Gala day opening for club rugby this weekend

For many the opening weekend of the club rugby season marks the start of the year's sporting calendar, when Wellington's leading players and supporters alike put their passion and glory on the line for the first of 20 hard fought and action packed weeks of grassroots rugby.

The battle commences all in one place on Saturday at the season opening Gala Day at Trentham Memorial Park, where in a banquet of first round rugby, a total of 18 games will be played across the top three grades starting in mid morning and finishing late in the afternoon.

Twelve clubs are again vying for Swindale Shield supremacy over an eleven-week round robin competition, before the top eight finishing teams from the first round contest 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 2011.

As well as the Swindale Shield, the Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield and Senior 2 National Mutual Cup competitions are on the line, where the goals for the leading teams in these grades are earning spots in the higher Hardham and Ed Chaney Cups in the second round.

Highlights of the opening weekend of Swindale Shield matches include the four semi-finalists from last year's Jubilee Cup squaring off against each other. In two appetite-inducing clashes to kick-start the season, defending champions Northern United play Hutt Old Boys Marist and established rivals Petone and Poneke clash for the Fred Tilyard Memorial Shield.

In other matches, 2009 champions Marist St Pat's square off against the Wests Roosters, Upper Hutt and Wainuiomata meet for the Peter Jones-Dave Ritchie Cup, Old Boys-University play Tawa and Oriental-Rongotai and Avalon clash. Avalon will be anxious to quickly stamp their mark on the Swindale Shield after their one season down in the Senior 1 grade, followed by a barnstorming Hardham Cup in which they starting burning up their opposition - including a semi-final demolition of top qualifier Wests en route to the Premier 2 final against Wainuiomata.

Avalon's re-entry to the top grade comes at the expense of Johnsonville, whose latest Premier tenure proved a brief one and they will be looking for a strong showing in the Harper Lock Shield.

Top card Norths will again be the team to beat in the Swindale Shield this year, with a stream of young tyros seemingly always coming through their ranks to replace those that have been picked off by the professional teams in the off-season. A key loss for all rugby fans will be of dynamo Buxton Popoalii who smashed all known Wellington single season try scoring records last year with 23 magnificent tries. Popoalii is joining a steady stream of Wellington players in recent times such as Joe Hill, Tomasi Palu and Paula Kinikinilau (last year) and Hanipale Galo and several of his OBU teammates and Poneke's Daniel Ramsay (this year) off to ply their trade in Otago (the new Wellington B).

Norths were the outstanding Premier team in 2010 and deservedly won both the Swindale Shield and second round Jubilee Cup titles. In winning the first round last year, Norths piled on 546 points Just two teams, Petone and Ories, failed to stop them from scoring four tries or more in 11 games, and they finished 13 points clear of the rest of the field. In total they scored 123 tries and 819 points and averaged over 40 points per game in 2010.

Norths will be gunning for a three-peat of Swindale Shield titles this season, although only MSP has won the first round title more than two years in a row (1994-96) since the mid-1970s when super club Petone captured four in a row beteen 1973-76. Norths were also dominant across the lower grades in 2010, capturing the first round Senior 1 Harper Lock Shield and the first round Senior 2 National Mutual Cup.

Hot on their heels are likely to be the usual suspects of recent seasons - the two Marist clubs, Marist St. Pat's and Hutt Old Boys Marist, last year's beaten Jubilee Cup finalists Poneke, Petone and Oriental-Rongotai.

HOBM, who recently won the New Zealand Marist Spillane Shield, will be itching to add a title to the Jubilee Cup they won back in 2007. The loss of several key players from last year including No. 8 Matt Time (In Auckland, hopeful return in May), first five-eighth Dan Snee (Spain), fullback Mike Kingsbeer (work commitments) and lock Steve Bradshaw (retired, but watch this space) is more than made up for by some exciting gains such as Poverty Bay utility back Kahu Tamatea and incumbent New Zealand secondary schools midfielder Ope Paleseuma out of St. Pat's Stream.

MSP will shortly lose their king of Evans Bay Park, Fa'atonu Fili, off to Japan. They will also be obliged to share the love of their 40th season with neighbours Poneke at Evans Bay Park as the latter has lost Kilbirnie Park for much of the year due to the Rugby World Cup monster. The good news for Poneke supporters though is that fortress Kilbirnie will be back on deck by deepest darkest winter in time for the season's home run.

Petone have lost talisman hooker and skipper Eugene Smith (Germany), Shaun Mahoney (the UK) and John Cleland (retired), but otherwise appear settled. The Chris Molenaar captained 2011 Villagers will be typically strong up front and should have sufficient firepower in the backs - from Jared Kahu at halfback, to midfielders Micheal Lealava'a and Cam Incledon, to electric winger Willie Moala - to mount a strong challenge this year.

OBU, who play all their rugby at Nairnville Park in 2011 due the Hawkins Basin Reserve being out of action as a RWC base, will look to hit the ground running while the weather's fine and the tracks are hard. But their challenge always comes when the weather turns and the bigger, angrier packs come out to play.

Of the other challengers, 2005 first round champions Upper Hutt and Tawa are always dark horses and can be counted on for more than an upset or two, Hardham Cup champions Wainuiomata will be eager to make 2011 the year they finally cross the hurdle and get to play in the Jubilee Cup, the Wests Roosters are sleepers having disappointed for too long now while Avalon will be hoping to give fans every reason to pack spectator friendly Fraser Park when the weather gets cold.

Another feature of the 2011 season is the new coach and management structures of several of the clubs, with the majority of coaching staff from clubs having moved on.

Frank Rees remains at the helm of Norths, Phil Proctor at Ories, Dave Loveridge and Paddy Gough at OBU Adam Campbell and Mat Lee at HOBM and Willie Leota and Toby Robsonat Wests but all other clubs have new mentors in 2011.