Spotlight on Southland Sport: Sunday Special
Welcome to The Southland Tribune's Sunday sports offering. Enjoy.
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Southland cricket's big few days; Six things you should know
It’s been a big few days for Southland cricket for various reasons and Logan Savory has highlighted six things you should probably know. It includes the emergence of the next generation of Southland cricketers, why Jacob Duffy just might be in the form of his life, and who has been crowned Southland’s 2024 T20 club champions. (READ MORE HERE).
Humbucker's Gore Cup win tinged with sadness
Emotions ran high when Humbucker raced away with the MLT Gore Cup on Saturday. One of his owners, Alison Hazlett, of Waianiwa, died earlier in the day at Southland Hospital in Invercargill. She was aged 80 and loved racing and the people in it. (READ MORE HERE).
Burnett claims Gravel and Tar Classic title…
Southland cyclist Josh Burnett has delivered an impressive result winning the Gravel and Tar Classic in Manawatu on Saturday.
The 23-year-old - who was the 2022 Tour of Southland winner - had to go head-to-head with Boris Clark in a sprint finish and it was Burnett who was victorious.
The Gravel and Tar Classic was ridden over 140km and included seven gravel sections.
It’s a good result for Burnett considering it was an UCI 1.2 event and attracted a quality field of riders, including the likes of Aaron Gate and 2023 Tour of Southland winner James Gardner.
The good news for Southland cycling followers didn’t end with Burnett’s big win given Marshall Erwood also produced a good ride to finish 9th overall and second in the U23 category.
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Illness strikes down Strong during Tour Down Under…
Southland cyclist Corbin Strong was forced to withdraw from the Tour Down Under on Saturday in South Australia because of illness.
It came after an encouraging start to the tour, which is the first event of the UCI WorldTour and starts the international pro cycling calendar.
Strong sat in second place on the general classification standings heading into stage four on Friday.
However, he had been battling sickness since day two of the tour.
It eventually caught up with him on Saturday and the Israel - Premier Tech rider was forced to withdraw from the tour as the heat and hard racing proved too much.
Israel - Premier Tech sports director Sam Bewley said they slowly switched the focus to team mate Stevie Williams when Strong got sick.
“We assessed Corbin’s health each day. [On Saturday], we were all in for Stevie and the confidence he got from his teammate’s belief in him was huge.”
Much to the delight of the Israel - Premier Tech Williams did finish up winning the Tour at the end of the final stage on Sunday.
Silver Ferns debut for Steel shooter…
Southern Steel’s Georgia Heffernan is a Silver Fern.
Slotting in at goal attack Georgia Heffernan became Silver Fern #185 when making her debut against Australia at the Vitality Netball Nations Cup in London on Sunday. She joined twin sister Kate (wing defence) in a rare family milestone in international netball.
Australia won the game 63-50 in what was the Silver Ferns first outing in 2024.
Heffernan played the entire game finishing with nine from 11 shots at goal with Grace Nweke, as expected, doing the bulk of the shooting putting up 42 shots and making 41.
They will have little time to reflect as New Zealand lines up against Uganda in their second match of the series at 3am on Monday (NZ time).
Drivers share honours at Teretonga Park
Invercargill’s Liam MacDonald won both Noel McIntyre Drainage Group A Club Saloon races in his Falcon from fellow locals Jordan Michels (Honda Civic TCR) and Kieran Roberts (Holden Commodore) at Teretonga Park on Saturday. That was before Michels won the 2501cc & over class race from Tony Forde of Invercargill in a Commodore and Roberts after MacDonald retired. (READ MORE HERE).
For 20 years Tribune editor Logan Savory has been writing about Southland for various publications. We are delving into the archives and pointing you to some stories that you might enjoy revisiting.
Today we revisit the remarkable story behind Wendy Frew’s van crash, surgery, 70 stitches, and a national netball league grand final win - all in 16 days in 2017.
Click here to read that 2017 article.
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In case you missed it….
Reconnecting: “All things have got to come to an end at some stage, but I was still a bit bitter and wanted to play. It was pretty hard, rugby was my life for a long time. When you are young you think you will be doing this for a while, but it flies by pretty quickly.” (READ MORE HERE).
Historic women’s rugby game: Invercargill will host its most high-profile women’s rugby game in March. The first professional women’s rugby game to be played in Invercargill has been confirmed for Rugby Park on March 2. (READ MORE HERE).
Good read this morning enjoyed the Cricket and Racing stories.