League: Eels serious about nines success

Otumoetai Eels player Ainsley Skudder is in the club's squad for the Waicoa Bay Nines in Rotorua. Photo / File

New Otumoetai Eels coach Len Reid will give his charges their first serious hit out at the Waicoa Bay Nines this weekend.

Starting today the Upper Central Zone nines tournament is part of a festival of rugby league at Rotorua International Stadium leading up to the New Zealand Warrior's NRL pre-season trial against Penrith Panthers tomorrow.

For Reid, the former Bay of Plenty rugby league coaching and development officer, it's a first taste of club coaching for "more years than I care to remember. It's a good 10 years anyway".

While it will give him a chance to run the rule over a few new players, who have fronted for pre-season training, he says the Eels are certainly not going to make up the numbers.

"We've had no football as such ... so there are quite a lot of things I hope to get out of it," he said.

"It's also given us something to train for for the past couple of weeks and we've got the footballs out a little bit earlier [in pre-season] than I would normally have done."

No stranger to the nine-a-side version of the game, which is currently enjoying a surge of popularity on the back of the Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines, Reid has coached Coastline and Waicoa Bay sides in NZRL competitions in the past.

"I think the last time was about 2003 or 4. There's a lot of space, so support play and backing up is a big part of it and we have been working on that.

"When you have a two on one or a three on two you really should be scoring.

"First-up tackles are also important because, if someone gets in space, that's it. There also tends to be a lot of off-the-cuff play - playing what's in front of you."

He said the squad selected had a mix of old and new players.

The Eels play two pool games on Friday against Taniwharau at 6.25pm and Rotorua's Central at 7.40pm, with the third against Tokoroa's Pacific at 10.45am tomorrow before the knock-out phase begins.

The final is due to take place at 1.30pm tomorrow, with the NRL pre-season game kicking off at 3pm.

Otumoetai Eels squad
Ainsley Skudder, Josh Allen, Mark Ballantyne, Conner Hohepa, Josh Tupou, Gary Ngarongo, Willie Rutene, Chris Adamson, Alex Parker, Justin Wigmore, Ruapani Smith, Rawiri Faulkner, Shaun Karuana, Daniel Holmes, Peni Tokailagi.