Gisborne Thistle midfielder and 2024 Players’ Player of the Year and captain Cory Thomson (left) - a third-generation Jags player whose father Grant and grandfather Willie wore the club’s colours before him - is back for a Jags side in a rebuilding phase this season. Photo / Paul Rickard
Gisborne Thistle midfielder and 2024 Players’ Player of the Year and captain Cory Thomson (left) - a third-generation Jags player whose father Grant and grandfather Willie wore the club’s colours before him - is back for a Jags side in a rebuilding phase this season. Photo / Paul Rickard
Three Gisborne teams in the same outside league means six derbies for football fans this season.
Thistle, United and – playing under the High School Old Boys banner – the Gisborne Boys’ High School First XI will contest the Eastern Premiership alongside seven teams from Hawke’s Bay.
The Hawke’s Bay teams are Western Rangers, Port Hill United, Maycenvale United, Napier Marist, Havelock North Wanderers, Taradale Reserves and Napier City Rovers Reserves.
Taradale’s first team will play in the Central League second division being reintroduced this year, while Napier City Rovers’ first team will contest the Central League first division. Their reserve teams are ineligible for promotion from the Eastern Premiership (the new name for the Pacific Premiership).
The top-finishing team from the eight other sides will have home and away playoff matches against the top eligible team from the Western Premiership (a combination of the Taranaki and Horizon premierships). From there, the winners play off, home and away, against the winners of Wellington’s Capital Premier competition for a place in the 2026 Central League second division.
Saturday, April 5, is the first day of Eastern Premiership competition. Electrinet Gisborne Thistle play Taradale Reserves at 12.30pm on Childers Rd Reserve No 1, Heavy Equipment Services Gisborne United play Western Rangers at 2.45pm on Harry Barker Reserve (HBR) No 1, and High School Old Boys-Gisborne Boys’ High School play Napier City Rovers Reserves at Bluewater Stadium in Napier at 3pm.
The first Gisborne derby will be at 12.30pm on April 19 when Thistle play HSOB-GBHS at Childers Rd Reserve. United are also at home that weekend, playing Maycenvale at HBR.
Gisborne Thistle, who played in the now-defunct Central Federation League last year, face significant rebuilding.
Head coach Tam Cramer had nightmarish injury problems in his squad last season. The Jags made the end-of-season playoffs for a Central League 2 place, only to lose 1-0 to Kāpiti Coast-Horowhenua composite side Te Kotahitanga.
Goalkeepers Hugo Lodewyk and Mitchell Stewart-Hill are unavailable this season.
Cramer said Lodewyk was going to Lindisfarne College and would likely play for one of the Hawke’s Bay clubs, while Stewart-Hill – out for much of last season with injury – was taking time out.
Defender Ziggy West-Hill has gone to Lindisfarne and is based in Hawke’s Bay for his football.
The advent of a Boys’ High team in the premiership means some of the players introduced to the Thistle squad last year will play for the school side this season.
Other losses include midfielder David Salmon (work commitments) and centreback Jirah Wanoa (a knee injury that could take months to mend).
On the credit side, club representatives are in discussions with a young goalkeeper in England and are considering signing at least one more player from Vanuatu, in addition to centreback Junior Jimmy and wide midfielder Samson Hotas. Defender Oliver Aldridge has also joined from Wainui.
Federation League golden boot Jimmy Somerton and Travis White are returning attack-minded players, and midfielder Cory Thomson is there, too.
“We’re still looking to build,” Cramer said. “We started training in early January and the fitness is pretty good. It’s been difficult. The numbers aren’t great because we have players missing, but the boys are definitely up for it.”
United midfielder Aaron Graham moves upfield during the 2022 Central Federation Cup final against Manawatū side North End at Harry Barker Reserve. United, who won a penalty shootout to clinch the silverware, are one of three Gisborne teams competing in the 2025 Eastern Premiership also featuring seven Hawke’s Bay sides. Photo / Liam Clayton
United player-coach Josh Adams feels he has a side capable of taking on the best the premiership has to offer.
“The bulk of our group are getting to the age where they probably have only a couple of years of high-intensity football left, and they thought why not give it a go,” he said. “We have only seven away games throughout the season. Let’s see where it takes us.”
He is still working on “a couple of pieces of the puzzle”.
Andy McIntosh, an injury-enforced convert to goalkeeping, is available again if required, but Adams is looking to bolster his goalkeeping stocks.
