Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Waikite and Ngongotaha look to further cement position in top four

David Beck
By David Beck
Multimedia sports journalist·Rotorua Daily Post·
6 Jul, 2017 09:36 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

IN FORM: Alex Glover and his Waikite teammates sit in third place after beating Whakatane Marist last weekend. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

IN FORM: Alex Glover and his Waikite teammates sit in third place after beating Whakatane Marist last weekend. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

Sitting in third and fourth respectively, Waikite and Ngongotaha have plenty of motivation heading into the last three weeks of the Premier 2 competition.

As the next phase of the competition comprises the top four playing off in semifinals, they are right where they need to be and wins this weekend will further cement their positions.

Waikite, who are aiming for their fourth win in a row, will have their hands full against top of the table Arataki tomorrow.Coach Kevin Lee said no one game was any more important than the others, his side needed to do their best to win each one.

"We still have to play the top three teams and I think we need about six or seven points out of those games.

"If we lose any it just puts pressure on ourselves for the other two games."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Lee said Arataki were "the class team" in Premier 2 and he expected them to play a free-flowing game.

"They have players contracted to the Steamers and in their academy - they have plenty of quality and depth.

"We just need our players to go out and play with a bit of enthusiasm which they absolutely have done lately - they've been enjoying themselves."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Meanwhile, Ngongotaha have an opportunity to increase the gap between themselves and the bottom four when they take on fifth placed Whakatane Marist.

Coach Jodie Wharekura said he was treating every game as it came in the remaining weeks of the competition and had asked his team to give themselves every opportunity of securing a win.

"We need to play every game like it is our last.

"It has been 13 years since we've been in the premier division so we want to make sure we turn over every stone, cross every 't' and dot every 'i' to give ourselves the opportunity to compete and then win after that."

Wharekura said he was aware of the challenge his team faced being a physically smaller side but was hopeful they could utilise their expansive style.

"The forwards have been the linchpin of our team in the past couple of weeks so they certainly need to front up.

"Whakatane have a very big, physical pack, so if we can compete with them in those early exchanges and focus on the things we are good at especially around the ruck and loose play.

"We need to play our game which is an expansive game regardless of the weather conditions and given we are a bit smaller than them we need to run it around them."

Last week Marist St Michael's picked up their first win in Premier 2 and in doing so leap-frogged their opposition Opotiki to seventh place.

Similarly, a win over Poroporo this weekend will ensure they climb to sixth place, and possibly even fifth - depending on the results of other games.

St Michael's coach Mike Lewis said the players were in "a really good mood" after picking up the win last week.

"The boys deserved it, they've been battling all year and putting in the work, so it was good to get the result.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"They're looking forward to this weekend's game, a win always gives you a bit more confidence and makes recovery a bit easier."

Despite the opportunity to move further up the table, Lewis said his side were only concerned with the result of each game.

"We had a couple of good battles against Poroporo last year, we drew one and lost one, and I'm sure they'll remember those because we do.

"It's sort of irrelevant where we both are on the table, we're just looking forward to playing them again."

Baywide Premier 1 and Premier 1 Development:

Saturday
Premier kick-off: 2.45pm
Development kick-off: 1pm
Tauranga Sports v Greerton Marist at Tauranga Domain
Te Puke Sports v Mount Maunganui Sports at Murray Salt Stadium
Whakarewarewa v Rangataua at Puarenga Park
Rotoiti v Te Puna at Emery Park

Baywide Premier 2 and Premier 2 Development:

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Saturday
Premier kick-off: 2.45pm
Development kick-off: 1pm
Waikite v Arataki at Bellvue Road
Opotiki v Paroa at Princess Street Reserve
Whakatane Marist v Ngongotaha at Rugby Park
Poroporo v Marist St Michael's at Poroporo Park

Baywide Division 1:
Saturday
Kick-off: 2.45pm
Judea v Ruatoki at Maharaia Winiata Memorial Park
Kahukura v Papamoa at Kuirau Park
Waimana v Katikati at Waimana Domain
Te Teko v Rangiuru at Dunderdale Park

Baywide Division 2:

Saturday
Kick-off: 2.45pm
Edgecumbe v Murupara at Edgecumbe Domain
Eastern Districts v Eastern Pirates at Paengaroa Domain
Edgecumbe v Murupara at Reporoa Rugby Club

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Rotorua Daily Post

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM
Sport

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Five Steamers players making waves in the Māori All Blacks

03 Jul 10:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM

Amelia Twiss and George Fisher made the journey over 10 days.

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM
Five Steamers players making waves in the Māori All Blacks

Five Steamers players making waves in the Māori All Blacks

03 Jul 10:00 PM
'It’s a big deal': Young gamers chase international esports glory

'It’s a big deal': Young gamers chase international esports glory

30 Jun 06:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP