Unfinished business a catalyst for coaches

Unfinished business is the catalyst for Graeme Cheetham and Lofty Stevenson almost certainly seeking a second successive term as co-coaches of the Wairarapa-Bush rugby side.
Their contract for the 2007 season finishes at the end of this month and the WBRFU will go through a review process before deciding who will get the coaching reins for 2008.
Cheetham said he and Stevenson would "very probably" be putting their names in the hat again after taking Wairarapa-Bush to the Meads Cup semi-finals on Saturday, a match they lost 30-13 to North Otago in Oamaru.
"Yes, I should think we'll try for another crack at it," Cheetham said.
"But at the end of the day it'll come down to whether we are wanted, and we don't have any say in that."
While pleased that a Wairarapa-Bush side missing the bulk of last season's Meads Cup-winning side exceeded the expectations of most pundits by making the semis, Cheetham said there was a feeling of disappointment in the camp after Saturday's game that they had not gone at least one step further.
"Going into the match we all thought a grand final spot was on and so there's unfinished business in that respect," he said.
Cheetham said one of the more frustrating aspects of the Oamaru performance was that Wairarapa-Bush had not always adhered to the game plan, especially in the first half.
"The whole idea was to keep the pressure on them by kicking to the corners and playing the game deep in their territory but we kept falling into the trap of trying to do too much between the two 22s," he said.
"We knew they (North Otago) were a team who didn't always handle pressure well but we weren't clinical enough in that respect."
Cheetham also described the two rushes of blood which saw Wairarapa-Bush twice attempt short drop outs with disastrous results (10 points in all) as "very unfortunate" and he agreed too they may have overdid the "pick and go" tactic when attacking for quite lengthy periods through the second spell.
"Those are the sort of things which the players themselves have to sort out and, maybe, the decision making wasn't always quite what it should have been," he said.
"But then again they are the ones who are in the heat of the battle and it's easy to reflect on what might have been afterwards."
Cheetham had no quibbles though with the intensity and enthusiasm of the Wairarapa-Bush effort on Saturday, saying they had bounced back quickly from their defeat at the hands of Wanganui the previous weekend.
"You couldn't fault their passion, they were keen as mustard all week leading up to the game.
"We couldn't have asked for anything more in that regard," he said.
Cheetham said the strong camaraderie within the Wairarapa-Bush squad had played a big part in their success through their Heartland campaign.
"The team spirit was outstanding, everybody was prepared to work hard for the good of the team as a whole," he said. "They seemed to enjoy what they were doing and that's important."
Cheetham was pleased too with the improvement shown by several of the younger and less experienced squad members as the season progressed .
"These guys are going to be even better next year now they understand what to expect at Heartland level," he said. "It was a big challenge for them and they did themselves proud."
With the exception of first-five John Dodd, who was "imported" from Manawatu, all of the Wairarapa-Bush squad played their club rugby in Wairarapa-Bush and Cheetham said he and Stevenson would be following the same trend next season if they were fortunate enough to be appointed again.
"We believe the talent base in our own region is good enough to come up with a very competitive side and I can't see us approaching things in any other way," he said.