Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate / Sport

Budd gets valuable game time

Imran Ali
By Imran Ali
Multimedia Journalist·Northern Advocate·
28 Jun, 2010 04:16 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Fed up of playing second fiddle to the likes of Jerome Kaino and Ali Williams, former Blues loose forward/lock Dean Budd moved to Northland for more game time in the ITM Cup competition.
In Whangarei on Saturday, he did get quality time as a blindside flanker but his Old Boy's club
is still struggling to win games.
The softly spoken No6, who's rubbed shoulders with the best Super players as a Blues replacement player in 2009, now aims to impress the Blues selectors as a part of the Northland set-up in the fast approaching ITM Cup.
Born in Whangarei, Budd moved to Palmerston North when he was eight before moving to Auckland.
"It's back to my roots now. My mum and grandparents live here and Old Boys is a special club to me because my dad played for them and I wanted to follow his legacy," he said.
"Hopefully, I can get more game time this year and push for Blues honours from here."
Budd said only through injuries in the squad did he get an opportunity to play games against Western Force, Crusaders and Bulls last year.
 "It's difficult from down there [at the Blues]. They have loosies like Jerome Kaino, Ali [Williams] and others and I basically sat on the bench."
He was so starved of game time that he flew to Canada to play for the Velox Valhallians Rugby Club  before joining Old Boy's campaign.
 
 "I was 110 [kg] but have toned down a bit. Getting away to Canada, away from the system here, and getting a break with Velox was what I needed to clear my head and find my feet."
He also played for Auckland in the 2008/09 NPC competition.
Missing out on Blues selection this year hurt, he said. But it has also motivated him and he hopes to get into Super 15 next year after  a strong performance in the ITM Cup competition - if, as expected, he can secure a starting spot in the Northland team.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Sport

2025 King's Birthday Honours List

Premium
Northern Advocate

Rupeni Caucaunibuca: Rugby’s greatest talent was never fulfilled

17 Apr 12:30 AM
Northern Advocate

Ninety-year-old’s passion for pickleball encourages all ages

10 Mar 11:00 PM

Clean water fuelling Pacific futures

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

2025 King's Birthday Honours List

2025 King's Birthday Honours List

Celebrating the Knights and Dames appointed in this year's King's Birthday Honours list. Video / NZ Herald

Premium
Rupeni Caucaunibuca: Rugby’s greatest talent was never fulfilled

Rupeni Caucaunibuca: Rugby’s greatest talent was never fulfilled

17 Apr 12:30 AM
Ninety-year-old’s passion for pickleball encourages all ages

Ninety-year-old’s passion for pickleball encourages all ages

10 Mar 11:00 PM
Rural Games success for Toa Henderson

Rural Games success for Toa Henderson

10 Mar 08:16 PM
It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home
sponsored

It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP