Hawke's Bay Magpies centre Stacey Ili is looking to continue his strong form against visiting Canterbury this weekend. Photo / Paul Taylor
Hawke's Bay Magpies centre Stacey Ili is looking to continue his strong form against visiting Canterbury this weekend. Photo / Paul Taylor
Hawke's Bay centre Stacey Ili lit up McLean Park last Sunday with a man-of-the-match performance against Counties Manukau, but the Magpies were lucky to secure his services for the season at all.
The 29-year-old came over from Melbourne in July ahead of the Mitre 10 Cup campaign, his third straightin Hawke's Bay colours.
The Magpies will want him at his best again tomorrow night to give them their best chance of beating Canterbury, with kickoff set for 7.05pm at McLean Park
Ili had to leave his partner and 2-year-old son behind in Australia to rejoin the province back in July, a decision which came with their reluctant blessing and a promise from Ili to stop the rugby globetrotting.
"My missus let me come back, she said 'have your best season and that's it, that's enough, finish'," he said.
"So I'm just focused on playing Magpies and just trying to perform week in, week out."
The Samoan international Ili left his partner and son in Melbourne to join one last Magpies campaign. Photo / Paul Taylor
Ili said it has been tough to be away, but it's not a new experience for him after playing in New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and Singapore over his career to date.
He was working for a family friend loading trucks, and was considering giving professional rugby up when the Magpies came calling.
"I was thinking about just being a dad, working and all that," the one-time Samoan international said.
"But I decided to give it one more crack and come back to the Bay."
Maybe the biggest reason for that was a feeling of unfinished business after Hawke's Bay lost the 2019 Championship final to Bay of Plenty.
"If we won last year I probably wouldn't have come back, put it that way," Ili said.
"We still have the same team which is pretty good, hopefully we can go one better."
Those hopes took a slight hit after the Magpies' away loss to Southland in Round One, but Ili said that wake-up call lit a fire under the team.
Last Sunday, the midfielder himself was a real standout, breaking Counties' line seemingly at will in the first half to directly set up two tries.
Hawke's Bay centre Stacey Ili lit up McLean Park on Sunday with a man-of-the-match performance against Counties Manukau. Photo/ Ian Cooper
Hawke's Bay are determined to continue in similar fashion against competition heavyweights Canterbury on Saturday night, given they haven't beaten them since 1982.
"[If we] just build on the performance from Sunday and we should be alright," Ili said.
Magpies coach Mark Ozich has made four changes to his matchday 23, the most notable of which involve a pair of All Blacks.
Loose forward Gareth Evans will come off the bench in his return from a long-term ankle injury, while his former Napier Boys' High school teammate Brad Weber is unavailable to play with All Blacks duty.
Ozich said he's excited for the Hurricanes man, who last played in Round Two of Super Rugby Aotearoa in June.
He's also excited for his side to challenge themselves against Canterbury, and said they know they'll need to raise their game and standards in order to compete.
"But that's what you wanna do, you wanna play against the best," he said.
The visitors will be hurting from losing the Ranfurly Shield to Taranaki last week, and Ozich is expecting them to look to bounce back strong like Hawke's Bay did after their Round One loss to Southland.
And even though Canterbury have lost six players to All Blacks duty, he said the Magpies have talked this week about their depth and ability to put out a strong side anyway.
"Their culture is a winning culture, and it doesn't really matter who comes into their environment," Ozich said.
Magpies squad to take on Canterbury at 7.05pm this Saturday at McLean Park:
1. Pouri Rakete-Stones 2. Ash Dixon (captain) 3. Joe Apikotoa 4. Geoff Cridge 5. Tom Parsons 6. Marino Mikaele Tu'u 7. Brendon O'Connor 8. Devan Flanders 9. Folau Fakatava 10. Lincoln McClutchie 11. Jonah Lowe 12. Danny Toala 13. Stacey Ili 14. Lolagi Visinia 15. Kurt Baker
Bench: 16. Jacob Devery 17. Jason Long 18. Joel Hintz 19. Isaia Walker-Leawere 20. Gareth Evans 21. Connor McLeod (debut) 22. Caleb Makene 23. Ollie Sapsford