“Our defence is looking very strong.”
Former Thistle captain and centreback Ryan Anderson had joined the squad from Shockers and would add to United’s aerial strength at the back and for attacking set pieces, Adams said.
Jonathan Purcell, Kieran Higham and Jake Robertson are also in the defensive mix.
United’s depth in midfield is impressive. Along with Cory Adams, Dane Thompson, Aaron Graham and Kieran Venema, they have Daniel Torrie, recruited from Wainui.
Up front, they have lost Cory and Josh’s younger brother Jacob Adams to Boys’ High, but still have Josh Adams, Malcolm Marfell, Sam Royston and Campbell Hall, a forward line with pace and firepower to burn.
Having concentrated on Eastern League football in recent years, United have put in a big pre-season effort to get their fitness up to Eastern Premiership level.
United and Thistle have tried to arrange pre-season matches, with mixed results.
Thistle’s Cramer says teams are reluctant to travel to Gisborne, so the Jags have gone to Whakatāne for game time against Taupō and Whakatāne opponents. Away games against Taradale and Papamoa are also in the offing.
Adams is in talks with “a couple of teams around town” for game time, and is looking ahead to the traditional season-opening clash of the previous year’s Bailey Cup and Eastern League winners. As United won both trophies last season, their opponents will likely be the runners-up of one competition or the other.
United would have one team in Eastern League men’s football and one in the women’s league, Adams said.
“We’re just building this year,” he said. “Next year is our 50th anniversary, so we’re hoping to build a big platform for 2026.”
Gisborne Boys' High School First XI rightback Shai Avni in action for Gisborne Thistle last season. The Year 13 student is expected to play an influential role in the school side’s foray into Eastern Premiership football under the banner of High School Old Boys. Photo / Paul Rickard
Gisborne Boys’ High director of football Sebastian Itman is excited at the prospect of a season of high-level competition for the First XI.
“Garrett Blair will be the coach and I will be his assistant,” Itman said. “Darren Larkins will be team manager.
“We also have Ronil Lal coaching the Second XI (under the HSOB banner) in the Eastern League second division. He was the assistant coach of the Fiji team at the 2023 Under-20 World Cup in Argentina.
“He lives in Tolaga Bay and this month started as a relief teacher at Boys’ High. He was a technology teacher in Fiji for 22 years. This year, he is starting studies to become a physical education teacher in three years.”
Most of the First XI are Year 13 students, but some Y12 players forced their way into contention, Itman said.
“One of the leaders in the squad is Year 13 student Shai Avni. He was selected in the national under-19 Māori team and will play at rightback.
“In goal, we have Aidan Armstrong and in front of him we have Kyran Lasenby at leftback, Kauri Holmes (brother of Black Ferns fullback Renee) and Kaden Manderson as centrebacks and Shai on the right.
“In midfield, Year 12 student Euan Cramer (son of Thistle coach Tam) will link with James Talbot and attacking midfielder Xavier Priestley-Mennie, and our front three are Anton Larkins, Matt Hills and Jacob Adams.
“Charlie Harvey and Gavin Derr could also feature.”
In two weeks, Itman will take the team to Auckland for a “pre-season tour” comprising games against Onehunga College, national secondary school champions Sacred Heart College, Ellerslie AFC u23s and a team yet to be confirmed.
“I’m taking 20 players – 16 from the prems and four from the reserves,” Itman said. “With pre-season games, the Eastern Premiership, school competition qualifiers, the Super 8 tournament and national tournament week play, we could have 38 games this season. Players will get injured and we need to have players who can step up.”
Referee stocks to be tested
Central Football referee manager Matt Wallace says the participation of three Gisborne teams in the Eastern Premiership will put pressure on the provision of referees.
“Our goal is to have three-point control of every [Eastern Premiership] game,” he said. “That will be a numbers game, not just in Gisborne but across the federation.”
Clubs had been told three-point control of premiership games might not always be possible, Wallace said.
Referees might have to be brought in from outside, and in such cases two or three match officials might travel in the same vehicle.
Referee registrations in the Central Federation were ahead of the number at the same time last year, but factors such as retirements, injuries and relocations could have an impact.
Central Football introduced the Ref for a Rebate campaign to encourage players to take up refereeing. They could be paid $30 or $35 for each game they referee and then, on production of a receipt for their club subscription, be reimbursed half that amount.
“It could help those people who might be struggling a bit, and we hope we can retain some of them as referees moving forward.”
