Central Bay to play Maniapoto for Stan Meads Bowl

PACE: Central Bay of Plenty second-five Curtis Deane bursts out of a tackle against Hamilton in the Stan Meads Cup. PHOTO/FILE

Just days after Sir Colin Meads' funeral, Central Bay of Plenty travel to his hometown of Te Kuiti where they will attempt to retain the Stan Meads Bowl against Maniapoto.

Having lost to strong Hamilton and Te Awamutu sides in the first two rounds of the Stan Meads Cup, they will be eager to finish the competition with a win today.While eager for victory, coach Chris Shortall said the weekend was all about paying respect to the Meads family.

"I just want [the Central players] to go back to basics and enjoy it, have some fun, especially in light of what's happened this week. It's not so much about us it's about showing respect to the Meads family.

"I'm sure Colin would still love for these games to go on, he loved the game, it's all about watching some young fellas run around and enjoy themselves.

"We've talked about it during the week, Stan will be there and it's all about him and his family," Shortall said.

The final round of competition was postponed for a week, because of Sir Colin's death, and Shortall said that halted the side's momentum a little but he was confident they would still be ready to go against Maniapoto.

"They're not a big team, but they are very well organised. We'll need to get those basics right, hold on to the ball in possession and when we don't have it just defend our hearts out."

In their last game Central went down 81-5 to Te Awamutu, who play Hamilton in the cup final at the same ground today.

"They were just too strong for us. It's about working closer together - two in the tackle and not leaving it for your mate to do.

"Our guys were mighty, they tried their hearts out, they carried well but turned the ball over a little too much. As we got tired our defence just started to fall away."

He said retaining the bowl would mean a lot and provide "a little bit of redemption".

"It's not going to be easy, but we'll go there and give it a crack."

Moving on he wanted to see the Central sub-union become more professional and put more onus on clubs to get involved with the side.

"Players that are selected need to front - to this stage it's been more of a 'if you're keen come along' sort of thing. Looking at the Pro 4 series and this competition, it has to be a little bit better than that.

"These competitions expose our guys to higher honours and the more you play the more you learn. That applies to coaches as well.

"Even that game against Te Awamutu, we learnt a lot about playing at a higher level," he said.

The game kicks off at 1pm at Rugby Park in Te Kuiti and will be followed by the cup final at 2.30pm.