Spotlight on Southland Sport: Sunday Special
The Southland Tribune does its best to wrap some key moments in the Southland sporting weekend. Enjoy.
Welcome to our Spotlight on Sport: Sunday Special, where we do our best to wrap up the Southland sporting weekend.
Super Rugby wrap (with a Southland eye-patch on)….
If Clarke Dermody wasn’t aware of the challenge ahead of him, he will now. In terms of firepower, the Highlanders are limited compared to other teams and also don’t have the depth. It’s going to take some good old fashion defensive resolve when responding to the 60-20 first up loss to the Blues.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom at Forsyth Barr on Saturday though. The South Island-based Matatū won its first ever Super Rugby Aupiki game when it held on to beat the Blues 33-31 in a thriller. Matatū featured a couple of Southland connections in Amy Rule and Amy du Plessis.
Which rugby marketing genius decided it would be a good idea to include the Highlanders-Crusaders derby as part of “Super Round” in Melbourne on Friday night? Surely that’s a game reserved for Dunedin or Christchurch (or even better Invercargill).
How good was it to have Waikaia’s finest Mike McKee back in action at Super Rugby level? McKee suffered a season-ending shoulder injury last season but returned for Moana Pasifika in the second half of its loss to Fiji Drua on Saturday.
Some eagle-eyed Stags fans might have recalled the name Dane Zander who started at loosehead prop for the Queensland Reds against the Hurricanes on Saturday night. Zander signed to play for the Stags in 2021 but a knee injury, before he made it to Invercargill, ruled him out.
Tribune picks panel: Round one….
Scott Eade has started best picking five from six of the winners in round one of Super Rugby. He also picked one margin correct.
Matt Saunders and Jason Rutledge both picked three from six correct with Saunders picking two margins correct and Rutledge one.
Picks panel points: Eade (26), Saunders (17), Rutledge (16).
Bekhuis extends pro career for at least two years…
When Josh Bekhuis returned to Southland rugby last year there were a lot of pleased people.
Although it would be fair to say some also wondered what the Stags would be getting.
Bekhuis played over 100 games at Super Rugby level, on top of his 115 games for Southland, before heading offshore.
After a six-year stint playing overseas in France and Japan he returned to link with Southland in the NPC at 36-years-old.
What we found out through the 2022 season is Bekhuis is still very much a force at the pro level.
He showed others in the Stags squad what a true professional acts like and his work rate throughout the season was inspirational.
Rugby Southland has now locked Bekhuis in for a further two seasons.
With 125 games under his belt, Bekhuis is well on his way to becoming the second most-capped player of all time for the Stags, set to surpass Tim Boys during the 2023 season.
Director of Rugby Matt Saunders expressed his excitement about having Bekhuis back. "His experience and leadership have been invaluable to the team in the past, and we believe that he will continue to be a driving force on and off the field. We are looking forward to seeing him in action as the absolute work horse that he is.”
Bekhuis himself is thrilled to be back.
"We have a great group of Southland players who love the jersey, and I am looking forward to working with them and helping to build on the successes of the past. I am confident that we can achieve great things together in the next two years."
Southland athletes among medal chances at NZ Championships…
Who are Southland’s best shots at medals at the New Zealand Track & Field Championships in Wellington? Lance Smith casts his eye over the 20-strong Southland team. (READ MORE HERE)
Southland cyclists ready for NZ Champs on home velodrome boards
Some of nation’s top track talent will be taking to the boards of the SIT Zero Fees Velodrome over the coming week as Cycling Southland hosts the Track National Championships. (READ MORE HERE).
Silver medal for Kergy…
Southland cyclist Nic Kergozou has claimed silver as part of New Zealand’s men’s team pursuit at the first UCI Nations Cup track competition in Jakarta.
Kergozou was part of the New Zealand combination alongside Aaron Gate, Campbell Stewart and Dan Bridgwater which finished runners-up to Olympic medallists Denmark in the final of the men’s 45000m team pursuit.
It proved a tight battle with New Zealand trailing by the blink of the eye at the halfway mark, and drew level at the 3000m. Denmark managed to eek out a slender lead in the final four laps, winning in 4:12.846 with New Zealand just 0.4s behind in second, averaging over 56kmh.
“We have started the Olympic qualification from here and come away with a good result for the team. We executed that very well today,” Kergozou said.
“As a whole, we had three good rides here with Dan (Bridgwater) and George (Jackson) stepping in and getting PBs in their first competitions at this level.
“The worlds was our last competition, so we are starting with a different line-up and producing times like this which sets a level for us for the year. It is exciting to produce that performance at the start of the build towards the next Olympics.”
Finalists found for Southland rugby league decider….
The 2023 Southland District Rugby League final looms as one of the most exciting and physical seen in many years. Defending champions Cowboys will take on Fiji Bati in Saturday’s grand final.
