Coach JT looking at winning swansong in Queenstown

Northland coach JT Thomas is hopeful his side can pull one out of the bag at this weekend's National Pub Charity Sevens in Queenstown - likely to be his last hurrah at the helm of the province's sevens team.
Thomas began coaching after injury halted him from progressing further as a national sevens player. Following his shift to north from Waikato, he coached the Northland women when they still played at the national competition, before taking the men's provincial side under his wing.
He has been at the helm for the past seven years, and feels he will more than likely hand over the coaching reins next season.
"I love sevens - otherwise I wouldn't be coaching. But I have been doing this for a while now and my partner (Angela Suvelko) and I have a little 19-month-old daughter, Mala, and I want to spend more time as a family," the Whangarei Boys' High School teacher said.
Sevens is in a good space at the moment, and there was no shortage of high calibre coaches to continue building the Northland side and growing the game in the region.
"Club sevens is gaining momentum up here and the (Northland Rugby) Union have been very helpful in trying to promote sevens. Assistant coach Peter Nock has come on board this year and has been more than my right-hand man ... he's very on to it, and gets on with the players at their level. He's a good coach and manager - and he would be ideal to take over the reins next season."
Thomas, Nock, and trainer Nick Collins have been working hard over the couple of months to prime Northland to peak at this weekend's National sevens tournament staged at Queenstown Recreational Grounds.
After a disappointing bottom tier finish at Sunday's Bay of Plenty Provincial Sevens Tournament at Mount Maunganui, a win in their first pool match against Taranaki is crucial to build the team's confidence, Thomas said.
To get a win first up would go miles at the tournament - winning a couple of games would encourage the boys to express themselves more on the field.
Northland coaches watched Taranaki closely at Mount Maunganui and the 2010 nationals semifinalists will present a challenging contest for their northern counterparts with several New Zealand representatives and trialists in the starting line up.
Following Taranaki, Northland meet North Harbour, who scored in the closing seconds of their game against Northland in their first pool match in BOP to steal the win.
"Harbour coach Geoff Alley is a good mate of mine, and it's always good to beat a mate," Thomas said.
Northland then play Tasman, who beat them in last year's shield final for the second year on the trot. While little is known about this year's contingent, Thomas is expecting tough opposition from the South Island unit.
Northland need to win at least two matches on Saturday to progress into the top eight. Sunday's play kicks off with quarterfinals.
Logan Wendt and Jake Wainwright were left out of the 14-strong squad who contested the BOP tournament, in what was a difficult decision for the coaches. The pair had performed well but there were several players vying for the same positions.
Northland Sevens squad to play in Queenstown: Cam Goodhue, Troy Loebendahn, Rhys Te Nana, Matt Wright, Brodie Marron, Zar Lawrence, Kolio Hifo, Sam Collins, Dan McCully, Saxon Samuels, Brook Gilmore, Iwi Hauraki.