Spotlight on Southland Sport: Sunday Special
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. Please consider joining as a paid subscriber to help with our Southland sports coverage.
Will an Invercargill visit be the tonic the Highlanders need?
Ouch, it’s been a tough start to Super Rugby pacific, from a Highlanders viewpoint anyway.
They’ve conceded 140 points in three outings, albeit against probably the three best teams in the competition.
The latest was a 28-7 loss to the Chiefs on Friday night.
Never fear, life is about to get much better. The Clarke Dermody-coached team is on the way to Invercargill.
The Highlanders will take on the Force at Rugby Park in Invercargill on Sunday at 3.35pm.
It will be the Highlanders’ first game at Rugby Park in Invercargill since 2019.
In 2015 the Invercargill City Council and the Highlanders formed a five-year partnership to ensure the Dunedin-based Highlanders played games in Invercargill.
The council agreed to underwrite the Highlanders to the tune of $500,000 over five years.
The ratepayers only forked out if games did not generate the required gate-takings.
However, in 2019 then Invercargill City Council chief executive Clare Hadley and Highlanders boss Roger Clark met the day before the Highlanders-Waratahs game in Invercargill and it was decided to terminate the contract.
It’s understood Invercargill games weren’t viewed as a great financial prospect for the Highlanders and at the same time the state of Rugby Park was in question given about 1500 grandstand seats were off-limits because of earthquake concerns.
However, since then the Invercargill-based SBS Bank has come on board as the official front-of-jersey sponsor of the Highlanders.
In September it was announced the Highlanders would be returning to Invercargill with Clark praising SBS in the role it played.
“There are some financial imperatives for us when we play away from Forsyth Barr Stadium, and I am delighted SBS was able to assist in making this game possible.”
Rugby Park seems like a fitting place to get Dermody’s first win as the fulltime head coach of the Highlanders.
“Rugby Park is a special place and I have fond memories of the times I had there. I’d also like to acknowledge the work of SBS Bank and the [Highlanders] to get this game to Invercargill.”
Tribune Picks Panel….
Jason Rutledge was the victor in week three of our Super Rugby Pacific Picks Panel, aided by Matt Saunders’ blind loyalty to the Highlanders.
Rutledge picked four of six winners correctly with three of the margins also correct.
Saunders picked three winners and had all of those margins correct, Scott Eade also picked three winners but just two correct margins.
Eade does still lead the overall standings.
Overall picks standings: Scott Eade (71 points), Jason Rutledge (68), Matt Saunders (51).
Stags Snippet….
Southland has added some depth to its openside flanker stocks with Leroy Ferguson to play his club rugby in the province this season with the plan to line up for the Stags.
At 21 Ferguson captained Taieri in Dunedin’s club rugby competition last year and sat just behind James Lentjes and Sean Withy in the pecking order, in terms of No 7s in the Otago setup.
Ferguson has family in Gore and Edendale and will line up for the Eastern-Northern Barbarians in Southland’s premier club rugby competition which kicks off on Saturday (March 18).
Ferguson started in the No 7 jersey for the Highlanders Bravehearts team which played the Crusaders Development team in Timaru on Saturday.
He replaced Southland Stag Hayden Michaels who picked up a knee niggle.
Stay tuned for our Galbraith Shield special…
Seven teams will start the quest to get their hands on the prized Galbraith Shield on Saturday. [March 18].
Stay tuned to The Southland Tribune as later this week we offer up our comprehensive team-by-team preview of Southland’s 2023 premier club rugby competition.
If your business is interested in joining The Southland Tribune’s club rugby coverage this season as the commercial partner attached to it, we’d love to hear from you. Email logan@southlandtribune.com for more details.
Southern Steel hit another goal-scoring low
If there were any doubts a season without star shooter George Fisher was going to be a massive mountain to climb for the Southern Steel, it’s plain for all to see now. The Steel has again been humbled, this time at the hands of the Central Pulse. (READ MORE HERE)
Cricket grips Te Anau….
Two years ago, Te Anau had one cricket team which played in Southland’s senior reserve competition.
Fast forward to 2023 and the club now fields an impressive five teams. Two senior teams and three junior teams. Te Anau is somewhat bucking the trend in the way it’s gone about getting people out playing cricket.
One of the many key figures in the growth is former long-time Southland representative Jonathan Hodson.
