Steamers take punt on high school halfback

The 26-year-old Te Teko lock is one of the bolters in the 2008 squad named today, which includes Wellington prop Arden David and 19-year-old Tauranga halfback Josh Hall.

Coach Kevin Schuler has named a 26-strong squad which begins its Air New Zealand Cup next month, to be captained by Chiefs and New Zealand Maori flanker Tanerau Latimer.

Katene-Roberts is the cousin of former Bay wing Keith Pryor and a grandson of 1955 All Black wing Tom Katene, but he forced his way into the squad with a display of raw-power for the Bay of Plenty XV against Poverty Bay in Opotiki on Wednesday.

The 1.98m, 120kg giant credits a move to Te Teko after four seasons with Rotoiti for his change in fortunes.

"I wasn't even going to play this year - I was going to head over to Aussie," Katene-Roberts admitted. "But Bless Ngaheu convinced me to come over to Te Teko and play for the season. Our forwards are going pretty well and a lot of them love running with the ball and that's one of the big reasons I moved over there. There's certainly no regrets now!"

Ironically, his cousin Pryor - second on the all-time Bay try-scoring list with 42 - was the last Te Teko player to represent the province.

Hall, who only turned 19 in April, was a star halfback for Tauranga Boys' College last year and narrowly missed out on the New Zealand secondary school team.

His sharp play for Tauranga Sports this season, with a full set of No 9 skills, saw him win a place based on potential, with imported utility Nigel Hunt likely to play as Jamie Nutbrown's understudy.

"Realistically I was probably only targeting the Bay under-20s this year," Hall admitted. "But I found the jump up from school rugby to club rugby pretty smooth - it's probably not as fast, just a lot more physical. Now I've got to jump up another couple of levels. It's going to be a learning curve but I'm just keen to get in amongst the senior players and learn as much as possible."

Hall's selection was probably only secured when Kelly Haimona won the back-up first-five role - selectors had pondered picking Rangataua livewire Ruki Tipuna to cover halfback and first-five.

Tauranga Sports lock Alan Davis is another notable omission, while Toby Arnold and Lance MacDonald will have an intriguing tussle for the fullback jersey.

Wellington's Arden David joins his former New Zealand colt teammate Matt Wallis in the side after failing to force his way through the propping stocks in the capital.

He's a member of the Marist St Pats club, which spawned other notable Bay imports Bernie Upton and Apoua Stewart, along with current Steamers manager Sean Horan.

Latimer captained the team with Ben Castle injured last year, and Schuler believes he's more than capable of shouldering the responsibility again.

"He's another year older, another year wiser and he's good enough to lead a team by example, so I'm more than happy with him there."

Schuler also defended the selection of converted loose forward Jason Hona, who has only played 100mins all season, but admitted much of his decision was based on last year's form.

BOP SQUAD:

Forwards: Matt Wallis (Te Puke), Joe Savage (Whaka), James McGougan (Tauranga), Arden David (Wellington), John Pareanga (Te Puna), Marcel Cummings-Toone (Tauranga), John Moore (Ngongotaha), Culum Retallick (Tauranga), Josh Katene-Roberts (Te Teko), Colin Bourke (Mount), Solomon King (Te Puke), Tanerau Latimer (Rangiuru, capt), Luke Braid (Tauranga), Aidan Kuka (Te Puna).

Backs: Josh Hall (Tauranga), Jamie Nutbrown (Te Puke, vice capt), Mike Delany (Mount), Kelly Haimona (Whaka), Paula Asaeli (Whaka), Cory Aporo (Mount), Nigel Hunt (Te Puke), Zar Lawrence (Mount), Teu Nafe (Whaka), Jason Hona (Rangataua), Toby Arnold (Tauranga), Lance MacDonald (Mount).