Odd number disturbs planning

As Wanganui club rugby heads into round seven today, the union is mulling over how the second stage of the competition will be played out.

The final series of round-robin games is on May 26 and thereafter the page is blank until semifinals on July 14 and finals on July 21.

With Counties dropping out of the premier championship, it now has only nine teams - an awkward number for planning the next stage of matches.

One suggestion is that the top five on May 26 break off to contest the championship, with the bottom four in a consolation competition.

However, gaining momentum is a plan to make the May 19 and May 26 fixtures worth double points and then repeating the first seven rounds but with home teams travelling away.

The problem would be fitting seven more weeks of rugby into the season. To do that, clubs would play on either the Sunday or Monday of Queen's Birthday Weekend, June 3 or 4, and then fit in a midweek round of matches at some point before the semifinals.

The other option is to extend the season and have the semifinals on July 21 and finals on July 28, but that would be an issue for the Wanganui rep team and its coach Jason Caskey. The blue-and-blacks have their Ranfurly Shield challenge against Taranaki at New Plymouth on August 4 and Caskey wants the weekend before free for a training camp for his squad.

All may become clear when the council of clubs meets to tackle the matter on Tuesday in Taihape.

None of that will affect tomorrow's encounters which will see Ruapehu - nine points clear in the premier competition - look to extend their 100 per cent record at the expense of the young Marist side whose self-belief has been bolstered by successive victories.

The odds must surely favour Ruapehu at their Rochfort Park fortress but the other games look harder to pick. Champions Ratana, struggling to find their best form, face a Marton team buoyed by two straight wins and boasting some promising young talent, while the Taihape derby clash between the winless hosts and Utiku Old Boys is anyone's game.

At Spriggens Park, Kaierau may find a few ghosts coming back to haunt them - an estimated 15 of Pirates 22-man squad were formerly with the maroon-and-golds. And, of course, Kaierau life member and former coach and club stalwart Philip Morris now holds the reins at Pirates.

Morris has reshuffled his team, with Samu Eteuati moving to fullback, Emelio Mulu to centre and Johnny Muir to the wing. Any Kaierau shuffle is down to their injury woes, with wing Karl Pascoe and fullback Jordan Farrington joining the list of crocks.

On paper, it's another close run thing, with the battle of number 8s Tafa Tauialoto (Pirates) and Darren Munro (Kaierau) one to savour.

Meanwhile, Ratana have pulled out of the senior championship for two weeks, starting today, citing kapa haka commitments.