Rimene might play

There is still a glimmer of hope that experienced inside back and prolific points scorer Patrick Rimene may be available for Wairarapa-Bush at some stage of the 2007 season.
Rimene, who has played more than 60 games for Wairarapa-Bush and was an integral part of the teams which won the NPC third division title in 2005 and the inaugural Heartland championship last year, has not been included among the 64 players named for a trial match at Memorial Park next Sunday.
But it doesn't necessarily mean that the Marist first-five has called it quits on the representative scene; rather it is a decision made by Rimene himself because of him being "rugbyed-out" after last season's long haul.
A haul which not only took in the Heartland championship but also the New Zealand divisional team's brief tour of Argentina.
Rimene says the toll of training or playing five days a week for about four months had been both mentally and physically exhausting and left him in need of recharging the batteries.
So after discussing his feelings with new Wairarapa-Bush coaches Graeme Cheetham and Lofty Stevenson he had decided to make himself unavailable at the present time with the possibility of reassessing the situation at a later date.
"I just didn't think it fair to put myself up for selection again without being in the right frame of mind," Rimene said. "To play at rep level you need to be totally focussed and, quite honestly, I'm not there yet."
Rimene isn't worried either that in his absence some other player could come out of the woodwork and replace him as the number one first-five in the Wairarapa-Bush squad.
"It would be good for the union if that happened," he said. "I've been around a while now so if someone else steps up and takes my place then it's got to be a positive sign for the future, doesn't it?"
Rimene 's stance is similar to that being taken by another experienced inside back in Nathan Couch. He too is also playing a waiting game as far as rep selection in 2007 is concerned.
Also a member of the New Zealand divisional side last season, Couch too is currently taking a rest from rep rugby and is unsure as to whether he will be available for Wairarapa-Bush this year.
Replacing players of the calibre of Rimene and Couch for at least the early-season rep games will be a huge headache for Cheetham and Stevenson as the talent cupboard in their positions is not exactly over-flowing.
But they can take encouragement from the words of Rimene who recalls being drafted into the first-five berth "by default" after previously playing most of his rep rugby at fullback.
"I wasn't too fussed on the idea but after a few games I really grew to like it," he said.