-eighth if the Stags were using its limited resources to chase a Super Rugby quality player.
Looseforward - where Withy plays - is an area where the Stags have unearthed some talent in the past year or two through the likes of Blair Ryall, Leroy Ferguson, and Hayden Michaels.
All will probably push a pretty compelling case for Super Rugby game time in the next year or two.
But Withy’s signing is more than just adding yet another quality loose forward to the mix.
It’s Rugby Southland putting a stake in the ground. It’s time to bring Southland’s best talent back home.
The organisation has struggled to hold on to some of that best talent over recent years. Withy has been one of the notable ones.
I recall a phone call in 2018 when long-time Southland Boys’ High School first XV coach Peter Skelt told me Withy was a player worth keeping an eye.
Withy captained the SBHS first XV at that time.
In fact, Skelt went as far as labelling him one of the best schoolboy players he’d coached. That’s with three decades of intel, it should be pointed out.
For the next five years or so I have kept an eye on Withy. The problem is it hasn’t been in a Southland jersey.
The Dipton lad shifted to Dunedin to study and play his rugby. He captained the Highlanders Under-20 team and went on to make his Super Rugby starting debut this year.
At 22-years-old he also captained Otago’s NPC team. All while Southland Stags fans wondered what could have been.
At the time of Withy’s departure there wasn’t really a mechanism for the Southland school leavers heading to Dunedin to study to remain aligned with Southland rugby.
On top of that - if we are brutally honest - there also wasn’t a culture surrounding the Stags setup that was all that appealing for the likes of Withy to want to stay.
Withy’s decision to now return to Southland is the sort of endorsement the Stags need in its quest to bring more talent back home and retain those already in the province.
Its why Rugby Southland went hard to get him back and why I made that comment that this signing is one of the Stags’ most important in 20 years.
Welcome home Sean Withy.