Rugby: Wanganui club rugby to split into three divisions

Ruapehu vs Pirates in the 2018 Premier final at Cooks Gardens. This season will see a new format with Divisions 1-3 from the second round of games.

The Tasman Tanning Wanganui rugby competitions will have a very different look come the second round of games as the oft-considered three division format looks to become official in 2019.

WRFU club development officer Paul Kenny released a detailed preliminary format this week which confirms after the completion of the normal first round of games for the eight-team Premier and 11-team Senior draws, there will be a three-way split in June.

The bottom two Premier sides will join the top four Senior teams to create a middle 'Division 2' grade, while the remaining Premier sides carry on as Division 1 and the last seven Senior sides will be Division 3.

All three divisions will then reset to zero points and play each other once in round robin qualification to find the three sets of semifinalists for July 20, with club finals day the following week.

This format will do away with the 'Consolation' title playoffs of the past few seasons, which have often been riddled with defaults, especially in Premier, from clubs lacking either the numbers or the motivation to carry on after their Championship title hopes have been extinquished.

Kenny said after a long process it was agreed at the union's recent Council of Clubs meeting to introduce three divisions to "breath new life into the competition".

"There was contemplation of having promotion-relegation games after a full round, but time does not allow this and it would of meant only four teams would be playing on one weekend," Kenny said.

"Hence, we have needed to start the season with the same teams and the same format for Round One as normal."

The new format is not without its drawbacks.

Like 2018, the Senior competition will start a week earlier than the smaller Premier grade – March 30 compared to April 6 – however there will still not be enough weekends available for all the Senior teams to play each other once, meaning everyone will miss out on two traditional opponents.

Senior will also play a round on Queen's Birthday weekend, while Premier will have a break, although this is also likely the weekend when a WRFU representative trial match will be scheduled.

Regardless of meritocracy from the results of Division 2, Kenny said the two Premier teams that get relegated to this group will still be reinstated to the top grade at the start of the 2020 season.

Another factor is that the home ground of Ratana may still not be ready to host Premier matches, after the team from the Pa played their home games down in Marton last season.

"I have given them a couple of away games to start the year to give them more time," said Kenny.

"The [Wanganui] Racecourse is having a major revamp.

"It is going to be completely upgraded, so there are no games going to be played there to at least Round 2.

"This means some teams are slightly penalised with the odd home game needed to be played away.

"I have tried to keep everyone happy and while I realise some may feel slightly disadvantaged in having a run of away games etc, or not playing at same venues together, I feel it is a very fair draw.

"This is a new concept so lets give it a chance to succeed."

The larger clubs prefer to have their Premier and Senior squads playing at the same grounds whenever possible, especially for away games, as it allows them to manage their numbers more effectively with reinforced reserve benches.

The now-traditional 'Duck Shooting' round of May 3-4 has been retained so the Border club can play their two home games on the Friday night in Waverley.

The Counties club, who are celebrating their 50th Jubilee this season, requested and received their bye on May 25 in order to have a working bee to get ready for their celebrations and game against the Pirates senior team the following weekend.

Having a middle Division 2 competition throws up the possiblity of some interesting new matchups, based on the performances from 2018.

Last year, the bottom Premier teams were Ngamatapouri, who struggled for numbers, and Ratana, who lacked franchise players.

Each team only managed one competiton win and it was against the other – Ngamatapouri beating Ratana 31-17 in Marton in April, with Ratana returning the favour 31-26 up in South Taranaki in June.

Come the end of the season, semifinal-bound Border handed out fearsome thrashings of both sides, scoring a collective 190 points in two matches.

Hunterville would be logical favourites to move up from Senior when the grades split into three divisions in June.

After three seasons without the Senior championship, following their union record of six consecutive titles from 2009-14, Hunterville regained their place at the top of the second tier last year.

During their golden run, Hunterville were reticent about possibly moving up to Premier level, compared to Ngamatapouri who were most eager to advance themselves after the club was formed in 2015 and approached several notable Wanganui players, having an unbeaten second season in 2016 and being promoted straight to Premier.

Hunterville lost only two matches in 2018 on their way to the title, and may like the idea of testing themselves in a slightly higher tier than just the six-team Senior Championship group which normally form after the first round.

Senior rugby often has a similar gulf as was seen in last year's Premier, where the bottom teams destined for the Consolation grade would be hammered by the top sides heading to the Championship group.

It remains to be seen what could happen to the two club challenge shields – the Grand Hotel Challenge Shield of Premier and the Stihl Shop Wanganui Challenge Shield of Senior – which could theoretically, if unlikely, both end up in Division 2 at the end of the first round.

This could create a scenario where a previously Premier team would win the Senior shield and have to return it at the end of the year when they are reinstated.

The opening round for Premier rugby will be on April 6.

Defending champions Ruapehu will host 2018's wooden-spooners Ratana in Ohakune, while runnersup Pirates will travel up the Waitotara Valley to meet Ngamatapouri.

Taihape will make the long trip over to Waverley to take on Border in a matchup of the beaten 2018 semifinalists and Taihape's first defence of the Challenge Shield, while Marist will face Kaierau in a cross-town derby at Spriggens Park.