LEAGUE - Organisers hope weather will play ball

Rugby league organisers are trying to get the fledgling junior inter-districts Northland competition off the ground this weekend but admit that, with the weather patterns the province has been experiencing recently, it's all in the hands of the gods.
Charged with revitalising junior rugby league competition in the province, the Whangarei and Districts junior committee has followed up the recently completed club competition with a Tri-Series among Northland's three sub-regions.
The first round of the series, which features representative teams from the Far North, Bay of Islands and Whangarei, will see teams play each other in six age grades for regional dominance for the first time this Sunday at Otaika Park.
Age-group teams range in age from 5 to 16 and will compete for the title of Northland District Champions.
Two further rounds of the inter-district competition are planned in Moerewa on August 17 and in Kaitaia on August 24.
The competition will also give the Northland age-group selectors a chance to see the young league players perform, helping them select the right teams for end-of-season representative clashes against Northcote and Auckland.
Northland teams will be chosen by selectors Jim Larkin, Rangi Selwyn, Dane Roynayne and Greg Mackie in the u-9, u-11, u-13, u-14, u-15 and u-16 age-groups.
The Northcote series is set down for September 6 but has still to be confirmed, while Auckland teams will descend on Whangarei on September 27.
Northland organiser Greg Mackie said the recent rain had hampered the teams' preparation and ability to train together.
"We've been getting together for a couple of weeks but we've definitely been a bit hamstrung with the weather but we'll definitely have all our teams out there and ready to go this weekend," he said.
The Whangarei teams will get their last chance to train tomorrow at Kensington Park outside the Marist Club rooms at 4pm.
The first of three rounds of games will start at 10am on Sunday, with all the Whangarei teams taking on their Bay of Islands opponents, followed by the Kaitaia-BOI round, before the Kaitaia-Whangarei round completes the day.