The Cowboys progressed with a 38-18 victory over the Cooks in one semifinal, while Fiji Bati dispatched He Tauaa 60-22 in the other.
The 2023 decider will be well worth a watch.
Linda Milne comes up just short….
A composite Southland-Otago women’s team skipped by Southland’s Linda Milne has come oh so close to winning the open women’s title at the 2023 Summerset National Fours bowls tournament.
Milne’s crew progressed to Sunday’s final but was beaten be the team skipped by New Zealand bowls legend Val Smith.
Milne’s team found themselves down 6-0 after two ends but did claw it back to 13-13 at one stage.
However, after 18 ends it was Smith who came out on top after leading 17-14 heading into the last end.
Meanwhile, a four skipped by Craig Mirrilees and a Te Rangi combination skipped by Stephen Saunders progressed to the semi-final stage of the men’s fours but both lost their semi-finals.
Pacing mare comes to aid of thoroughbred foal
A Group II winner in harness racing is in the fourth month of being a foster mare to a thoroughbred colt foal, owned by the Dennis brothers. (READ MORE HERE).
Kieran Lloyd leads Appleby to yet another victory
Kieran Lloyd has been dominating Southland’s senior club cricket competition with the bat but on Saturday it was with the ball that he led Appleby to another victory. (READ MORE HERE).
MLT Moonshine Trail event returns…
The MLT Moonshine Trail made a successful return to the events calendar on Saturday.
After the 2022 event was cancelled due to Covid restrictions, Southland’s biggest mountain biking and off-road running event returned to the picturesque surroundings of Dolamore Park, near Gore.
Nearly 500 participants took part across six categories, which included a new NRG- sponsored 2km family-friendly walk/run. Active Southland chief executive Vanessa Hughey said it was great to see the eastern Southland community supporting the event, with participants also coming from across Southland, Otago, Central Otago and as far away as England, with Bristol’s Wes Clarke enjoying himself in the Shoe Clinic 15km event.
“Events like this take a lot of work to pull together and we have almost our entire team involved on the day,” Hughey said.
“We rely heavily on local support as well, including our new and long-standing sponsors, and the landowners who add a lot of character to the event by providing once-a-year access to their properties.”
MLT board member Vince Aynsley said the licensing trust was proud to support an event like the MLT Moonshine Trail.
“As a trust we are a community-owned asset and supporting community events like this is a key part of what we do.”
Gene Marsh was first male home in the demanding Crossroads Cycles 50km mountain bike event, with Sarah Moreton winning the women’s category.
Registrations are now open for Active Southland’s next event, the More FM Surf to City on March 12, which is also returning to its traditional one-day format after being run as a multi-day festival last year due to Covid-restrictions.
PROVISIONAL RESULTS
MLT 5km:
Men: Mac Heapi 24:58 1, Stan Hunter 25:15 2, Max Wiegersma 27:46 3.
Women: Lili Gemmill 28:22 1, Manasseh Verkaik 28:24 2, Tiffany Richardson 32:17 3.
Shoe Clinic 15km:
Men: Kelvin Meade 1:09:59 1, Jason Russell 1:14:56 2, Matt Green 1:16:10 3.
Women: Margie Campbell 1:12:38 1, Lauren Johnston 1:19:50 2, Debbie Rankin 1:25:33 3.
Ewan Allan Honda 30km:
Men: Anthony Brown 1:37:41 1, Jeremy Byars 1:40:55 2, Michael Boomer 1:40:56 3.
Women: Jess Rabbitte 1:56:46 1, Sarah Doak-Stride 2:04:53 2, Nadia Lyders 2:09:29 3.
Southland Isuzu 39km:
Men: Gerard Watson 2:08:44 1, Edwin Wiegersma 2:14:49 2, Bruce Haynman 2:16:38 3.
Women: Paige Clark 2:31:37 1, Paula Hedges 2:37:53 2, Anna Burrell 2:45:50 3.
CrossRoad Cycles 50km:
Men: Gene Marsh 2:23:33 1, Justin Roy 2:25:46 2, Liam O’Rourke 2:27:47 3.
Women: Sarah Moreton 3:07:05 1, Rachael Tarson 3:09:44 2, Teresa Noble 3:11:32 3.
Born and bred Southlander Tori Peeters, now based in Hamilton, delivered an encouraging performance in the women’s javelin at the at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne.
She defeated a strong field with a best distance of 59.00m. The 28-year-old toppled 2018 Commonwealth champion Kathryn Mitchell with the Australian having a best throw of 57.92m.
Peeters is the week’s Tribune sportsperson of the week.
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 in collating everything at this end. Email logan@southlandtribune.com
In case you missed it….
Coach’s mental test: Southern Steel coach Reinga Bloxham explains the moment in its preseason showdown against NSW Swifts that provided one of the biggest mental tests of her coaching career. [READ MORE HERE]
