The other teams labelled them the blowflies of the competition but coach Craig Bird said it was a compliment that Whangarei Boys' High School were proud of.
Boys' High completed their first national secondary schools rugby league competition at Papakura, finishing in 12th place - well ahead of the 16th seeding they took into it - but they established a never-say-die reputation for the high school that will long remain in the memory of the other teams.
"They were smaller than any of the teams there but they never took a backward step and that earned them a reputation among the other teams for swarming all over them like blowflies," he said.
Although they lost most of their matches against the established league colleges of Auckland, they improved in every game they played and were generally in the match right up to the final five minutes.
Bird said he didn't like singling out players in a fantastic team effort but captain Leroy Broughton had been exceptional throughout in the loose forward role and had tackled himself to a standstill in every game. Kadince Christiansen and James Fisher-Harris were both in the thick of every game, even though they carried injuries into the tournament, while Kauri Harema, Seth Going, Whetu Naera, Tremaine Hepi and Rhys Birmingham were the other standouts. Itai Wells got the coaches' vote for the most improved player.
