Northland draft in Auckland youngster

Northland's locking problems won't be solved in time for the kick-off of the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup, with Auckland loan player, Daniel Faleafa, a late call-up into the side that takes on Bay of Plenty tomorrow night in Rotorua.
While the 19-year-old Faleafa may struggle to learn his teammate's given names in time for the match, there's no doubting his ability and potential in the game despite his youth.
The 1.92m, 105kg lock was a starting member of the New Zealand team that successfully defended  its IRB  under-20 title beating England 44-28 earlier this year in Toyko.
 Apart from his strength in the lineout, Faleafa is extremely mobile around the field.
He is the third loan lock to have been approached by coach Bryce Woodward as cover  for the Taniwha's two injured locks, Cameron Jowitt and Pat O'Connor.
The good news is that Jowitt will play in a Northland development trial in Waipu - also tomorrow night - and is expected to be fit for Northland's match against Taranaki next week.
"Cam's getting 40 minutes of rugby this week, so we're hoping he'll feature in the Taranaki game in one form or another," Woodward said.
The other new Taniwha lock, former Western Force player O'Connor, remains on the sideline  but Woodward is hopeful that he'll be available in the coming weeks.
"Auckland would prefer they get Daniel back in the  under-20 or development side in the next month, so we're hopeful Pat will be ready by then," he said.
Despite rumours of a player revolt in the Bay of Plenty ranks, Woodward is expecting a tough match in Rotorua.
"They've got some real threats  like Luke Braid, James McGougan, Colin Burke and Michael Delany and they were fourth in the round robin last year and have a fairly settled side, so they're going to be a challenge for us."
Preparation for the match this week has focused on protecting the ball in contact and one-on-one defence - two areas that they were found wanting  against Counties-Manukau in their final warm-up match last Friday.
"If we defend like that against the Bay then we'll be beaten by 20 plus so we've got to tighten that up and play with more control and patience when we've got the ball," Woodward said.
The coach is under no illusions of the challenge the team faces.
"We have to play to our potential to have a chance of victory," he said.
The Bay  have a strong line-up with only Tanerau Latimer missing from the first-choice starting pack, while Junior Poluleuligaga and Ben Smith make their Air NZ Cup debuts - although Smith is under a slight cloud after colliding with a scrum machine yesterday.
* Northland: Bronson Murray, Tim Dow, Karl Haitana, Dan Goodwin, Daniel Faleafa, Joel McKenty, Matt Clutterbuck, Cameron Eyre, Luke Hamilton, Lachie Munro, Rene Ranger, Derek Carpenter, Damien Fakafanua, Troy Woodman, Jared Payne (c). Reserves: Mikaele Tuu'u, Matt Wallis, Steve Baker, Junior Gadolo, Rhyan Caine, Jon Elrick, Brook Gilmore.
* Bay of Plenty: James McGougan, John Pareanga, Joe Savage, Culum Retallick, John Moore, Solomon King, Colin Bourke, Luke Braid, Junior Poluleuligaga, Mike Delany, Jason Hona, Nigel Hunt, Ben Smith (c), Cory Aporo, Zar Lawrence Reserves: Dean Elmiger, Josh Hohneck, Mark Burman, Matt Vant Leven, Nick McCashin, Phil Burleigh, Toby Arnold.