100 percent commitment: Poverty Bay rugby players Stefan Destounis (getting tackled by a Ngati Porou East Coast player) and Jesse Fleming are two of many local players who make huge commitments to play the game they love. HSOB flanker Destounis works with father Bill on his fishing boat. On Saturday he was up at 5am (like every working day, which for a fisherman is every day) and travelled to Tolaga Bay for work. Stefan is the crew and does all the lifting, finishing late so that he can get back to town for a game. Driving back to town Stefan and Bill got stuck in the traffic due to the road closure in Okitu because of a fatal crash. They were on the Makorori side of the hill. Not wanting to be late for a crunch game against OBM, Stefan started running, over the hill, past the accident and towards town. He kept running until he was picked up by another family member. Eventually he got to the game with 15 minutes to spare and played the full 80. “I wasn’t the only one affected by the accident and road closure,” Stefan said. “There were a lot of people running both ways over the hill, trying to get back to town and up the Coast.” Fleming, a key man in the Waikohu team, unbeaten after nine premier games, is a shearing contractor who travels big kilometres each week. “Jesse is just one of a number of our guys who travel to make the games,” said Waikohu coach Jason Tuapawa. Picture by Paul Rickard
WHILE some Poverty Bay and Ngati Porou East Coast premier club teams have struggled to get players to training sessions and games this season, Larsawn Ngatapa lead the way when it comes to players travelling long distances to wear the green and white jersey.
“We’ve got 10 players who travel
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