Timely boost for Steamers stocks

By JAMIE TROUGHTON
It's a double-shot of good news even the biggest province wouldn't blink at.
As a 43-strong Steamers training squad was announced by new coaches Kevin Schuler and Steve Miln, Bay of Plenty's rugby stocks had a timely lift with the return of Colin Bourke and great news with Jamie Nutbrown's injury.
Bourke had his contract suspended in January so he could play the off-season in Italy. The No 8 has bulked up, trimmed up and benefited from regular rugby.
But Nutbrown's impending return can't be understated.
He tore his bicep tendon from the bone halfway through the Super 14 season with the Chiefs and looked likely to miss the early part of the Air New Zealand Cup season. Things are looking up though.
"It's on the improve every day," Nutbrown said today. "I just have to keep up with the rehab and I should be right for the pre-season games. I'm seeing the surgeon at the end of June and will hopefully get the green light from him then."
All of a sudden, the dire halfback stocks have been boosted dramatically. Garrick Cowley has returned from Italy and should slot in as understudy to Nutbrown, the Steamers' player of the season last year.
Nutbrown ripped the tendon making a tackle against the Lions in March, and then had the double ignominy of sitting at home watching Chiefs backup halfback Brendon Leonard win a spot in the All Blacks.
"It sucks alright - it was a tough pill to swallow but he took his opportunities well. It was a real bugger - it could have been anyone else.
"I hadn't hit any real good form but I was playing okay, and it was only halfway through the year and as it ended up, we started to play some good footy in the second part of the year.
"I got pretty low for a while, especially when I was in a cast. It was disheartening and frustrating, especially when the boys started playing some decent rugby.
"But since I've started the rehab and started building the strength back up, it's given me something to focus on and I can see the progress every day."
The injury was unusual in that the tendon normally rips off the shoulder rather than the elbow, making an operation compulsory.
Bourke, meanwhile, relished back-to-back seasons of rugby, completing four months with first division club L'Aguila in the Italian Championship.
"After missing out on Super 14 selection, I felt my best option was to keep playing as I was only hitting my best form towards the end of the Air New Zealand Cup," Bourke said.
"The Italian option was offered to me so I finalised everything pretty quickly and was on the plane within a week.
Other features of the training squad include the elevation of loose-forwards Luke Braid (Tauranga Sports) and Matt Vant Leven (Whakarewarewa), who were both at school last year.
That means there's not place for former Steamer Dave Gorrie, who has been in outstanding form this season.
Te Puke wing Alan Jarvis-Cook, leading the Baywide tryscoring stakes with nine in the first round, also misses out.
Whakarewarewa's Kelly Haimona and Wade Pereira, Mount Maunganui's Zane Butler and Tauranga Sports fullback Toby Arnold have all won places on club form, or by starring in the sub-union competition which culminated in a BOP XV match against Poverty Bay last week.
Players have four to five weeks and games against Thames Valley and a Waikato XV to push for places in the final Air New Zealand Cup squad that will be selected in late June.
Steamers training squad: Forwards: John Pareanga, Marcel Cummings-Toone, Ngarimu Simpkins, Wade Pereira, Ben Castle, Simms Davison, Matt Wallis, Mike Ormsby, James McGougan, Culum Retallick, Aaron Rameka , Glenn Minnell, Aidan Kuka, Alamoti Te Pou, Chris Elvin, Luke Braid, Warren Smith, Colin Bourke, Solomon King, Mata McGrath, Tanerau Latimer, Matt Vant Leven.
Backs: Jamie Nutbrown, Ben Humphrey, Garrick Cowley, Kyle O'Brien, Murray Williams, Mike Delany, Kelly Haimona, Cory Aporo, Rena Schuster, Wayne Hughson, Tajhon Mailata, Aifai Tuiloma, Zane Butler, Anthony Tahana, Charles Baxter, Lance MacDonald, Teu Nafe, Jason Hona, Hayden Baird, Toby Arnold, Marty Bourke.