Senior resultsMuriwhenua Kuaka 10 Portland Panthers 40: Hard to imagine Muriwhenua could have played much worse in their first game at their new home venue at the Kaitaia A&P Showgrounds as round 3 from the RLN Multikai Cooker Premiership was completed on Saturday.
It was a performance coach Vinnie Rudolph will likely be glad to put behind him, but one he cannot afford to disregard if he is to turn his side into a competitive unit this season. A daunting number of unforced errors is one thing, but when players began kicking deep in their own lines - as well as attempting tricky offloads (which mostly failed badly) - on the first tackle then Rudolph has much to be concerned about. He remained positive, however, afterwards about the odd patch of spirited tackling which became the homeside's saving grace.
Of the visitors, a tidy effort all round for the team that recorded the upset of the year so far after beating the premier Stags in Portland last month. Mind you, it wasn't if they needed to do much. Notable for the Panthers was Far North ex-pat, Liam Collins, last seen playing for Ngaru Roa in Mangonui club rugby last year (and also the winning try-scorer in the dying minutes of the Mangonui club final a few years back and which gave Kaitaia the Bell Shield). At fullback, Collins was rarely tested.
Kuaka's two tries were Moewaka Samuels and Chris Vaasilli, with Brent Tecklenberg kicking ttwo conversions. Nathan Trent was the POTD while others to standout were second-rowers Cameron Thomas and Leighton Jordan, and Rawiri Harrison in his first game at prop.
There was a reasonable crowd there to enjoy the spectacle - played in balmy autumn conditions - but still a smaller turnout than expected considering this was the only game in town with no Mangonui rugby being played on the long weekend. The Kuaka now prepare for another tough ordeal at home this week, against the table-topping Takahiwai Warriors.
