The depth of talent in this grade is very good ...Hector Davies, coachFor the first time, Northland has entered two under-18s representative teams to contest the upcoming Northern Regions competitions. The 200 Northland squad and the Northland Vikings squad were selected this week after Northland's Under-18 club final on Saturday. Based inthe Far North, the 90 Milers team triumphed over Mid North's Bay Marlins team, 22-13 in a thrilling final in front of 300 supporters at Moerewa's Simson Park. A trial match was held on Sunday, which included players from all the other teams in the hotly contested competition, to help with selection. Northland Under-18s coach Hector Davies said it was great to see so much talent in one age group. "The depth of talent in this grade is good and the opportunity to have 50 players involved in representative rugby at this age will no doubt be beneficial to Northland rugby in the future," he said. Last year, Northland Under-18s won the Northern Regions Under-18s B competition to move up into the A competition, allowing them to enter a second team. The Northland Under-18s team kick off against Auckland A on September 5 in the Northern Regions A competition, while the Northland Vikings have their first game against Thames Valley in the Northern Regions B competition on August 29. "The competition is fickle and it changes every year but we have a heck of a lot of quality in both teams so we will see how we go," Davies said. Northland Under-18s representative squad: Ben Berridge, Hemana Wickliffe, John Butler, Ian Hendricks, Ray Hutton, Solomon Jones, Travis Larsen, Adam Thompson, Daniel O'Rourke, Jake Heenan, Hayden McCaw, Tyson Owen, Jake Wainwright, Nick Jurlina, Mac Sykes, Troy Lobendahn, Jordan Karena, Danny Covich, David Mullan, Whiria Meltzer, Curtis Cherrington, Pera Wihongi, Steven Morris, Brodie Maron, Steven Pene. Northland Vikings Under-18s representative squad: Jaden Cooper, Jared Meehan, Anaru Watene, Troy Kingi, Casey Rameka, Michael Chaytor, Ricky Everitt, Wiremu Te Iringa, Logan Cowan, Marac Beckham, Aorangi Stokes, Riccardo Buttereni, Matthew Keay, Gray Lewis, Dean Kingi, Kadin Te Nana, Joey Sullivan, Dean Wallace, Tyler Landsdowne, Tynan Erueti, Isaac Bray, Thomas Williams, Haylin Rogers, Reece Levavsour, Rawiri Thompson, Ryson Thompson, Caleb MacDonald.
