Horahora's Tasman Nathan charges at the Portland Panthers defence during his side's 48-12 round-two Rugby League Northland Premiership loss. Photo / John Stone
Horahora's Tasman Nathan charges at the Portland Panthers defence during his side's 48-12 round-two Rugby League Northland Premiership loss. Photo / John Stone
Portland Panthers' captain Alex Salase has certainly got his side's 2015 campaign off to a rollicking start.
After a profound 34-10 victory over Northern Wairoa in round one of the Rugby League Northland Scott Electrical Premiership, the Panthers have followed that up with a 48-12 win over the Horahora Broncos.
Leading from the front, Panthers coach Craig Bird said captain Salase "plays hard but plays fair".
"He's out there topping the tackle counts, the hit-up counts and leading from the front, which is what we want."
Despite a large scoring margin at the end of play, Bird said "the first 20 (minutes) was pretty full on. Horahora played well, they've got a lot of good young guys, (but) we managed to get back on top."
Horahora Broncos coach Sean Tito said his side "have the right ingredients", but "just need to get the mix right".
With the Northland Rugby League premiership season still in its early stages, all teams will be vowing to establish themselves early on. Both coaches agreed the season ahead has much more in stall for their respective sides.
"There's still a long way to go but we're happy with where we're at," Portland's Bird said.
"We've got good depth which is something we've lacked in the last few years."
Portland's most notable performers on Saturday included prop Josh Poasa, who had a big game, as well as ex-Otangarei Knights player Finlay Penitoa, featuring in his first outing for the Panthers. Bird said Penitoa "used his size to his advantage".
In other matches at the weekend, the long-awaited triple-header at Lindvart Park in Kaikohe got underway with the Adam Blair XIII taking on the Warriors Academy side in the main event. In the build-up to the match, Jim Larkin, the Adam Blair XIII coach, was confident his team could give the Warriors side a run for their money.
After a closely fought first half, both sides sat level at 16 points at the halftime whistle.
However, the second half saw the home side going down 44-16 to a well-versed Warriors outfit.
Larkin says the Adam Blair side are "a young mobile team that can play at pace".
"League-wise we are pretty fresh, but enthusiasm and skill-wise we are good."
