Sav's Sidelines: 2024 Southland Stags season review
Sav's Sidelines - the weekly column that looks at all things Southland rugby, from the grassroots to the professional game.
This week’s Sav’s Sidelines is all about reviewing the Southland Stags’ 2024 NPC season which includes looking at the top performers, a problematic position, unexpected game breaker, the best 2024 storylines, and the best and worst performances.
The season record…
In 2023 the Stags scored 197 points in attack across their 10 games. In 2024 they scored 248 in 10 games. The 37 tries scored was the most by any Southland team in the first division.
Last year the Stags let in 229 in 10 games in defence, in 2024 they conceded 312.
In 2023 Southland won one of 10 games and finished 14th out of 14 teams. In 2024 it won three games to finish 12th.
THE RESULTS
Round 1: v Otago - 21-13 WIN
Round 2: v Hawke’s Bay - 31-17 loss
Round 3: v Taranaki - 39-24 loss
Round 4: v Northland - 31-26 WIN
Round 5: v Wellington - 36-12 loss
Round 6: v Canterbury - 41-29 loss
Round 7 (Roar Week 1): v Manawatu - 26-21 loss
Round 7 (Roar Week 2): v Auckland - 27-19 loss
Round 8: v Waikato - 38-14 loss
Round 9: v North Harbour 59-35 WIN
Top five performers…
Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa: Tupou Ta’eiloa last year played nine games - eight from the bench - as he dipped his toes into NPC rugby.
Twelve months on at just 20-years-old Tupou Ta’eiloa has become an established provincial rugby player in the Stags No 8 jersey. He was a powerful presence with the ball in hand throughout the season and has made improvements in his work rate.
Isaac Te Tamaki: The midfielder had a strong 2024 season for the Stags playing an important leadership role on his return to Southland and backed it up with impressive on-field performances, particularly in defence.
He played in all 10 games and wasn’t subbed once showcasing his durability through the nine-week campaign.
Sean Withy: Withy was the key off-season signing and made his mark early on with a dominant performance in the round one win over Otago. The looseforward has carried a big workload this season starting in all but one game, which was the third fixture in 10 days.
Michael Manson: Like Ryall, Manson missed the first half of the season with a hamstring injury. But in recent weeks the wing has shown just what the Stags were missing through his ability to create and finish opportunities through his blistering pace. Manson has also made improvements in his defensive game.
Blair Ryall: Unfortunately, Ryall’s 2024 season was hindered by injury which saw him miss four of the first five games of the season. However, Ryall picked up where he left off in the second half of the season and was instrumental in bringing some athleticism to the forward pack and provided a key cog in attack, defence, and at lineout.
Unexpected gamebreaker…
Faletoi Peni initially joined the Stags on a four-week trial before the start of the NPC season.
By round one, Peni was a late call up to the Stags bench when Michael Manson suffered a hamstring a couple of days out from the season opener against.
Then, inside the first minute against Otago, Matt Whaanga injured his hamstring and Peni was thrust into the game. He impressed in the 22-13 victory over against Otago being Southland’s key asset in attack.
Peni has continued to show he is a player with real ability and was one of Southland’s main attacking threats in 2024.
He carries the ball strongly but also has a slick passing and kicking game to back that up.
Although it appears it will be up to Peni himself if he is to realise that potential long-term.
At this point, the 2022 and 2023 Auckland club rugby player of the year probably has only 40-odd strong minutes in him at the NPC level before the Stags coaches have had to go looking for a replacement.
The problematic position…
The Southland Stags have used seven players at first five-eighth in 20 games during the past two seasons. That stat alone probably highlights a key problem area for the Stags.
Since Marty Banks was named Southland Stags player of the year in 2021 no one has settled into the all-important Stags No 10 jersey.
Banks struggled with a groin injury and faded at the back end of his Stags days, Greg Dyer was in and out of the job before being overlooked this year, and Dan Hollinshead was brought in last year but didn’t take charge when he got the chance.
Hollinshead was set to return for another go 2024 - and by all accounts was playing well in the United States in the lead-up to the NPC - but he suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Youngster Byron Smith has been given the most opportunities in the No 10 jersey this season. He has played in all 10 games with six of those as a starter.
