The Northland primary school representative rugby team is aiming high at next week's prestigious Roller Mills rugby tournament in Cambridge.
Many of the team were in the side who won the Vancouver Cup for the first time - yet missed out on the semifinals last year on a countback - and
they wanted to improve on that this time around, manager Shaun Anderson, said.
"We're definitely going to win the tournament because Northland's never won it before, so that's the goal, especially after going so close last year," he said.
Another goal is to hang on to the Vancouver Cup, a trophy played for in pool play and rather like the Ranfurly Shield in that the holder puts it up for challenge in their scheduled matches.
"Already one of the teams we played in pre-season has mentioned that they're looking forward to challenging for it. We want to keep hold of it because it's held in pretty high regard," Anderson said.
Northland starts with a match against Counties on Sunday - a team they beat 46-0 in a pre-season match.
They then face a tough challenge against Auckland West on Tuesday, before playing King Country on Wednesday and North Harbour on Thursday. If Northland qualify, they will play in the semifinals on Saturday and final on Sunday.
They have played five matches in total in their pre-season preparation. They lost to Auckland East 24-0, lost to Auckland West 22-5, but beat Bay of Plenty 15-10 and Waikato 27-10.
Northland: Gavin Inverarity, Tom Morrison, Zeke Anderson, James Toeke, Chaz Watene, Te Kopa Tipene-Thomas, Hadyn Brown, Ezekiel Munro, Mitchell Miller, Haupeke Brown (Bay of Islands), Regan Wakeling, Kane Pomare (Northern Wairoa), Shahylim Poharama, Conner Mackie, Caleb Aekins, Tairelle Parker, Judah Andrews (Whangarei), Walter Pomare, Sydney Williams (Kaitaia), Liam Colley (Hokianga), Quentin Le Gros (Ruawai), Kwynten Vakatini, Terry Baldwin (Rodney).
