One of the most vexing problems for Northland rugby league officials, when they decided to revive the North versus South competition after a break of a few years, was trying to track down the trophy.
A lack of senior representative fixtures this season has encouraged the Whangarei and Districts League to
dust off the competition to use as a trial match to select the Northland senior team.
"The North and South competition was pretty popular for a few years but it kind of got lost there for a while, what with Bartercard Cup and so on, in fact even the trophy got lost," James Wilcox laughed.
Wilcox, manager of the North team, said the whereabouts of the trophy caused a great deal of consternation and he thought it likely that the trophy accompanied some of the winning players home after a night of celebration and never saw the light of day again.
"Nobody knows what happened to it and everybody's passing the buck, so Harry Clyde stepped up and said he'd donate a new trophy for the competition, and solved the problem just like that," he said.
Wilcox has already selected a Northern squad in the most democratic way by asking each of the four club coaches in the northern region - from Moerewa Tigers, Bay Slayers, Kaikohe Lions and Hikurangi Stags - to submit five players for the team.
The match will be on September 13, the week after the grand final, and a team to play Coastline the following week will be selected.
The South team will consist of players from the Marist Brothers, Northern Wairoa Bulls, Takahiwai Warriors and Portland Panther clubs and has yet to be selected, but North coach Jay Hepi and assistant coach Phil Gordon have already named their squad.
The North team: Vern Wilson, Harley Mei-Ostler, Pouri Wihongi, Jason Grey Vince Joyce (Slayers), Rob Rollo, Steve and Joe Rau, Brent Old, Te Ariki Walker (Stags) Jock Pirata, Tom Tauranga, Tawio Davis, Dylan Craig, Porky Norman (Tigers), Woody Maihi, Tuffy Munro, Tane Avelik, Hamuera Tohu and Bobby Ramaka.
