Spotlight on Southland Sport: Sunday Special
The Southland Tribune wraps up some key moments in the Southland sporting weekend. Enjoy.
The Southland Tribune is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Southland Stags: 17% first-half territory, no problems
There you go Southland Stags fans, there’s something for you to smile about as you search for the jandals and clean the BBQ in preparation for summer. The Stags have finished an otherwise disappointing 2023 NPC campaign on a high note. (READ MORE HERE).
Remembering Graeme McKenzie - a family, farming, rugby, and racing enthusiast
Damian McKenzie's try in Saturday's game against Italy at the Rugby World Cup would have meant a lot to him and his family in what has been a sad week for them with the passing of his grandfather Graeme McKenzie. (READ MORE HERE).
Highlanders schools selection….
Seventeen Southlanders have been selected to attend a Highlanders’ schools 5-day camp in Dunedin from Wednesday.
All up 48 players will take part in the camp with eight coaches - including Southland’s pathway manager Scott Eade involved.
Of the 17 Southlanders taking part in the camp, 15 come from the national champion Southland Boys’ High School first XV, with Gore High School’s Jayden Broome and St Peters Colleges’ Jake Evans the others selected.
Midfielder Preston Evans would have been another included but is unavailable because of injury.
The Taranaki-Invercargill Blues connection…
Eagled-eyed Southland rugby followers would have spotted a wee Invercargill Blues connection to Taranaki’s NPC setup this year.
Earlier in the season last year’s Invercargill Blues and Stags No 8 Arese Poliko made his Taranaki debut after making the shift north.
On Saturday his former Blues teammate Brad Kooman joined him. Kooman, a former national touch representative, made his Taranaki debut from the bench in the 54-21 win over North Harbour.
Kooman was a prolific try-scoring outside back in Southland club rugby and was a key figure in Southland’s sevens setup over many years.
He was also a fringe Stags player in recent years and made one appearance off the bench against Manawatu in 2020.
'There were a lot of tears': Taking in news of NZ selection
Keegan Jackson has been playing Table Tennis for less than three years, initially as part of his rehabilitation from a 14-hour surgery to mitigate the pain and other issues he faced with congenital scoliosis. Now he’s been selected for his country. (READ MORE HERE).
Chance Robinson encounter spark's rally interest
Gore’s David Kirk has been around motorsport for many years, but he credits the late Barry Robinson as having been a catalyst for his involvement in the sport in a “roundabout way”. (READ MORE HERE).
Magic Moment: Jordan Rackham's special 1500m run
Southland athletics has produced many magical moments so as part of a new Tribune series we are going to recall some of them. Today we turn the clock back to 2013 when Jordan Rackham ran under 4min to win the New Zealand Secondary Schools U15 title. (READ MORE HERE).
All Southland (Bowl) final…
Southland’s two teams at the South Island U16 rugby tournament in Ashburton have wrapped up their tournaments with a showdown against each other.
The Southland ‘A’ team and Spikers team played off in the Bowl final of the tournament on Sunday.
They had played eight days earlier which the ‘A’ team won 33-0 but the Spikers closed the gap in Ashburton on Sunday losing 31-12. It was a game where calls of ‘go Southand’ from the grandstand covered both teams. Well done to all involved.
Join as a paid subscriber….
We are a reader-supported platform, if you haven’t, please consider joining The Tribune as a paid subscriber/supporter to help us continue to produce Southland sports content like this. You will also get access to all the paid subscriber-only content we produce.
