North Harbour cannot afford their customary slow start when they kick off their ITM Cup Championship campaign tomorrow night against the Bay of Plenty Steamers in Tauranga.
In 2014, Harbour fell to 0-4 before resurrecting their season and pushing hard for the semifinals, while under Liam Barry in 2013 theydid not win until round six.
Adding further motivation is the fact that Harbour were defeated 21-14 by the Steamers in Rotorua, one of their most disappointing outings of 2014. In fact they have not beaten the Steamers since 2009.
"There is an edge. The guys talk about a bit of payback. That loss hurt us in our aspirations to go to the semis. But we need to start well, regardless.
"Harbour hasn't done well at the start of their season for a number of years. So that's our focus. If we go through all our processes and get our game structures right, hopefully we'll come away with the result," said second-year coach Steve Jackson, who was not averse to a verbal kick up the backside for any of his players who chose poor options or had muddled thinking at training at QBE Stadium yesterday.
The team will be finalised today, with brackets around a couple of the pack. Former Waikato and Bay of Plenty hooker Kalem Chan-Boon is in as cover for Ray Niuia, who is away for a week with a medial knee strain. Centre Rene Ranger will seek clearance from a surgeon in four weeks after "cement" was put in his damaged neck, but Jackson was hopeful of a round 5-6 return for Wellsford's favourite rugby son.
Fullback Junior Tofa-Va'a, one of several speedsters in the backline, will be keen to get one over his 2014 union. He played on the right wing against Harbour then.
One of the key areas for Harbour will be their defence, which was too loose in the 48-17 defeat to Auckland last week, allowing their outsides to score several tries.
"We fell off too many tackles against Auckland. I don't know if it was the boys having too many steaks and sausages in camp, but we have to make them," said Jackson.
The Steamers rounded out their pre-season with an 18-0 win over Manawatu last Friday, a match notable for the 25 comeback minutes from former All Black Nathan Harris.
