Wellington club rugby team profile: MSP ?Cougar? Greens

The second of our team profile series, taking a look at as many of Wellington club rugby's serious and social lower grade teams, is the Marist St Pat's ‘Cougar' Green team (pictured above at their recent 'Initiation' ceremony).?

The Cougars are one of three MSP teams playing in the two U85 kg Restricted grades. The MSP Blues and the Reds contest the 10-team Division 1 grade, while the Cougars fly the flag for the club in the 8-team Division 2 competition.

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Club: Marist St Pat's

Team name: ‘Cougar' Greens??

Competition currently playing: U85 kg Restricted Division 2

Social Media: @msprugby

Home ground:Martin Luckie Park is our home, here we have had some stellar matches beating top of the table teams on multiple occasions. The new St Patrick's College Artificial since its arrival has also provided some quality games of footy.

Team origins: The Greens were born out of the a Reds overload in 2010, but in 2011 with a new Coach Roy Montgomery aka ‘The Godfather' the team created a new culture and has developed into a free running, socially active rugby team.

Biggest rivals: We have had great battles with most of the teams in Division 2, but the boys get up for Avalon who have always been a tough opponent in often heated games. Anytime we take on someone from our own club also brings out a fired up Cougar outfit.

Magic moments In 2011 we had a great end of season run with Pretty boy Dom Scott leading the charge as we overcame Petone late in the Division 3 Semi-final and then lost to HOBM in the final after being held up in the dying minutes.

Off the field the magic moments often happen at Initiation where the traditional ‘Eat Your Greens' task sees the new boys tackle a random Green Vegetable, with the full lettuce always creating some good footage.

Team rituals and traditions: The team has three must go-to events off the field that ensure the Cougar culture continues from year to year. These are the Initiation, Court Session and End of Season do.

Before games we ensure Sam-O is sobered up from his big Friday night and tell Jordan Walsh he is looking good to ensure he runs on the field with a high level of confidence.

The team's experienced players: Kade Sheely, Enda Costello, Filip Dimitrievski, Jason Botherway and Lachlan Davis are our most capped Cougars. They all embrace everything that the Cougars are about and two of them have been our Players' Player of the Season, showing their true value to the side.

The team's personalities: All the Cougars define themselves in unique ways:

Jordan Walsh - The natural pretty boy.

Kade Sheely - Known for his ‘Oh Sheely' moments.

Graham Price - He's a ref in case you didn't know, so he's right.
?
Chapman Vili - Not the man to play at halfback.

Enda Costello - No idea what he ever says, think he's Irish or something.

The team's famous players: Dom Scott and now Head coach Willy Donnelly are famous for a modelling piece they did to promote the club for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Dom got a contract offer out of it, Willy did not.

On player retention and rejuvenation: The Cougars successfully welcome ?5-10 new players a year but have maintained a core of around 12-15 players since the team's creation. Once the new boys get through Initiation, they tend to want to hang around and see the next bunch of boys struggle through it.

The last word: The last word: The MSP Cougar greens are often overshadowed by the MSP Blues and Reds who have been successful for some time in the U85 kg division. But with a strong embedded culture you can be sure the Cougars are here to stay.