Eketahuna to come under fire

Is Eketahuna's stranglehold on the Wairarapa-Bush premier division rugby competition under threat in 2006?
A fair question as the champions of the last three seasons prepare to take on Gladstone at Gladstone tomorrow.
Yes, Eketahuna have won all four of their games to date and are the clear leaders on the competition table.
But there is no doubt they have lacked the authority which has become their trademark and they will undoubtedly need to do better to defeat a Gladstone side thirsting for revenge after being on the end of a hefty beating by Eketahuna in last season's grand final.
One suspects the battle for forward supremacy will come out even stevens. Gladstone will certainly fancy their chances of doing well in the lineouts through Andrew Mclean and in the loose through the combined efforts of Sam Henderson, Mike Spence and Steve Wilkinson while Eketahuna will be looking to be dominant at scrum time and in the rucks and mauls.
In the backs one can assume Eketahuna will have the edge in an attacking sense.. Given even just a reasonable share of quality possession players like Hamish McKenzie, John Guillard, Simanu Simanu and Jorji Tamani are capable of cutting loose at any tick of the clock with Tamani, in particular, sure to have happy memories of the torment he caused Gladstone in last year's competition decider.
A smart punter wouldn't spend too much of his hard earned on this one but we'll plump for Eketahuna?just!
Another keenly-fought premier division encounter should be that between Marist and Carterton at Memorial Park.
Marist were rather unlucky not to have done better than a draw against Gladstone last weekend when they conceded a last minute try while having just 13 players on the paddock, two others having been consigned to the sin bin.
That Marist have enough penetration in their backline to worry Carterton is a given but you have to wonder whether their pack will be able to cope with a Carterton eight spearheaded by Fijian locks Lalangi Peters and Tomasi Kedarabuka and a serious contender for the Wairarapa-Bush captaincy in front rower Joe Harwood.
For Peters it will be his first appearance at headquarters and he will be keen to cement a place in the representative squad. He is a member of Fiji's World Cup squad which suggests he is ranked higher than Kedarabuka in that part of the world?high praise indeed!
Even a penalty goal would probably bring a smile to the faces of Puketoi players and supporters when they meet East Coast at Pongaroa. Puketoi have yet to score any match or competition points to date this season so while it is difficult to imagine them beating the Coasters just getting points on the board will be special in itself.
East Coast, for their part, are probably still wondering what happened in the second half of their game against Pioneer last weekend. They trailed by just two points at halftime and had clearly finished the first spell the stronger of the two teams.
But rather than continue the good work in the second they spent most of that half camped inside their own 22 and only some excellent defensive work, especially by loosies Joe Wyeth, Glen Hansen and Ken Scott, kept Pioneer tryless in that period of the game.
The fourth premier division game tomorrow sees Greytown-Tuhirangi playing Martinborough at Pirinoa and while the combined side will start hot favourites Martinborough gave Eketahuna good run for their money last weekend and should keep the final scoreline within reasonable bounds.