While Smith has shown glimpses of his skills in attack and is still young in terms of an NPC player, he hasn’t yet proved to be the person to manage a game for the Stags and probably has some work to do defensively.
Former Melbourne Rebels player Jake Strachan spent a bit of time at first five-eighth but played mostly as a fullback, while Jason Robertson was handed a couple of starts and also wasn’t the game manager the Stags needed.
Kaea Nikora Balloch was the fourth first five-eighth used in 2024 but got just the 20 minutes off the bench against North Harbour.
Otago’s Cameron Millar was the obvious target for Southland to try to solve the No 10 problem.
Millar is a Gore lad and there was some hope he might want to return to his provincial roots and Rugby Southland could snag his signature.
However, it’s understood has Millar has resigned with Otago and Southland will have to look at other options.
The five best 2024 storylines…
RECORD BREAKER: Josh Bekhuis recording breaking 144th game for the Southland Stags is probably a contender for the storyline of the year for the past decade, rather than just this season.
Bekhuis surpassed Jason Rutledge who had held record for most Southland appearances since 2012. Prior to that Gerald Dermody had held the record since 1977.
Bekhuis’ mark may never be beaten given the limited games now played in modern-day provincial rugby.
To add to the occasion the Stags turned in one of Southland rugby’s more remarkable performances against North Harbour with a 59-35 victory.
AB’S RETURN: September 13 was a special night providing Southland the chance to celebrate one of its success stories.
All Black prop Ethan de Groot lined up for the Stags against Canterbury in what was his first NPC fixture for Southland since 2020.
Southlanders are naturally proud of what the lad from Gore has done given he has progressed to become an established All Black with 28 tests to his name since 2021.
As a bonus de Groot played a second game for the Stags in 2024 against North Harbour on Saturday.
7300 CROWD: The largest crowd in many years showed up at Rugby Park in Invercargill on August 8 for the Stags Day Southland-Otago.
It was a wonderful celebration of the provincial game which has had a fair share of critics line up for a potshot in recent years. It wasn’t just a large crowd but also a vocal and passionate one. To add to the occasion the Stags won to claim the Donald Stuart Memorial Trophy.
WITHY’S HOMECOMING: The 2024 season was a homecoming for flanker Sean Withy which is hoped will help in the quest to retain Southland talent for the Stags in the future.
Withy was one of Southland rugby’s more exciting talents when captained Southland Boys’ High School before heading to Dunedin to study and play his provincial rugby for Otago.
However, he returned to Southland this year and his Stags debut coincided with a special victory over Otago.
TETAI TROPHY: The Southland Stags had a special piece of cargo when they returned from Whangarei to Invercargill following a win over Northland this season.
The Stags trailed 26-7 at halftime before producing one of Southland rugby’s greatest comebacks to win 31-26.
Most importantly the victory meant the Heta (Peter) Te Tai Trophy was won by Southland for the first time since the trophy was introduced in 2022.
Best team performance…
v North Harbour - 59-35 win
The Southland Stags saved the best for last when they demolished North Harbour 59-35 at Bekhuis Park in Invercargill.
Southland ran up a remarkable 40 points inside the first half hour of the game and led 47-7 at halftime. It included a first half hat-trick to hooker Jack Taylor.
It was the breakout performance the Stags had been threatening to deliver all season.
Worst team performance
v Manawatu - 26-21 loss
You might be able to put up an argument that the Wellington showing could win this category given some of the option-taking in that game.
But Southland is a better team on paper than Manawatu and that was a game where the Stags needed to show a ruthless streak to put the Turbos away. It didn’t happen.
Southland dominated early in the game but didn’t convert opportunities into points. The Stags did lead 21-7 at one point but leaked 26 points in a disastrous 30-minute period to slump to a 26-21 loss to bottom-of-the-table Manawatu.
For 20 minutes of those 30 minutes, Southland played with 14 players after wing Viliami Fine was shown a red card for a tackle that went wrong.
Good season, but need to win those they let slip away and keep the players who shone in stags jerseys and not slip away to a more cashed up region.
Keep the squad together for couple seasons and should get the results to play finals maybe even contest.