Uawa relish prospect of season

Power: Laman Davies charges through the TVC line in the 2019 East Coast rugby final. Davies, Uawa player-coach, says the club has the core of the team back for the new season. Picture by Paul Rickard

Fifty-four kilometres from Gisborne on State Highway 35, dwell blue giants.

And for Uawa — East Coast club rugby champions of the past two years and Rangiora Keelan Memorial Shield holders — July 4 and Week 1 of the season can't come soon enough.

“We have the core of our team of the past two years coming back together again,” player-coach Laman Davies said.

“Scott Lasenby, Rik Kernohan, Adaam Ross, Danger (Chris Richardson), Sam Parkes, Jordan Birch and BJ Sidney are all down to play. We have 32 registered players.”

Former Poverty Bay and Ngati Porou East Coast back-row forward Patrick Allen has returned to the district and will play for Uawa, while hard-charging Harley Phillips — another who gives 100 percent effort every game — has recovered from a broken right arm and is available.

Uawa have fielded by far the biggest forward pack on the Coast in recent years. Theirs has been a superb attacking platform.

Both Richardson and Parkes are versatile, sharp and fit, with the likes of Birch, Sidney, Moana Nuku and Niao Savage also established players, their skill and nerve having been proven under the pressure of finals rugby.

Just as interesting in the Uawa squad will be the new players — Josh Dearden (a former Lindisfarne College first 15 halfback) and Puhi Tau, formerly of Gisborne club OBM.

Uawa now have depth — as opposed to just cover — in most, if not all, positions.

Laman Davies will also have the support he needs on the sideline: Richard Meihana is his assistant coach, Joe Sheridan is the manager, and Nigel McGrannachan is the long-serving physiotherapist.

McGrannachan, 2019 coaches Tip Nukunuku and Peter Crawford, and manager Darryl Crawford did great work behind the scenes with enthusiasm, energy and considerable expertise.

Attendance at games and a broad demographic among fans are good measures of a club's success and a team's appeal to the public. All East Coast clubs are well supported by loyal fans who generate colourful atmosphere.

And when Davies was asked why he'd done what he'd done in rugby — and, in 2020, would do again with Uawa — he answered, “That's easy: the people . . . the smiles, the joy it brings to our kids and families, seeing them, hearing them cheer us on.

“It's unreal.”