Spotlight on Southland Sport: Sunday Special
Welcome to The Southland Tribune's Sunday sports offering. Enjoy.
25 years on: Burdon's unexpected love of the Tour of Southland
The 68th Tour of Southland begins today, and for the 25th time Nathan Burdon will be there writing about it. Logan Savory chatted to Burdon about how he unexpectedly fell in love with New Zealand’s premier cycling race. (READ MORE HERE).
Unique race dynamic for hometown hero
Southland’s Josh Burnett has pushed the pedals in some pretty big bike races this year. It’s included a victory in the Tour de Beauce which is regarded “the biggest race in North America”. But despite that growing experience in the cycling world, the Tour of Southland race brings with it a unique dynamic for Burnett. (READ MORE HERE).
Sav's Sidelines: 14-team NPC to remain, but...
In today’s Sav’s Sidelines column I again a look at New Zealand Rugby’s situation, and in particular the future of the NPC. There’s some very good news, but still some potential challenges ahead. I also delve into the bizarre introduction of an Indian team into the New Zealand Basketball League. (READ MORE HERE).
Nightmare start to club softball season
Southland softballers are still waiting for the 2024-2025 season to begin a month after it was initially scheduled to start.
Wet weather again doused any hopes of softball in Invercargill on Saturday extending the string of cancellations.
Club softball in Southland was initially scheduled to start on October 5 but sodden ground conditions has meant everyone is still waiting for the first pitch of the season. They will have another crack next Saturday.
Southland’s senior club cricket season has also had a false start. The revamped senior competitions were scheduled to start on Saturday, but wet weather also put a line through that.
Harness racing: Raklou announces she's back to her best
Southland owner Brendan Fahy’s horses have found their best form at the best possible time. On Monday, Fahy got the thrill of seeing his star three-year-old Dreams Are Free break the national three-year-old record for 1700m with his effortless win at Ashburton on Labour Day. On Friday, it was Raklou who announced she was back to her best when she cleared out for a dominant win at Winton. (READ MORE HERE).
In case you missed it…
Finalists named: The 2024 Southland Secondary School Sports Awards finalists have been revealed highlighting the long list of impressive success stories over the past 12 months. Ten schools are represented across the eight categories that make up the awards which are organised by Southland Secondary Schools Sport. (FULL LIST OF FINALISTS HERE).
