2009 Swindale Shield season preview

A much-anticipated 2009 Wellington club rugby season kicks off with this Saturday's Gala Day at Porirua and Trentham Memorial Parks. For passion, drama, intensity and excitement, some of the very best sporting stories in Wellington are found on the playing fields of the Swindale Shield, Jubilee Cup and Hardham Cup competitions so make sure to get out there and support your team in this year's season opening weekend.

Twelve clubs are again doing battle for Swindale Shield supremacy over an eleven-week round robin competition, before the top eight finishing teams from the first round vie for the coveted Jubilee Cup that culminates in the season ending final at Westpac Stadium in August. This season marks the 80^th year since the Jubilee Cup was first played for, and all teams will be out to hit the ground running at the start of the season in the race to finish inside the top eight of the Swindale Shield and play for the definitive accolade in Wellington rugby over the second half of the season.

This season also marks the 40^th anniversary of the Swindale Shield being contested in its modern format after being found in an Athletic Park broom cupboard and resurrected for the 1969 season. Recent Swindale Shields have been fiercely contested, with eight different winners in the past eleven seasons and no one club winning it more than three years in a row for over three decades when 1970s super club Petone won or shared?eight?in succession.

Last year Marist St. Pat's ended 2006 and 2007 champions Northern United's two-year Swindale Shield tenure by capturing it for the first time in nine seasons, finishing four points clear of Norths and with Petone and Old Boys-University both right behind them. MSP were the outstanding team in 2008, recovering from a first round Gala Day loss to OBU to win their last ten games straight before going on to win every game in the Jubilee Cup and then tie 10-10 with Norths in an epic Jubilee Cup final.

MSP also enjoyed much success in other grades last year finishing second in the first round Senior Harper Lock Shield and winning the Senior Two National Mutual Cup, and will again be the club to beat in 2009 with most of its players from 2008 back for another tilt at the title as well as some new and returning faces such as 2007 Jubilee Cup winner Mike Kingsbeer from Hutt Old Boys Marist and Apoua Stewart, back from overseas.

Hot on their heels again should be Norths, complete with their factory of fast and exciting players ready to pour their considerable talents on the rugby fields of Wellington, and Poneke who have the services of New Zealand Secondary Schools star and Gisborne Boys' High School signing Charlie Ngatai, rugged former Southland lock Daniel Ramsay in their ranks.

Petone, featuring former Wests Roosters star prop Adrian Barone, playmaker Michael Lealava'a from over the hill in Wainuiomata and new outside back Fraser Middleton from Canterbury? are sure to feature at the business end of the season, while Old Boys-University are always fast out of the blocks in the Swindale Shield round and will challenge most. For dark horses, look no further than Tawa who won the Hardham Cup last year after a horror season beset by injuries and a lack of continuity and Oriental-Rongotai who had their best season in over five years in 2008 in making the Jubilee Cup. ?

Look out for a new wave of fresh talent to emerge and stamp its mark on Wellington club rugby. With Vodafone Wellington Lions coaches Jamie Joseph and Andre Bell keeping a close ear to the ground and with the opportunity to play in a Wellington team that holds the Ranfurly Shield later in the year there's everything to play for in 2009.

The new season will also be the first played under the ELV adaptations that are being used in all levels of rugby in 2009.

This will be the second consecutive running of the Gala Day to kick the season off, following its successful resurrection in 2008 from a five-year hiatus that saw it previously run at Trentham Memorial Park in 2004.

In a feast of first round action, with an even split of three games at Porirua and three at Trentham, Norths and Poneke, MSP and OBU and Wests and HOBM meet at 3.30pm at Trentham. Games at Porirua see Upper Hutt and Tawa clash on the number one ground at 2pm, followed by Petone and Avalon at 3.30pm and Wainuiomata and Ories on the number two paddock at 3.30pm.

Trophies being contested this week are the Morgan Family Trophy between Avalon and Petone, the Mexted Motors Cup between Upper Hutt and Tawa and the Jack Lamason Memorial Cup between MSP and OBU.

Other grades starting this weekend include Senior 1 and Senior 2, which are both involved in the Gala Day at Trentham and Porirua, and the Premier Women's Fleurs Trophy which kicks off with its own Gala Day at William Jones and Mary Crowther Parks in Wainuiomata. All remaining Wellington club rugby grades kick off next weekend, Saturday 4 April.