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OBM will be without Poverty Bay halfback Willy Grogan for tomorrow’s premier rugby game against Athletic in Wairoa.
Grogan was concussed in last week’s 47-15 win against Tapuae at the Oval and will be missed.
But as they say, when one door closes another opens, and Reeftahn Brown-Terekia, who started the game at fullback before replacing Grogan, relished the chance to be closer to the action.
“Reeftahn wants to play halfback and he took his opportunity well,” said former Poverty Bay and Ngati Porou East Coast rep and Enterprise Cars OBM assistant coach Keith Henderson. He played rugby in Scotland, Canada, Hong Kong and Wellington before coming home. He now teaches physical education and health at Tolaga Bay Area School.
“Willie will be out for a few weeks, so it’s good we have Reeftahn. He gave the backs good service, but credit for that goes to the forwards — Jamie Barnett, Anthony Kiwara, Lance Dickson, Jacob Cook, Juston Allen, Te Otene Ria, Evan Bryant and Ngahiwi Manuel. They were superb.
“Juston, in particular, was outstanding.
“I spent some time with Juston last year when he was at Pirates and he impressed me, not just as a player but as a person. He’s at an age now where he can be a role model for us.
“The tight five made it easy for the backs to operate and (coach) Tom Solomon and I will be looking for more of that.
“Athletic have had a tough start but they’re at home and we’ll need to bring our A game.”
A depleted Athletic side lost 48-14 to YMP at Rugby Park last week.
But coach Jimmy Whaitiri said, “The heads are certainly not down.”
“The boys are a bit battered and bruised but they’re a good bunch of guys who love their rugby.”
Tapuae coach Frank King was equally positive as his side prepare to play YMP at Rugby Park.
“We played well in patches against a good OBM team; we need to play well for longer periods,” King said.
“I can’t fault the effort, but at this level if you turn the ball over you get punished.
“We’ve shown we can score tries against two of the stronger teams, High School Old Boys and OBM. We need to shore up our defence.”
Tapuae face a YMP side who ran in eight tries.
“Athletic tested us with their pick-and-go and it wasn’t until late in the game that gaps appeared,” YMP coach Steve Smith said.
Te Peehi Fairlie helped himself to three tries, while former Pirates player Jacob Leaf bagged two.
But it was two of the senior players who stood out for the Magpies — hooker Shayde Skudder and midfield back and captain Reihana Wyllie.
“They led by example, but I was also impressed with our young halfback, Quinnton Pare-Collier,” Smith said.
“We’re looking to implement different styles into our game this year and it’s slowly coming together.”