With five seasons and 38 caps under his belt, Jordan Olsen is ready to lead by example in his first Mitre 10 Cup campaign starting as captain of Northland. Photo / File
With five seasons and 38 caps under his belt, Jordan Olsen is ready to lead by example in his first Mitre 10 Cup campaign starting as captain of Northland. Photo / File
When the Northland rugby team arrived in Southland yesterday morning, captain Jordan Olsen was a little disappointed to see a lack of snow.
It was only five days ago when images appeared of Invercargill's Rugby Park Stadium covered in a white blanket. However, Olsen and his band of northern men should expect greener conditions going into tonight's clash with Southland at 7.35pm.
Hopefully Northland won't face a similar scene to at Rugby Park Stadium (seen here on Sunday) as they take on Southland tonight in the opening game of the Mitre 10 Cup. Photo / Facebook
The epic North vs South battle will also act as the start of 2019's Mitre 10 Cup and could set the tone for the rest of the competition, especially for these two sides.
Olsen, who is in his sixth season with the Taniwha, will be key to his side's success in his role as captain. While he has had some leadership roles throughout the years, this will be Olsen's first full season starting as the team's skipper.
"I'm very honoured to be named captain and it's a role I have a lot of pride in so I want to do the best job possible," Olsen said, fresh off the plane yesterday.
"Traditionally I try to lead by example, I don't say a lot but I just try put it all out there, the guys can follow me into battle and that's all I ask of them."
Olsen hopes to lead his team by his actions on the field. Photo / File
Regarding tonight's game, Olsen said the excitement levels had been high all week despite the threat of cooler temperatures.
"I think everyone is very excited and itching to get out there and play some footy, which is great," he said.
"We are definitely aware of the fact that it could be a bit cooler down here, even possible snow, so it's definitely something we're not used to but we don't dwell on it and just focus on what we can control."
Olsen, who will add to his 38 caps when he starts at hooker tonight, said it was hard to know what Southland would bring to the first game of the season. Olsen said he was more concerned with his own team's performance.
"We just focus on our job, look after our backyard and if we do that, it should all come together, it doesn't matter who we are facing, if we put a good performance out there we should get the win."
Olsen's troops will look to the captain for much needed direction tonight, Olsen (left) seen here with first five Jack Debreczeni (right) in a preseason game against North Harbour. Photo / File
After three weeks of hard training, Northland played two pre-seasons to prepare for a compressed 10 week, 10 game format. Northland started well with a 20-15 win over Counties Manukau in Kaikohe before a heavy 57-31 loss to North Harbour in Warkworth.
Olsen said while there had been bad patches at times, he was confident his side could replicate the heart and effort shown in their pre-season battles.
"There were times in the pre-season games where we switched off for a bit mentally and it showed, so if the guys can put in an 80-minute performance mentally and physically, that'll be what I'm looking forward to."
In Northland's line-up tonight, there are seven possible debutants (noted in team list) looking for their first taste of Mitre 10 Cup rugby as a Taniwha. With almost all squad members featuring in Northland's club competition this year, Olsen commended Northland Rugby for promoting the local talent.
Olsen was happy to see a strong local contingent in Northland's game-day squad, seen here playing for his club side, Mid Northern. Photo / File
Olsen also noted a number of committed Northlanders had made the long trip down south and he hoped the fans would be just as committed for their upcoming home games.
"We have one of the best fan-bases, we love our fans especially at home," Olsen said.
"It's an amazing atmosphere that they create [at the Northland Events Centre] so keep showing up and we'll do our best to do it out on the field."
