JUNIOR LEAGUE - Advantage tells as Far North make running in Tri-Series

Thr Far North teams came south and conquered at Otaika Park, giving them the early running in the inaugural Northland junior rugby league Tri-Series on Sunday.
The huge influx of young league players to the area from the Far North and the Mid North were like their Whangarei rivals - unworried about the results and just relieved to get in their first match of competitive rugby league in a month after the recent rain has wreaked havoc on all junior codes.
The Far North teams were in a class of their own and they were undefeated in the five grades (U-6, U-8, U-10, U-12, U-14) with two matches apiece for the day.
Far North spokesman Fatu Aiono-Fatu said the fact that a junior competition was up and running last year in the Far North gave their teams something of an advantage.
"We're a year ahead from where the other two areas are, so I would have expected us to be stronger to start with," he said.
There is still plenty to play for though, with two more rounds of the tri-series to be played at Simson Park in Moerewa this Sunday and in Kaitaia on August 24.
"That will give them the opportunity to develop their standard of play and also to put themselves in front of the Northland selectors and show them what they've got," Aiono-Fatu said. The Northland representative teams will be picked from the three Tri-Series dates, with four Northland teams (U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16) to play Auckland in Whangarei on September 27.
The under-16s from the Whangarei district will join the junior programme this weekend at Simson Park as they take on their Far North and Mid North opponents.