Spotlight on Southland Sport: Friday Edition
Enjoy your Friday Southland sports read.
Welcome to The Southland Tribune’s Spotlight on Sport: Friday Edition offering. We’ll be back with our Sunday Sports Special in a couple of days.
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Club Cricket: How do the five ILT Premier League teams stack up?
Saturday marks day one of the 2023-2024 Southland club cricket season. Five teams will this season contest the ILT Premier League competition. The Metropolitan Cricket Club - for the first time in 33 years - is not fielding a team in the senior competition. We take a look at just how the five teams are shaping up for what is expected to be another intriguing summer of cricket. (READ MORE HERE).
Top jockey important factor in owners' success
Invercargill car dealer Tom Kilkelly and wife Julie and Queenstown lawyer Alan Harper and his wife Kerry have won 30 races with horses campaigned from Jo Dalton's stable in the past eight years. (READ MORE HERE).
Southland Sharks in box seat for playoff…
The Southland Sharks have put themself in a strong position for a push for a third straight National 3x3 Cup title.
The Sharks are looking to make it three straight national titles in the shortened basketball format with the 2023 tournament be playing at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill this week.
There are 14 teams in the men’s competition and through 10 games to date the Sharks have a seven-win three-loss records.
In this year’s format the top six teams go straight to Saturday’s quarterfinals, while teams placed seven through to 10 will playoff for the other two quarterfinal spots.
Makes sense? Hope so.
The women’s competition is made up of 10 teams, which includes the Southland Storm.
The Storm has a one-win four-loss record heading into a big day three of action today (Friday).
The morning session will start at 11am and the evening session at 6pm
Stags wing off to the US…
Pacy Southland Stags winger Michael Manson has signed to play for the Utah Warriors in the United States Major League Rugby competition.
Manson impressed as a finisher during the 2023 NPC season with the Stags, although he did miss the later rounds through injury.
The timing of the US season means Manson will be able to return for the 2024 NPC season in New Zealand.
Although it will be a blow for his Invercargill club Blues. Manson was immense for Blues in this year’s Southland club rugby competition.
Magic Moment: Filling the podium at New Zealand Championships
Southland athletics has produced many magical moments so as part of a Tribune series we are recalling some of them. Today we turn the clock back to 2009 and remember when Southland filled all three spots on the podium at the New Zealand Track & Field Championships. (READ MORE HERE).
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(Out & About)
Southland Sports Car Club 75th celebrations
Many tales will be told and memories rekindled as those with an association with the Southland Sports Car Club over the course of its 75-year history gather in Invercargill this weekend.
Activities commence with a meet and greet at the Clubrooms at Teretonga Park in Invercargill today (Friday) from 7pm where photos and a slide show will be on display while the latest chapter of the club’s history will be launched in the form of a book covering the period 2007-2023, complementing previous books on the club’s history – Teretonga 25, 40 Sporting Years and Going Round In Circles.
Tomorow is a full day, beginning at Teretonga Park from 8.30am. A Standing ¼ will be held throughout the morning followed by a BBQ lunch and circuit laps in the afternoon. A display of members race cars from yesteryear will also be held.
That evening a Celebration Dinner will be held at the Ascot Park Hotel with doors opening from 5.30pm and a special guest speaker to mark the club’s milestone.
(On the Couch)
Rugby World Cup final - 8am, Sunday - Sky Sport
Get yourself a cooked breakfast sorted and settle in to watch our man Ethan de Groot line up for the All Blacks in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final against South Africa.
There will be plenty in Southland watching on proudly.
In case you missed it…
The making of an All Black: There’s an Ethan de Groot story I do enjoy retelling. It dates back to his schoolboy days. He had attended Gore High School before joining Southland Boys’ High School for his final year at school in 2016 de Groot was playing for the Southland Boys’ first XV at the Les George Oval on the outskirts of Invercargill. (READ MORE HERE).
Alonzo Burton: “I’ll be honest, I didn’t think I’d be living down here. It’s a great community, the people are really good here and I really enjoy it. I quite like it down here, it’s a good change of pace. It has all the facilities I need down here.” (READ MORE HERE).
