Are wholesale changes in store for the Northern Storm ahead of their second season in the country's top rugby league competition, or will a bit of tinkering suffice?
Storm board member Mike Laiman and the rest of the board will address that question when the organisation meets, in the coming weeks, to assess its first season.
"We've identified a number of areas that need improving and we'll be sitting down in the next couple of weeks with the coach to address them and work out other options for next year," he said.
The performance of the Storm - made up of Northland's best (available) players and Auckland players drafted in to strengthen the team by coach Geoff Morton - was promising in the first half of the season, with impressive wins over Waitakere and Wellington and a first round draw with Waicoa Bay.
But they failed to consolidate in the second half of the season, another draw with Waicoa Bay being the only success.
The appointment of an Auckland-based coach was questioned by those expecting a Northland coach to get the job, but Laiman has already stated his preference for Morton to complete the second year of his contract.
The former Glenora Bears coach did a fine job under difficult circumstances at the beginning of the season, when only about half the Northland players he had expected to play were actually available.
The lack of commitment from some players meant Morton had to increase the number of Auckland players in the team - which is another bone for the board to chew on.
The reluctance of the northerners, in particular, to get involved may have been due to the biggest problem facing the franchise, namely the physical distances separating the team members and the need to reimburse players for travel costs. This issue should also be addressed by the board.
The squad was split into two separate squads which trained simultaneously in Whangarei and Auckland throughout the season.
"The number of guys up north, who either pulled out or who weren't available meant we didn't really have any other way of doing it," Morton said.
"We simply didn't have the playing depth we needed to be able to base all training in Whangarei at that stage."
There is no doubt the Auckland players made an invaluable contribution to the season, with Joe Toetu-Ioane and Henry Godinet the only two players to play in every match.
The Auckland players had to register with a Northland club to play for the Storm. That later became a contentious point, with most of them signing up for Marist, who were then able to use some of the players when they weren't picked for the Storm or if the Bartercard team didn't have a game.
Another point the franchise must mull over is whether they will recommit to Jubilee Park, now named the Kamo and Whangarei Testing Station Stadium, as their home base, or whether to increase the use of Okara Park next season.
The Storm used Jubilee Park for most of their home games this year, except for two games at Okara Park. Laiman said the attraction of using Okara Park was that it was more user friendly, as well as being available for night games. He conceded Jubilee Park was still the traditional home of rugby league in the province.
All things considered, Laiman said the franchise board were reasonably happy with the season.
"Sure there were some frustrations, but overall there were plenty of people who didn't think we'd win any games and we came away with two wins against quality opposition and a couple of draws," Laiman said.
The team was competitive - although rarely for an entire match - in New Zealand's top rugby league competition despite a rushed and uncertain start to its existence.
One of the driving forces behind the franchise, Anthony Murray, who sadly passed away midway through the season, said part of his motivation was to introduce young players into high level league without them having to leave the area.
That goal has already been achieved, with three of the Storm's young players, Brendon Hikaka, Mason Pure and Linton Price, named in the Kiwis under-18 squad to play Australia next month after they made a big effort to travel down from the Far North for Storm practices.
All three started the season playing for the Northern Alliance under-18 team before being blooded in the Bartercard competition by Morton, where they and another under-18 player, Daley Johnson, quickly became starting members in the squad.
"There was some excellent work by Jim Larkins in the Far North to develop those guys and bring them through the NJCs and to showcase them in the Bartercard competition in Northland and to get picked for the Junior Kiwis," Laiman said.
The Storm concept then is sound and the ball is now back in the hands of the board to knock it into shape before pre-season training begins in November.
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