Spotlight on Southland Sport: Sunday Special
The Southland Tribune does its best to wrap some key moments in the Southland sporting weekend. Enjoy.
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The girl from Knapdale taking on the world
Delve into the story of Hollie Swain and you can’t help but be impressed. Her eventing journey started at Waikaia in Southland as a kid, under the guidance of Helen Christie. It now has her lining up on arguably the biggest stage in the sport - the Badminton Horse Trials in England. (READ MORE HERE).
Southern Steel eager 'to take someone out'
“I think that makes us a very dangerous team because first, no one wants to lose to us, and second, we are the ones who could take someone out of the top three. We love that and it’s our challenge to get that points table rocking a bit.” (READ MORE HERE).
Former Kiwis rugby league reps visit Invercargill…
New Zealand Rugby League officials converged on Invercargill at the weekend to put together a “development day” for the Southland District Rugby League community.
Included amongst those that made the trip south was former Warriors and Kiwis rugby league player Shontayne Hape, as well as another former Kiwi in Jeff Lima.
Hape has hit the TV screens again recently as part of TV Three’s Match Fit programme.
The weekend started with a referees’ forum and coach development course on Saturday.
On Sunday at Elles Rd there were skills, drills, well-being, and pathways components, as well as Southland youth representative trials held.
Queens Park pipped by league leaders….
Queens Park has come up short of toppling the top-of-the-table Mosgiel in the Southern Premier Football League on Saturday.
Queens Park - the sole Southland club in the southern league - hosted Mosgiel in Invercargill.
It took just three minutes for Mosgiel to land the opening goal through Taylor Donaldson to go up 1-0.
That there turned out to be the difference.
From that point, neither team was able to score again, and Queens Park’s chances weren’t helped by Anton Fitzgerald’s red card in the 62nd minute.
Queens Park now has a one win-five loss record through its six games to date in 2023.
In Southland’s topflight club competition, Te Anau remain unbeaten at the top of the standings through a 4-0 victory over Old Boys on Saturday.
Although the fellow Old Boys team in the competition had a good day out beating Queens Park 4-0 which included Nikolai Molijn banking a hat-trick of goals.
Speaking of goal scorers, Thistle’s Lewys McLaren racked up an impressive five goals in Thistle’s 11-0 victory over Balclutha, while the other Thistle team in the competition played out an entertaining 3-3 draw with Southend United.
In other results, one Gore Wanderers picked up a 5-2 win over Waihopai, while the other lost 2-1 to Winton.
All roads lead to the Sharks Tank for a Sunday Funday….
A reminder that the Southland Sharks will line up tonight (Sunday) at 6pm against the Wellington Saints at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill.
All eyes will be on whether the man of the moment, import Jeremy Kendle, can produce another MVP-type showing against a Saints team in need of a victory.
The TAB has got the Saints $1.40 favorites compared to the Sharks’ $2.90. We’ll have some of that thanks.
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In case you missed it….
The second round of Southland’s premier club rugby competition kicked off on Thursday night as the seven teams look to lock in a place in the Galbraith Shield playoffs. Logan Savory identifies 15 players who impressed through round one of the competition. Savory shows his appreciation of the art of the frontrow and starts by naming three props. (READ MORE HERE). (Paid subscriber content).
Pride Pledge: In January Campbell Johnstone opened up by telling the world he was gay. In turn, he was labelled the first openly gay All Black. Johnstone talked with Logan Savory about the reaction since and what he’s now doing to help foster a supportive rugby environment.
Logan Savory wraps up the round eight Southland premier club rugby action played on Thursday night. It included a big win to Marist, a well-deserved confidence booster for Blues, and the Barbarians being made to work very hard to keep its unbeaten 2023 record intact. (READ MORE HERE).
Are these the top 10 Sharks? The Southland Sharks family of players, since its inception into New Zealand’s National Basketball League, has reached 100 through its 13 years. Logan Savory takes a stab at picking the top 10 players from the Sharks’ days to date. (READ MORE HERE).
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