North Force eyes another win

Ross McFarlane and his Takahiwai rugby league side are just one of many teams playing sport this weekend, along with an international rally being in Whangarei. Photo / Ron burgin

Northland is set for a cracking weekend of sport as an international spectacle comes to our shores along with the continuation of club sport.

While the International Rally of Whangarei accelerates its way around Northland, local sportspeople will press on.

No team hoping to press on more will be North Force, who is staring down the barrel of picking up back-to-back wins for the first time in nearly two years.

Last week North Force broke a 23-game drought with a 3-2 win over Papakura, this week they're looking to do the same against Tauranga.

Coach Russell Baddeley said he wasn't getting ahead of himself, though, instead his side was going to take each game as it came.

"We [were] back at it Tuesday night, working on things to give Tauranga a go. We won our first game, it's a start but we're not going to get carried away. We've got 20 more of these to come.

"They've got the fight and determination, in this league in almost every game there'll be spells where we're going to be under the pump so we'll have to learn how to deal with those and come out the other side," Baddeley explained of North Force after withstanding a 40 minute attacking barrage from Papakura last week.

"We've set our expectation that we don't just want to be competitive we want to get back into division one and we'll be fighting like hell to see if we can do that. If you look at the squad, if we look at the quality and commitment I don't see why we can't."

This week Scotty Burgess teams up with the North Force squad and will further add to the quality and depth available for this match. Although it is very early in the season a win here today will certainly set North Force on the right track.

Meanwhile in club rugby stakes, Old Boys Marist will be looking to get their season back on track as they sit second from the bottom in the Bayleys Southern Districts Premier competition.

After having both their premier and premier reserve teams finish in the top four last year, Old Boys Marist will have their cut out for them if they are to upset Kamo tomorrow.

Hikurangi are another team who will be desperate for a win as they take on the new and improved Waipu outfit in Hikurangi.

This weekend also sees round two of the Rugby League Northland MultiKai Cooker Premiership continue, with teams looking to kick on after some indifferent results last weekend.

Club football and hockey also continue this weekend, with both competitions into their second rounds also.

This weekend also sees the Bo Herbert Memorial Waka Ama race take place on the Tutukaka Coast.