Former foe may be in rep line-up

A PLAYER who tormented Wairarapa-Bush in their NPC third division campaign last season may play for them in 2006.
Wing Junior Tongia scored tries for Buller in both of their clashes with Wairarapa-Bush in 2005, including a brace when they pulled off a shock 29-24 in their opening round encounter, a result which Wairarapa-Bush happily reversed in the semi-finals further down the track, before going on to win the final.
Tongia is currently playing for the Tawa club in Wellington and his availability for Wairarapa-Bush has yet to be confirmed.
However, hopes are high he will give a positive answer to overtures to have him play for the union on a regular basis this season and he has been included in an extended squad named today to prepare for the Jimmy Cotter Memorial Trophy match with Wellington at Masterton on May 23
Tongia is the only "import" included in the Wairarapa-Bush squad for that game, and his selection verifies the earlier concern expressed by coach Peter Russell over the lack of quality wingers in club rugby here.
Russell said the idea of naming as many as 31 players came about through the number of niggling injuries experienced by prospective candidates, as well as the desire to see some of the newcomers in practise situations before deciding on their value to the representative side.
"We'll be bringing the squad back to 24 for the game itself, and right now there is no saying who will be there and who won't," he said. "We want to keep our options open for as long as we can."
With Mike Robinson no longer available for selection, the captaincy role is vacant and Russell intends to try out "four or five" players as skipper over the non-championship fixtures before deciding who will lead Wairarapa-Bush into their NPC first division programme.
The full Wairarapa-Bush squad is:-
Forwards: Burtus Buckle, Brent Rudman, Joe Harwood, Dylan Higgison, Ross Batty, Langi Peters, Tomasi Kedarabuka, Dan Filihaeakava, Andrew McLean, Corey Reid, Mike Spence, Sam Henderson, Sylvanus Iro, Chris Senior, Steve Olds, Brodie Duffin,
Backs: Hamish Mckenzie, James Bruce, Mike Hollis, Patrick Rimene, Nathan Couch, Lawrence Matthews, Simanu Simanu, Tom Harmon, Duncan Rutherford, Glenn Bunny, Junior Tongia, Russell Thompson, Jorji Tamani, Dan Elms, Elijah Telford.
CLUB GAMES
Greytown-Tuhirangi will have every reason to turn on the firepower when they play East Coast in their Robertson Cup premier division club match at Greytown tomorrow.
The game will be the highlight of the club's old-timer's day with matches between the Greytown-Tuhirangi and East Coast President's grade teams and the Greytown-Tuhirangi and Martinborough's under-19s preceding it.
There is little doubt that a Greytown-Tuhirangi side playing anywhere near their potential would outgun East Coast in their Robertson Cup fixture, but at the same time they need to be wary of the Coasters who are progressing steadily under the coaching of club stalwart Ross Wakeling.
East Coast will certainly help their cause if they can close down Greytown-Tuhirangi No.8 Sylvanus Iro whose ability to break the first tackle has been the launching pad for many of his team's most potent attacking movements.
All three of the other premier division games will be played in Masterton, two of them at Memorial Park and one at the Park Sportsground.
This situation will again raise the inevitable question, why should patrons have to pay to attend matches at just one of those venues, Memorial Park.
It's a bit like asking why on earth you would have two byes in a premier division competition, isn't it?
Or why you would consistently programme two premier division matches in Masterton to start at the same time but be played at different venues. Sometimes logic just doesn't seem to count.
Anyway back to tomorrow's games. The curtain-raiser at Memorial Park sees Marist up against Martinborough, and if recent form is anything to go by you'd have to fancy Marist to win this one. They should have the edge on the southerners in the forwards, with Paddy Rimene calling the shots from first-five outside and backs like Ben Couch and Phil Aporo. Mention of Rimene reminds me of a comment made by a long-time follower of Wairarapa-Bush club rugby last weekend. He couldn't remember when just three individuals had such a big impact on the club scene??Rimene for Marist, Nathan Rolls for Pioneer and Iro for Greytown-Tuhirangi.
The main game at Memorial Park sees the Andy MacDonald Memorial Trophy at stake when Masterton Red Star play Gladstone.The latter wouldn't have been too happy with their first half effort against Eketahuna last weekend, but if they can repeat the improved second half performance for the whole 80 minutes against Stars then it should be one way traffic.
Pioneer and Puketoi will play at the Park Sportsground and with the irrepressible Rolls leading the way Pioneer should win in a canter. Mind you there will be celebrations if Puketoi gets any points on the board ? they are still to break their"duck" in 2006.