Wairarapa-Bush stars likely to miss 2007

Wairarapa-Bush seem certain to be without two of the star performers in last season's triumphant NPC first division rugby side for their 2007 campaign.
Loose forwards Sylvanus Iro and Sam Henderson are doing their OE and are "very unlikely" to be on board for next season.
Iro, who plans to play in the United States, and Henderson,whose main stop will be Germany, were a potent combination on both attack and defence and were rewarded for their consistency with selection in the national divisional side which made a short tour of Argentina in late October- early November.
Their absence would be a big blow to new Wairarapa-Bush coaches Graeme Cheetham and Lofty Stevenson, who will also be without the services of experienced campaigners Dylan Higgison and Mike Robinson and versatile back Duncan Rutherford.
Higgson, who also made the divisional side, was the anchorman in the front row, and Robinson, whose no nonsense approach was so valuable in the middle row,are understood to have retired from representative play while Rutherford, like Iro, is headed to the United States.
And there has to be doubts too about the availability of lock Langi Peters who has been included in Fiji's World Cup training squad and who will very probably miss the domestic season here if he makes the cut-off for their Cup team.
Sensibly though Cheetham is not dwelling too much on who from last season's Wairarapa-Bush line-up will be absent in 2007.
He readily concedes those listed above would all be missed if they were not on deck but said their absence would leave the door open for other players to show they had the skills and the desire to make an impact at first division level.
"You are always likely to lose players from one season to the next, it's just one of those things you have to accept," he said.
Cheetham does admit to disappointment though at the small number of players who attended a fitness session called by him and Stevenson earlier this month. Just seven turned up although there were 11 apologies as well.
The fact players were only given a few days notice of that session could have contributed to the poor attendance and Cheetham is hoping for a much better response when a second session is held on January 29.
"We have talked to club coaches and delegates about ensuring that all players interested know what we are doing so there should no excuses for them not turning up this time round," he said.
Cheetham said he and Stevenson were determined fitness would not be an issue when Wairarapa-Bush commenced their 2007 programme, a programme which will include non-champinship games against a Mexted Academy XV, Wellington, Hawke's Bay and Manawatu.
"We have stressed to club coaches the importance of getting players up to speed in terms of their fitness and we are quite prepared to help them do that," he said.
The club season itself will begin a little later than usual this coming season with Saturday, April 14, being the starting date. Finals day will be on July 28.
Meanwhile, former Wairarapa-Bush coach Peter Russell has already started his new job as coach of the Hawke's Bay Air New Zealand Cup side.
Russell, who took Wairarapa-Bush to the national third division and first division titles over the past two seasons, is looking forward to the challenge of a fulltime coaching position which will see him guide the Bay's fortunes against the might of Canterbury, Auckland, Wellington, Waikato, Otago etc etc.
"Obviously we don't have the financial resources of the bigger unions but everybody in the Bay seems intent on enhancing the profile of the game there, and it's an exciting time to be involved," Russell said yesterday.
Former Waikato flanker Tom Coventry has been appointed as Russell's assistant coach and one of their first jobs will be to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their playing resources.
Russell said he had spoken to "one or two" members of last season's Wairarapa-Bush squad over the possibility of them being available for the Bay in 2007 but that was as far as it had gone.
"There are certainly some players from that team who would manage the step up without any problems but then again the competition for places in the Bay side will be very keen so we can't give any guarantees," he said.