The increase from one team to five teams is impressive enough, but on Saturday the club’s top team also went back-to-back in the PGG Wrightson Division One competition. The competition sits just below the ILT Premier League.
Playing against Central-Western in Saturday’s thrilling decider Te Anau chased down 174 with two wickets in hand in the 40-over per-side fixture.
Te Anau’s quest is now a three-peat when the 2022-2023 season.
Meanwhile, it was Marist who took out the PGG Wrightson Division Two competition beating Albion in the final.
McLachlan smashes Invercargill-Old Boys into grand final….
Sam McLachlan has delivered a sublime knock to help Invercargill-Old Boys to progress to the March 25 ILT Premier League club cricket final.
Invercargill-Old Boys took on Appleby in week one of Southland’s senior club cricket playoffs on Saturday,
They won the toss and chose to bat first and were in a relatively dicey position before McLachlan delivered a knock that was the difference in the game.
He smashed seven sixes and seven fours on his way to 80 from just 37 balls. The knock proved vital as Invercargill-Old Boys were eventually bowled out for 183.
Appleby opener Hayden Hart batted through the innings in reply in his knock of 81, but Appleby fell short being bowled out for 158.
Appleby does have a second life though given it now takes on Waikoikoi this coming Saturday for the second spot in the final.
Waikoikoi advanced to that semifinal after knocking Marist out of the competition in the game played in Tapanui on Saturday.
The only non-Invercargill-based club in the ILT Premier League notched up 209 batting first, thanks to some handy knocks from the likes of Ryan McFaul (50), Kurt Thompson (38), and Rhuebyn Prattley (34).
Despite Tobias van der Heever’s 47 Marist could manage just 125 in reply as its 2022-2023 title hopes came to an end.
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Gore’s world record holder picks up award….
Gore shearer Megan Whitehead has been named the Sportswoman of the Year at the 2021-2022 New Zealand Rural Sports Awards in Palmerston North.
Whitehead’s award comes on the back of smashing the world record for the solo women's nine-hours strongwool lamb shearing record. Her 661 tally beat Waikato shearer Emily Welch’s record of 648 set in 2007.
The other finalists for Rural Sportswomen of the Year were Nicky Chilcott, who is the first woman to train and drive 500 winners in New Zealand harness racing, and Stephanie Dryfhout who finished third at the International Tree Climbing Championship.
Meanwhile, Lumsden’s Patsy Shirley, the backbone of the Northern Southland Community Shears for many years, was named joint winner of the Outstanding Contribution to New Zealand Rural Sports Award.
From career in doubt to Wyndham Cup winner
Sutherland, whose racing career was in doubt two and a-half months ago, won today's Wyndham Cup at Gore. Check out Jamie Searle’s wrap. (READ MORE HERE)
Flyin Ellie takes out $30k Northern Southland Trotting Club race
The Nathan Williamson-trained Flyin Ellie won the $30,000 Group Three Caduceus Club of Southland/Alabar Fillies Classic raced as part of the Northern Southland Trotting Club meeting at Invercargill on Saturday.
Craig Ferguson drove Flyin Ellie which beat Always Ticking by a length and a half.
As Southern Harness Racing’s Bruce Stewart reports the victory was tinged with a touch of sadness. (READ MORE HERE).
We’ve already mentioned swimmer Joseph Koroiadi as a Southlander that’s worth keeping an eye on, but it doesn’t hurt to provide a reminder of the Verdon College pupil’s abilities.
At the recent South Island Long Championships in Invercargill Koroiadi picked up a swathe of medals which included first in the 200m individual medley, second in the 50m breaststroke, first in the 50m butterfly, first in 100m backstroke, second in 100m breaststroke, first 50m freestyle and 100m butterfly.
Koroiadi has also made the 'long list' for the Junior Commonwealth Games this year.
How about this for a pre-departure feat? Just before leaving for Europe, for another eight-month campaign against the world’s best young talent’ 16-year-old rider Cormac Buchanan wrapped up the NZ600SS championship in Taupo.
It goes with the NZ300SS title he had already locked in the week before and he has now set new lap records set at every circuit.
“Words cannot describe the feeling - still in shock!”
He then boosted straight from the track to Auckland Airport to catch a flight to Portugal on Sunday night.
Cormac you are our Tribune Sportsperson of the Week and here’s to many more to come.
