2010 Club Rugby Season Preview

A much anticipated 2010 Wellington club rugby season kicks off in the top grades this Saturday, with the first round of Swindale Shield, Harper Lock Shield, National Mutual Cup and Fleurs Trophy Women's competition matches set to hit the local playing fields and ignite the passion of rugby fans Wellington-wide.

Some of the best sporting stories in Wellington are found on the Wellington club rugby playing arena, features of which this year include major celebrations for the Petone and Hutt Old Boys Marist clubs, Johnsonville's re-introduction to the Premier grade and, as always, the promise of fresh faces making their marks. Players such as Ma'a Nonu, Roy Kinikinilau, Piri Weepu, Cory Jane, Conrad Smith, Anthony Perenise, Tamati Ellison and last year's sensation Alapati Leiua have all left lasting impressions on the Swindale Shield and Jubilee Cup competitions in recent seasons.

Some young tyros to look out for are Wellington Academy players Solomona Sakali'a (out of Bishop Viard College and playing for Marist St. Pat's), Lima Sopoaga (Wellngton College, Old Boys-University), Hanipale Galo (Wellngton College, Old Boys-University), Norman [Reggie] Goodes (Wellington College, Poneke) and Christian Lloyd (Upper Hutt).

Highlights of the first half of the 2010 season are the anniversaries of superclub Petone and 2007 Jubilee Cup champions Hutt Old Boys Marist - Petone celebrating their 125th Jubilee in early May and HOBM their 100th anniversary at the end of June.

Premier rugby returns to Johnsonville after a three-year hiatus after they were relegated at the end of the 2006 season and replaced in the top grade by Wainuiomata. Johnsonville take the place of Avalon this season, whose top team will now contest the Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield over the next three months.

Twelve clubs are again doing battle for the Swindale Shield in an eleven-week round robin, before the top eight finishing teams of that competition vie for the coveted Jubilee Cup that culminates in the season ending final at Westpac Stadium in August. 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.

Recent Swindale Shields have been well contested, with eight different winners in the past 12 seasons and no one club winning it more than two years in a row for over three decades when 1970s super club Petone won three in a row. Last year the Swindale Shield was shared for just the third time in the modern competition's 41-year history when Petone and Northern United finished equal on 44 points in a dramatic last day's play that saw the title race go right to the final whistle.

Norths then went on to contest the Jubilee Cup with Marist St. Pat's, but MSP were too strong on the day and won 21-16 in a tense final afternoon of the season.

The season starts with a bang at Porirua Park for Norths and MSP in a replay of last year's Jubilee Cup final. The two heavyweights of Wellington Premier rugby over the past few years will both be eager to stamp their marks on the new season - although both have previously lost their first round matches in 2008 and 2009 and gone on to win the first round title. Two years ago MSP missed out to OBU in the first round and then famously remained undefeated throughout the rest of the season, while Norths were undone by Poneke first-up last year but shared the spoils with Petone.

MSP also go into the new season with several fresh faces, with the loss of 12 players in the off season to play elsewhere, or are injured or retired. Amongst these are Alex Tulou (France), Brendan Watt (North Harbour), Saina Mekaio (Ireland), Marcus Slade (Brisbane), Mike Kingsbeer (returning to HOBM), Sean Hay (Ories), Jamie Parkinson and Dan Scanlon (injured) and Craig Simeon (retired).

The other five first round set of Swindale Shield matches are scarcely any less mouthwatering, with two local derbies and three interclub trophies on the line in the first week.

Johnsonville mark their return to the Swindale Shield with a clash against the Wests Roosters at home at Helston Park, with the Duncan Cup also at stake. While this will be the first encounter between these two clubs at this level since 2006, this match promises to be tight and could well go down to the wire.

Eastern Suburbs rivalries resume in the first round between Poneke and Oriental Rongotai, who play for the Jim Grbich Memorial Shield at Kilbirnie Park, after the former Poneke player and seven-year Wellington and three-year Maori representative who died in a car accident in 1962. Together with Moray Bevan, Grbich formed a lethal combination in the midfield for Poneke, Wellington and New Zealand Maori.

Ories are the current holders of the Jim Grbich Memorial Shield, after breaking a seven-year Poneke stranglehold and winning this clash two years running in 2008 (24-14) and 2009 (35-9) and will be exited about the prospect of the three-peat of victories on Saturday when they venture through the Miramar cutting into red and black territory.

Tawa and Wainuiomata meet at Lyndhurst Park for the Chris Sterling Cup, currently shared after they drew this corresponding clash 20-20 last year.

Defending Hardham Cup champions Old Boys-University host Petone at Nairnville Park, OBU's home away from home until early May when the Allied Nationwide Finance Basin Reserve becomes rugby-ready again, while Hutt Old Boys Marist host Upper Hutt at the Hutt Recreation Ground in the round's remaining match.

All first round matches kick-off at 3.00pm.

Transfers between the Premier clubs this season are relatively light, with some confirmed player moves being: Mike Kingsbeer (MSP to HOBM), Sene Ta'ala (Norths to Johnsonville), Julian Tupai (Ories to MSP), Joe Hopkins (Tawa to Petone), Alama Pisa (Wests to Norths), Joyner Keys (Avalon to Ories), Sean Hay (MSP to Ories), Moe Flavell (OBU to Poneke), Josh Hunt (Upper Hutt to Norths), Tui Hunt (Upper Hutt to Petone), Pacifica Ieremia (Upper Hutt to Norths), Josh Hunt (Upper Hutt to Norths), Finau Hopoi (Avalon to HOBM), Roy McGrath (Avalon to Poneke).

Meanwhile, defending champions Norths open their defence of the first round Women's title against Wainuiomata at Porirua Park. Last year's runners-up women's team Eketahuna has the first round bye in the seven-team women's grade.

Porirua Park is also the venue for MSP's opening round defence of the Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield, meeting Norths there in the curtain-raiser to the Swindale Shield game. Avalon play Paramata-Plimmerton at Ngati Toa Domain in their season opener in the start of their quest to regain Premier status via the Hardham Cup later in the year.

A feature match of the Senior 2 National Mutual Cup is the local battle at Kilbirnie Park between Poneke and former champion club Wellington. This is for the Ray "Spud" Lindsay Memorial Shield, donated by the Lindsay family in 1973 after the former Poneke lower and Senior grade player and Senior coach and Poneke and Wellington Football Club administrator.