A Thorne in the side

By CHRIS RATTUE

He's very Reuben Thorneish," says North Harbour coach Russell Jones about his unsung lock Marty Veale.

While this is not necessarily a high compliment in some circles, being "Thorneish" is about as good as it gets for many rugby coaches, who treasure efficient and dedicated players who they can rely on in the heat of battle.

Looking at all the locks and blindside flankers available to Jones before the season, many would have predicted a case of chopped Veale.

But former All Blacks Troy Flavell and Blair Larsen - and Flavell's "former" status is not necessarily permanent - are bench warmers, and Veale is again locking the scrum with South African Greg Rawlinson against Taranaki at Albany tonight.

The 26-year-old Veale is from Canterbury, and - after initial enthusiasm - took some persuading to join North Harbour late last year when the union was portrayed as a Super 12 pariah and many of its top players were rumoured to be taking flight.

But the auto technician finally agreed to head north, where Jones planned that he would add significantly to the number of reliable parts in his pack's engine.

Veale, who had one game for Canterbury as a substitute against Wellington in the 2000 NPC, signed a three-year Harbour contract, and took a building job.

"He wouldn't be one of our highest paid players," says Jones - which is saying something, because there aren't too many players who can say they make a financial splash as employees of Harbour.

The small investment is paying instant dividends. Veale has been part a three-game winning streak.

Jones first appreciated Veale's attributes when his North Harbour second XV played Canterbury. Veale flatted with ex-Harbour halfback Billy Fulton, and Jones later used that connection to get negotiations going.

Jones said: "This is my second year, and we always had a plan. We don't want to inhibit the finesse and ability our players have - and they showed against Otago that they can do special things - but we want to get the balance right.

"Marty is a quiet achiever, a very accurate footballer in areas like contact and cleanout tackle work, and he runs our lineouts.

"Three or four months ago it looked like we could lose players like Cribb, Flavell, Parkinson, McFarland. Those players are still very important, but we have shown in the last three or four weeks there is a new breed of player coming through."

North Harbour could enter the top four if they beat struggling Taranaki, whose season turned on a shock loss to Bay of Plenty. Their remote playoff chances will be gone if they suffer a fifth straight defeat.

With Veale, Tony Woodcock, Joe Ward and company rumbling away to good effect in the forwards, North Harbour's backs should be able to use their pace and elusiveness to winning effect.

* Lawyer Nick Davidson will give his findings on the Chad Alcock eligibility row today. North Harbour could be stripped of points because Alcock played two NPC games before his clearance from South Africa arrived.