League: Swords junior sides struggle at tourney

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Rugby League Northland are taking a philosophical approach after the Northern Swords 15s and 17s teams had forgettable national tournaments.

Having finished as the third best under-17 side in the country last year, the Swords 17s tournament was a big come-down from the highs of 2013 as they eventually played off for the wooden spoon.

Rugby League Northland general manager Alex Smits said the tournament served as a great opportunity for players to be seen by talent scouts to create a pathway and career in rugby league.

The 17s struggled from day one at the tournament earlier this month, when they suffered a heavy defeat to the Auckland Invitational side 68-12.

The Swords then lost 50-4 to Akarana before going down 28-6 to Mid Central to close out pool play.

Playing Wai-Coa-Bay in the cross-over game, they lost 46-4 as they were decimated by injury and finished the game with only 12 players.

Playing off for the wooden spoon against the Mid Central Vipers, who had earlier defeated them 28-6, the Swords managed to rise to the occasion and knock them over 28-12.

Coach Benson Selwyn was humbled by the performance: "We did it tough this week, we suffered some key injuries, the boys could have given up but they didn't, it goes to show that they have a big Northland heart and showed their pride in the jersey."

For the 17s, stand out players were captain and standoff Caleb Aekins, halfback Stevie Ray Haenga-Albert, fullback Duncan McIvor and second row Kawana Marsden. Trainer Willie Dickson won the trainer of the tournament award for the 17s.

Meanwhile the Swords 15s showed much promise, but as the tournament went on their hopes faded away.

Pitted against the eventual tournament winners, the Akarana Falcons, on day one didn't help - as they went down 24-10 after trailing 6-4 at half time.

The performance was touted as an admirable one, especially because the corresponding fixture in 2013 the Swords lost 70-0.

Their next game saw an overtime penalty prove the difference against the South Island Scorpions, losing 12-10.

The 15s rounded out their pool play with a 38-18 loss to the Wellington Orcas. In their cross overgame they lost to Auckland Invitational, 20-6.

Eventually the Swords 15s went down to the Southern Scorpions in their final game of the tournament, losing 30-10.

For the 15s players to stand out were halfback Nikau Graham, standoff Kingi Rakete-Tane, loose forward Brodie Tamarua, centres Bradley Lanigan and Takakino Makara, and prop Jackson Sparksman-Brott.

Coach Jim Larkin felt the team had a lot to be proud of, with a number of players identified to go on to further honours.

"This is the best group of 15s I've had, but the competition has also improved," Larkin said, who has coached the 15s in three previous campaigns.

"We have a good group of boys here to build on and they will be so much better for the experience."