Otago's season in melting pot

By CHRIS RATTUE

The last rites on Otago's stumbling season may be just 80 minutes away.

If Waikato can beat the struggling southerners at Carisbrook tonight, it will almost be time to scrub Anton Oliver's side off the list of semifinal contenders.

In one of the most exciting NPC seasons in many years - thanks to the thrilling form of outsiders Taranaki and Bay of Plenty - Otago have reached depths of performance usually unknown to them.

With just two wins, and with away games at North Harbour, Taranaki and Auckland to follow, tonight will probably determine if they stay in the hunt.

Waikato intend doing things by halves. Remarkably, coach John Mitchell has managed to include four of them in his backline - halfbacks Byron Kelleher and Isaac Boss, and first five-eighths David Hill and Stephen Donald.

Boss showed plenty of enterprise and good positional sense in his first foray in the Waikato No 15 jersey against Northland last week, but faces a much stiffer task tonight.

It was rumoured early in the year that Mitchell intended shifting David Hill to second five-eighths to give New Zealand Colt Donald his chance, and it has taken six rounds to occur.

Part of Mitchell's logic is that he wants plenty of tactical kicking options on a dodgy Carisbrook surface, where field position will be paramount.

But young centre Richard Kahui, who got his chance through injuries, has been competent rather than incisive, and Hill has shown the ability to get his large frame over the defensive line.

It might be that the Waikato defensive line suffers most from the change.

That Otago are unbeaten at home this season probably relies heavily on them having played two of their Carisbrook matches against strugglers Southland and Northland.

Even in victory, the pressure will be on them to find just their second bonus point of the season.

Their attack has just about come to a standstill and they are over-reliant on fullback Glen Horton's enterprise, especially with Hayden Pedersen and Matt Saunders out for the season.

Waikato, meanwhile, will be all the better for last week's hit-out, where five of their forwards were making returns, and they are medium-strength favourites to take the victory points.


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