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 / Sport

Maroons praying for rain

Rotorua Daily Post
2 Jul, 2012 11:31 PM3 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

Rain. It's only a slim line of hope but Rotorua Maroons coach Wayne Fell will grasp it - in a bid to go back-to-back Tai Mitchell champions.

But to do that his team, who came fourth in the qualifying rounds, will have to overcome tournament favourites Te Puke on their home soil of Murray Salt Stadium this afternoon.

Te Puke have swept all before them, including a 58-3 thrashing of Maroons at the weekend.

On the last day of the Tai Mitchell qualifying rounds yesterday, Te Puke finished as the only unbeaten side.

They take on Fell's team in the, first plays fourth semi-final.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In the first game yesterday, Te Puke had to overcome a spirited first half performance from Opotiki, with Te Puke taking a 14-0 advantage into the halftime break.

However, Te Puke cut loose in the second spell to post a 61-0 victory.

Tauranga West finished the qualifying rounds in second place, with a 46-nil win over Whakatane, after leading by 19 points at the halfway stage.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Fellow Western Bay team Tauranga East cruised into the semi-finals with a 73-0 win against Rangitaiki.

The two Tauranga teams will play each other for the second plays third semi-final.

Rotorua Maroons showed glimpses of what they can do, in their 52-22 win over Galatea yesterday. But there were times when, especially in their forward pack, they got outmuscled by their much larger opponents.

Rotorua have plenty of attacking ability in the backs with captain Peter-John Cullen (who scored five tries against Galatea), Liam Hori-Clark and Elijah Tua having plenty of skill and gas to burn.

Fell said he was praying for rain for today's match in a bid to maybe unsettle Te Puke's game.

"They put on 50 points against us on Saturday and probably could have put on another 50 if they wanted.

"Our goal was to make the top four which we did and anything can happen in a semi but Te Puke are looking really good.

"We have a lot of young players in this team and it's about building for the future," Fell said.

"These kids have done really well and they will be brilliant next year."

Rotorua Gold had a solid 21-5 win against Apanui in their final match at the tournament.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Gold will play Galatea for a place in the Bill Murray Trophy (plate final).

Opotiki take on Rangitaiki for the other spot in the plate final.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Premium
Opinion

Elliott Smith: McMillan's record adds pressure to Chiefs' big game

19 Jun 06:01 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

Watch: 'Hand of God' controversy in schoolboy rugby scrum

19 Jun 04:29 AM
Premium
Opinion

Opinion: How Crusaders and Chiefs unearthed great talent from other regions

18 Jun 06:01 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Premium
Elliott Smith: McMillan's record adds pressure to Chiefs' big game

Elliott Smith: McMillan's record adds pressure to Chiefs' big game

19 Jun 06:01 PM

OPINION: Clayton McMillan faces a potential fourth final loss in five years tomorrow.

Watch: 'Hand of God' controversy in schoolboy rugby scrum

Watch: 'Hand of God' controversy in schoolboy rugby scrum

19 Jun 04:29 AM
Premium
Opinion: How Crusaders and Chiefs unearthed great talent from other regions

Opinion: How Crusaders and Chiefs unearthed great talent from other regions

18 Jun 06:01 PM
Silence of the fans:  Chiefs supporters told to leave cowbells at home

Silence of the fans: Chiefs supporters told to leave cowbells at home

17 Jun 11:41 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

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