“Cookie’s been with the club for a long time and maybe sometimes he gets overshadowed by Jimmy and Timoti, but we all know his true value.
“If it’s windy you couldn’t ask for a better bowler to chuck the ball to.”
OBR will go in as favourites, having lost only one game on their way to winning the Doleman Cup and Walker Shield. They beat Bollywood Stars HSOB in the Shield 20-over final two weeks ago, albeit by only three runs.
“We know how tough it’s going to be tomorrow,” Loffler said.
“The T20 final was tight and last week they had a few batsmen get among the runs.”
HSOB skipper Scott Tallott led the charge with a top score of 62 as the old students beat Kevin Hollis Glass Pirates.
And tomorrow Tallott will field what he says is “the strongest line-up we’ve had this season”.
“We don’t have Jak Rowe, who’s working, but we’ve got Carl Shaw, Fish (David Salmon) and Sam (Tallott, Scott’s elder brother) available.”
Wicketkeeper/opening batsman Glen Udall contributed a valuable 48 while Jarrod Renouf (42), Ajay Kumar (32) and Olly Needham (26 not out) all chipped in as HSOB posted 249-7 against Pirates.
“Olly comes in when we’re short and he’s good value,” Scott Tallott said.
Spinners Ryan Majstrovic (4-37) and Gagan Dhinga (3-28) then ripped through the Pirates batting.
“Apart from Jak (Rowe), we’re not known as a team who can blast out the opposition, but we have bowlers who can restrict runs and that puts pressure on the batsmen.”
But the thing that impressed Tallott most was his team’s fielding.
“It’s something we have been working hard on and it’s paying off,” he said.
“If five of us can save five runs each that could be the difference between winnning and losing.”
Tallott agreed that under the new finals format — the top team after five rounds going through to the final, and second and third meeting in a sudden-death semifinal — the winners of this match would take a big step towards booking their place in the top three and possibly an automatic final spot.
“The motivation is to knock the top dogs (OBR) off their perch. A win would also set a platform for the remaining games.
“If OBR win, that puts them in a strong position to make the final.”
Coastal Ultrasound Horouta club captain Greg Taylor is also conscious of the need for a win as they prepare to face Pirates after a win against Gisborne Boys’ High School last week.
“This is a big game for us and Pirates under the new format,” said Taylor, who will not have Vaughan Thompson available.
“Apart from Vaughan, we’ll have a full squad to choose from, but Pirates are our bogey team.
“To win we need an all-round performance from everyone.
Boys’ High should keep their hopes alive when they play Campion, who have yet to win a game.
Boys’ High coach Ben O’Brien-Leaf will look for a more disciplined batting display from his side after they were rolled for 103 last week, with only skipper Drew Scott (28) and Jack Faulkner (26) offering any real resistance.
While we’re on the subject of Campion, player-coach/teacher Mark Naden deserves a medal for keeping his young team enthusiastic and fronting up every week, which means no byes.
“It’s just about never giving up,” Naden said.
“Boys’ High will be hard to beat but our plan is to increase our individual scores each week.
“If all 11 of us score 10 runs each, then we have 110.
“As our team members get older — we have five Year 11s and four Y10s at the moment — we’ll adjust the goal each game as we try to deal with the bowlers and be patient.
“The boys are working on their batting skill, so that they can put the bad ball away. But it’s also about having fun and enjoying ourselves.”
