NI Championship Selections league team face NSW, British Lionheart squads

Coastline Mariners centre Pone Kahotea is looking forward to his next level of rugby league. Photo / Supplied

Tauranga rugby league players and coaches are keen to close the season with good performances against touring teams in the coming weeks as part of the North Island Championship selection team. The squad will be coached by Pāpāmoa Bulldogs and Coastline Mariners coach Jock Nicholson and includes Ōtūmoetai Eels and Mariners players Tama Renton and Pone Kahotea in the playing team. Reporter Adyn Ogle chatted to all three involved ahead of their matches against international sides as part of their selections.

There will be a strong Tauranga presence in the 2019 North Island Championship Selections team, with two league players and a coach ready to stamp their mark when they take on international sides this month.

The squad, coached by Pāpāmoa Bulldogs and Coastline Mariners coach Jock Nicholson, features Ōtūmoetai Eels and Mariners players Tama Renton and Pone Kahotea as part of the 19-man side. The North Island will take on the New South Wales Country under-23s in Rotorua on Tuesday before playing a British Lionheart team in Taupō on October 24.

Renton, a front rower, is in his first season of league after playing rugby for most of his life.

"For me it is the next step up. Every time I step up it is another challenge to hit and the games get harder," Renton said.
"League is a great community. There is a lot of support. I have played rugby all my life but came to gave league a go. I enjoy the contact, you don't have to run around the field trying to find it."

Renton has a simple style of play and wants to take his game forward with the two touring fixtures.

"I want to stamp my mark on these games. I want to make an impact. I want to make quick play of the ball but I am more of a defensive player, I like to think no one gets past me. If someone does, I haven't done my job properly. With the ball I am just a bulldozer in the middle."

Coastline Mariners prop Tama Renton in action. Photo / Supplied

Twenty-nine-year-old Kahotea says he is also excited to play at the next level.

"I feel like I had a good season, I just tried to play some good footy and be consistent. I want to show I can compete at this level, I am getting a bit older now. I wish I had made a team like this when I was younger."

Nicholson says the two sides the North Island team will face will come with different challenges, particularly from the New South Wales team who he expects will move the ball around.

"It is a big step up for us, we train twice a week whereas they will probably train twice a day. They will be very clinical and very well drilled," Nicholson says.

"League is a pretty simple game. It is about controlling your ball and being stingy. As a team you don't want to be tackling all day – defending is hard work."

Nicholson has played a significant role in league in the Western Bay of Plenty this season, coaching the Mariners team in their first stint in the North Island Championship. Now all those involved will be keen to close the season with good performances against the touring teams.

"It has always been about improvement, it is all about pathway and opportunities for these guys. It is creating a good environment for the players and in a short campaign, the coaching and management team have to be very concise. I will try and tap into that emotional side of it – what an opportunity this is to play for your whānau and yourself. We want to give these guys a good platform to have a crack at these touring sides."

North Island selection fixtures:

North Island v NSW Country under-23.
Tuesday, October 8.
6pm, Puketawhero Park, Rotorua.

North Island v British Lionheart team
Thursday, October 24.
6pm, Owen Delany Park, Taupō.

North Island Championship team:
Pone Kahotea, Tama Renton (Coastlines); Aaron Whitikia, Andre Kemp, Isope Manu, John Skinnon-Puna, Solomon Patelesio, Mohi Aupouri, Stevie-Ray Haenga-Albert (Wellington Orcas); Daley Johnson, Kyle Hool, Levita Levita, Mike Salase, Taine Shelford (Northern Swords); Johlon Governor, Joshua Kerr, Taumutu Nohotima (Manawatu Mustangs); Travell Ngatoko, Keani Broughton (Taranaki Sharks).

Coaching team:
Head Coach: Jock Nicholson; Assistant coach: Neville Rogers; Head trainer: Aron Innes; Assistant trainer: Enele Fidow; Manager: Matt Kilgour.