“Previous to that, we lost the 2017 final.”
Waikohu will play HSOB at the same time as 2018 beaten finalists YMP take on Enterprise OBM tomorrow.
Both games are on at The Oval at 2.45pm but Tiny White Day — Round 1 of the Lee Bros Shield — starts with Kevin Hollis Glass Pirates-GMC playing Larsawn Ngatapa at 12.45pm.
Pirates and GMC have combined this year to field a premier team and they’re the biggest “unknown” as the season gets under way.
Waikohu and YMP are the only premier teams with the same coaches as last year – Tuapawa and YMP’s Steve Smith.
Pirates-GMC have former Ngati Porou East Coast Heartland head coach and last year’s Poverty Bay under-16 head coach Willie Waitoa at the helm.
Poverty Bay stalwart Trevor Crosby is head coach of OBM, former Thames Valley Heartland assistant coach Steve Hickey is looking after Ngatapa and former Poverty Bay skipper Scott Leighton is coaching HSOB.
“We’ve got a tough start, obviously, with Waikohu being reigning champs,” Leighton said.
Tamanui Hill and Hayden Stuart are co-captains of HSOB.
Fletcher Scammell has moved from OBM and will join the HSOB second row, and former Poverty Bay rep Tani Misikosi has returned from overseas.
But they’ve lost prop Salesi Niuvao for much of the season with a knee injury he suffered in a contact session last week.
HSOB manager Jonathan Poole said the squad were largely the same as last season.
They had a bad run of injuries last year but they’d had good battles with Waikohu over the years, he said.
“It’s a good test for us to see where we’re at.”
Tuapawa said Waikohu had retained the bulk of the squad from last year and added some exciting talent.
“We’ve got the added pressure that everyone will be trying to topple the champs,” he said.
“We know how to become a winning team but now we’re trying to defend the title. We’ll be taking it week by week.
“We’ve got new blood, new systems. We’ve had the whole summer to think about it.”
Geoff Pari will again captain the side.
Smith said YMP had a good mix of youth and experience.
“We’ve gained a few new players — lots of young ones,” he said.
“This is the biggest YMP forward pack I’ve ever seen.”
Last year’s final was still fresh in Smith’s mind and he said he learned a lot from it as coach.
Hooker Shayde Skudder is captain.
Smith expected OBM to be tough first up as Crosby was a stickler for fitness and would make sure his team were well prepared.
Crosby helped out OBM last year, got a taste for it and has stepped up as head coach.
“It’s going to be an exciting season,” he said.
“Our OBM team are looking to improve in every game.”
They had eight new players and were learning new training methods, and everyone was getting up to speed.
“That’s the exciting part,” he said.
Willy Grogan and Jacob Cook will be co-captains.
Pirates-GMC coach Waitoa has ties to both Pirates and GMC.
“I’ve been at Pirates since 2010; m1y father played at GMC,” he said.
Pirates spent a year out of the competition but many players have returned and Waitoa is back as player-coach. GMC haven’t fielded a team in recent seasons.
“It’s early days for us,” Waitoa said.
“We got together late. It’s definitely a work in progress.”
Ken Houkamau will be captain, Ngati Porou East Coast player CJ Fox is back in the ranks and Whakare Henare is expected to be key to the backline.
Ngatapa manager Johni Ingram said the club had lost some players to work and family commitments.
“We’ve got a core group of guys who are keen,” he said.
The captain had yet to be confirmed, he said, although Cameron Rowden was captain in pre-season games.
OBM are hosting Tiny White Day this year, with a menu of food at the clubhouse, as well as a designated drinking area.
The Tiny White Medal for the outstanding player on the opening day of the Poverty Bay club rugby season will be presented at 5pm.
The gates open at 11.30am, with entry costing $5.
