Spotlight on Southland Sport: Friday Edition
Plenty of sport to delve into in this week's Spotlight on Sport: Friday Edition. Enjoy the read.
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Covid-19 hits NSW Swifts ahead of Invercargill visit…
The NSW Swifts have been forced to into a major squad reshuffle ahead of this weekend’s pre-season trip to Invercargill due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the main playing group. (READ MORE)
Stags start march towards 2023 NPC….
A Rugby Southland high performance group has been formed to prepare for this year’s Stags and Southland B programmes.
The high-performance group announcement offered up a few interesting insights, including the fact Tasman’s 2022 under-19 player the year Olly Lawson has made the move to Southland for a crack.
The looseforward will line up for Marist in club rugby.
The high-performance announcement also confirmed speculation in the off-season that Stags flanker Matt James would shift from Woodlands and link with Pirates-Old boys for the 2023 Galbraith Shield season.
2022 Stags Rookie of the Year Viliami Fine has been locked in for the 2023 NPC campaign and will play club rugby in Southland.
Naturally the strong outside back fielded interest from various clubs but it seems Woodlands has landed his services.
Another inclusion in the high-performance group is halfback Liam Howley who was not part of the group in 2022.
The high-performance group doesn’t include players overseas or Super Rugby players.
2022 Shark eyes shot at NBA….
2022 Southland Sharks guard Mojave King is one of 28 players named to take part in the NBA’s Rising Stars games which will take place on Friday, February 17 as part of NBA All-Star 2023.
The player pool consists of 11 NBA rookies, 10 second-year NBA players and seven NBA G League players. Twenty-year-old King is one of the seven G League players.
The 21 NBA players will be drafted onto three seven-player teams. The seven NBA G League players, selected by the league office, will comprise the fourth team.
King was named the Southland Sharks’ MVP in what was a challenging season for the club.
While we are on the topic of the Sharks - season tickets went on sale this week for the 2023 NBL season starting in April.
Jefferies Cup here we come….
The Southland senior men’s softball team has been selected to contest the Jefferies Cup in Christchurch on February 11-12:
The team: Jimmy Affleck, Hunter Barlow, Timothy Campbell, Braeden Heslip, Thomas Jennings, Kiahn Johnson, Daniel Perry, Dylan Richardson, Joshua Richardson, Scott Sinclair, Kaemyn Smith, Te Kaanu Te Huia, Aaron Wakelin
Coach: Danny Shayler - Assistant Coach: Dave Steel - Manager: Kieran O'Connor.
Give it heaps lads.
National para bowls selection for Southlander….
Waverley Park bowler Julie O’Connell has been selected in the New Zealand Para Bowls team for the upcoming Multi-Nations in Australia.
O’Connell, who has been consistently performing at a national level, including a win in the national para pairs with Carolyn Crawford last year, narrowly missed selection for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. However, the Southlander will now be given an opportunity to show her wares on the international stage.
The Multi Nations will take place on the Gold Coast between 25-31 March 2023.
All the best Julie.
Southland’s Davis Cup connection….
Invercargill-based Jason McKenzie, who has built up an extensive experience in sports psychology, will help the New Zealand men’s tennis team at its Davis Cup tie against Bulgaria in Christchurch this weekend.
McKenzie has worked across multiple sports, including attending the Olympic Games in Tokyo last year as part of New Zealand support team.
Tennis New Zealand - whose CEO is former Southern Steel boss Julie Paterson - is the latest to tap into McKenzie’s knowledge.
NZ v BULGARIA
Match Day 1: Saturday
12:20pm: Singles match 1 followed by singles match 2
Match Day 2: Sunday
11am: Doubles match, followed by singles match 3, followed by singles match 4 (if required).
The Davis Cup tie can be viewed on Sky Sport.
Keep an eye on….
Rugby Southland has selected a group of young players for the “Ralph Moir Limited Rugby Southland Musters”. The three-day event will be held in Winton, Gore and Invercargill from February 13th to 15th, and will provide a platform for schools to showcase their most promising U16- U18 male and female players.
Rugby Southland pathways manager Scott Eade will be leading the musters.
The players: Sam Robson, Lachlan Cameron, Riley Byrne, Tom Smith, Declan Dudin, Riley Elder, Kaydin Mansfield, Charlie Robson, Ryan Lane, James Chaloner, Nate Corbett, Josh Wairau, Connor Macrae, Case Neylon, Jackson Hitchcock, Raff Cowie, Lachie Elder, Brayden Bevin, George McRae, Josh Lowe, Cody Lowe, Jacob Best, Archie Bryan, Kieran Hoyle, Cruze Wech, Jah dae Wepa, McKenzie Findlay, Jack Montgomerie, Kieran Blatch, Carlin Gold, Matthew Menlove, Jono Watson, Blake Howes Kollat, Aniska de Klerk, Brooke Scott, Charlotte Strachan, Dakota Wilton, Fiona Van der Poel, Grace Duthie, Hannah Norris, Iesha Haora, Jay Egerton, Olivia Gill, Shayla Payne, Talia Otene, Mira Matthews, Erin Bath, Maddison Wech, Emma McCallum, Taylor Elder.
The Sporting Weekend…..
(Out & About)
Big time netball arrives in Invercargill this weekend with three preseason games involving some international stars.
Sunday 2pm: Southern Steel v NSW Swifts
Monday, 2pm: Central Pulse v NSW Swifts
Tuesday, noon: Southern Steel v Central Pulse
(On The Couch)
Get the beverage cooled and settle in and watch Southland’s Brendon Leitch line up in the 2023 New Zealand Grand Prix meeting at Hampton Downs this weekend.
Leitch will be one of 20 drivers taking part.
The 67th running of the race - postponed last year due to pandemic travel restrictions – boasts a full international field of drivers including some of the best rising stars in the world.
The race will be the fourth round of this year’s 2023 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship.
Coverage starts on Sky Sport at 10am on Saturday and 8.30am Sunday.
From the Archives….
This weekend won’t be Leitch’s first time lining up in a New Zealand Grand Prix race, in 2021 he had the unique opportunity to race against older brother Damon in the NZ Grand Prix.
Checkout this story I put together for The Southland Times/Stuff in 2021 outling the special moment for the family.
Get in touch….
If you have something you think is worth featuring in either our Friday or Sunday Spotlight on Sport editions, please get in touch. NOTE: Please provide as much detail as possible to help us collate everything at this end. Email logan@southlandtribune.com
In case you missed it….
Southland’s favourite Aussie: ILT Stadium Southland was where former Australian international netballer Natalie Avellino played some of her best netball with the Southern Sting. Avellino is now back at the venue with another team in a new role. (READ MORE).
Steel captain named: Congrats to Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit, the 2023 Southern Steel captain.
The Steel has confirmed Selby-Rickt will lead its 2023 ANZ Premiership campaign in which she is expected to notch up her 200th game in New Zealand’s elite domestic netball league.
She will be supported by Kate Heffernan as vice-captain, along with Sam Winders and George Fisher in the leadership group.
“It is a huge honour to be named captain of a team like the Steel, especially when you reflect on our proud history and all of the incredible leaders who have been in this role for me to take inspiration from,” Selby-Rickit says.
