It'll be the weekend of opportunity for Hawke's Bay Magpies hopefuls, as it will be the last chance to keep alive the dream of playing in a Ranfurly Shield match.
Coach Mark Ozich, running a wider training squad of over 30, will watch club rugby on Saturday and sit down with his coaching team on Sunday to decide a team for the first shield defence of the season against Heartland rugby champions North Otago at McLean Park, Napier, on Wednesday night.
He expects to publicly name the team on Monday, saying on Friday there will be some who will be playing their first Shield or national provincial match.
At least 10 of the Bay's top players are currently out of the picture because of commitments to the All Blacks, the Māori All Blacks, Samoa or Tonga.
They include captain Ash Dixon, who will lead the Māori All Blacks in Saturday's match against Samoa in Wellington, with fellow Hawke's Bay players Pouri Rakete-Stones and Isaia Walker-Leawere joining him in the forward pack and wing Jonah Lowe on the subs bench.