Rugby: New faces raise hopes for Swamp Foxes in Heartland Championship

Alex Bradley in action for Waikato against Counties Manukau 2012. Photo/Photosport

Former Chiefs and Waikato No 8 Alex Bradley is among the new faces in the Thames Valley squad of 33, from which the Heartland Championship group will be selected.

The 35-year-old appeared in 38 games for Waikato from 2009-12, plus eight matches for the Chiefs in 2012.

Bradley is a loan player from Waikato club United Matamata Sports, while there are some other interesting new faces, such as former Ireland Under 19 flanker Rory Maloney of Connacht (via the Hauraki North club), former Melbourne Rebels Under 20s centre Tumua Tiumafifi and former Northland B rep Rupeni Vosayaco.

New head coach and former Thames Valley prop Matt Bartleet will be assisted by David Harrison, the union's leading all-time pointscorer (with 665), and Joe Murray.

The squad contains a mix of new faces, along with some more familiar names. Former Counties Manukau and New Zealand Heartland XV fullback/wing Lance Easton is the most experienced among them, having played 61 games for Thames Valley.

The squad includes two loan players, other than Bradley, and one Player of Origin as per the competition rules. The other loan players are Aaron Carroll, a lock from Mt Maunganui Sports in Bay of Plenty, and Harrison Lafituanai, a wing from Melville.

The Player of Origin is again former Thames Valley captain and loose forward/lock Brett Ranga, also of Mt Maunganui Sports.

The team has pre-season games against the Taranaki Development team in Clifton on August 5 and Auckland Colts in Thames on August 12, followed by a camp to be held locally on August 19.

Their Heartland Championship starts on August 26 against East Coast in Ruatoria.

The union and its many supporters will be hoping a change of coach and a fresh broom - just 11 of the 33 appeared for the side in 2016 - see a change of fortunes, after a winless 2016 campaign saw the Swamp Foxes place a lowly 11th in the competition.

Thames Valley Heartland Championship squad:
Rodger Cairns (Thames), Travis Scott (Waihou), Sitiveni Tupou (Thames), Eli Lavery (Hauraki North), Hayden Wisnewski (Waihou), Logan Matai-Povey (Thames), Ethan Roycroft (COBRAS), Aaron Carroll (loan, Mt Maunganui), Keegan Lewis (Waihou), Matthew Rolston (Waihi Athletic), Huperio Riwhi (Thames), Tim Erceg (Waihou), Rory Moloney (Hauraki North), Matthew Hart (Waihi Athletic), Brett Ranga (origin, Mt Maunganui), Connor McVerry (Mercury Bay), Ben Bonnar (Waihou), Jonty Wood (Waihi Athletic), Jarred Bayliss (COBRAS), Jarrod Goodall (Thames), Chris Doak (Waihou), Matthew Fisher (Hauraki North), Beau-Dene Cressy-Hamilton (Mercury Bay), Shaun Hill (Hauraki North), Sam McCahon (Waihou), Tumua Tiumafifi (Thames), Harrison Lafituanai (loan, Melville), Tyrone Keith (COBRAS), Lance Easton (Paeroa West), Eden Mclean (Mercury Bay), Joshua Law (Thames), Rupeni Vosayaco (Thames), Alex Bradley (loan, United Matamata Sports)