LEAGUE - Saints in seventh heaven after thrashing Marist

Saturday was a day for the new rugby league teams in the Northland senior competition as the Saints marched all over Marist and the Bay Slayers proved their potential against Hikurangi.
An opening 30 minutes of solid rugby league saw the Ngawha Saints pile on 38 unanswered points and although Marist fought back, it was enough for the Saints to post their first win of the competition.
The Saints did enough to suggest they will be semifinal contenders in their first season with the 48-8 victory, although it has to be said, an understrength Marist weren't at their best.
The champions of two years ago need to get four players on the bench next week to see what they can really do.
Their resistance late in the first half and during the second was admirable but they could have done with a few more players on the bus.
The home side played a simple but effective game with their big men providing good go-forward, and their halves also a handful around the ruck. They scored some impressive length of the field tries by freeing up their outside pacemen.
Saints manager Joe Henare said he was pleased with some aspects of the game.
"I was pleased with my forwards in the first 30 minutes of the game, they set a reasonably good platform for the backs, who struggled to finish off but we still scored 38 points in the first half," he said.
The Bay Slayers played their first home game at Ohaeawai and gave last year's grand finalists the Hikurangi Stags a run for their money.
A 20-10 halftime deficit blew out even further for the Bay Slayers and it looked as though the Stags were going to pile on the points against them, as Moerewa had the previous week.
Instead the Slayers started to play well despite their lack of time together and clawed their way back into the game, eventually pulling up five points short of win at 36-32.
Two tries apiece to captain Vern Wilson, Harley Mei and Lou Bluray led the charge in the morale boosting performance that led to praise from Hikurangi manager Jim Lees after the match.
"If the game had lasted five minutes longer you would have won, but that's rugby league," Lee said after the match.
Takahiwai got their campaign off to a good start by beating their old rivals Portland 40-20, while Kaikohe provided the biggest surprise of the day by beating champions Moerewa 40-18.
The win was built on great defence, especially on the Kaikohe line in the first half, and that gave them confidence they needed to win the game.
Player-coach JJ Hepi was outstanding in the forwards while Adam Eramiha, Jarred Tairua and Tuffy Munroe were the standouts in the backs.