Carterton to rest easy

Carterton will be resting easy while the other two joint leaders, Gladstone and Marist, do battle at Memorial Park when the fourth series of preliminary round matches in the Wairarapa-Bush senior first division rugby competition are played tomorrow.
Having the bye means Carterton already have the maximum four points in the bag and therefore their place at the top of the points table is guaranteed for at least another week.
Who will be joining them there though is nowhere near as predictable as both Gladstone and Marist have good reason to fancy their chances of winning their particular encounter.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to reach the conclusion that Gladstone coach Steve Thompson will be looking to his forwards to call the tune or that Marist coach Sid Tatana will be wanting to utilise the speed and flair of his backs at every conceivable opportunity.
On that basis the end result could very much depend on the level of dominance achieved by Gladstone up front. If they can make a one-horse race of the set pieces and consistently get to the breakdowns in good numbers they will have gone a long way towards nullifying any advantage Marist may have in the backs. Possession is, as they say, nine-tenths of the law.
It would be dangerous, however, to completely discount the prospects of the Marist pack making a real nuisance of themselves.
Providing that bulky No.8 Joe Nuku has recovered from the injury which saw him leave the field late in the piece last weekend they have a player who relishes the confrontational aspects of the forward game and if he leads the way, and the troops follow in close support, there could be some bruised and battered bodies by the game's end.
The depth of talent in the Marist backs is such that usual midfielder Ben Couch has actually been switched to the role of flanker and he has been making a big impression there by all accounts. He too has never shirked the rough and tumble and his combination with Nuku in loose play will be watched with interest.
Also of interest with an eye to the Wairarapa-Bush squad for their Heartland championship campaign will be some possible match-ups in the backs & Dean Grant v Paddy Rimene at first-five, Mike Shaw v Nathan Couch at second-five and Jordan Watene v Byron Karaitiana at centre.
East Coast will have the cementing of a home quarter-final on their minds when they square off against Puketoi at Whareama. The Coasters gave Gladstone one hell of a fright last weekend and if their forwards show the same sting as they did then they should pave the way for a comfortable victory here.
Greytown will have been buoyed by their surprisingly easy win over Puketoi last Saturday but even though they are back on home territory they will find Eketahuna a handful tomorrow.
The boys from the Bush were unlucky not to topple Marist at their last appearance and you just get the feeling they are starting to hit their straps again after a lull caused as much by injury problems as anything else. Also they badly need a win to keep their quarter-final hopes alive and that incentive might be the most telling factor of all here.
Entertaining rugby should be the order of the day when Martinborough and Pioneer meet at Martinborough. Both sides like to move the ball around, not only in the backs but in the forwards as well. In fact, the attacking qualities of loosies Jared Hawkins for Martinborough and Nathan Rolls and Lee Ewe for Pioneer might well have the biggest say in the end result.
The Eketahuna women's side bounced back to winning form in their Manawatu premier division competition match last weekend, running in numerous tries in their 79-5 thumping of Wanganui Pirates. They can expect much stronger opposition tomorrow though when they are at home to Kia Toa, a club which have made the Manawatu title pretty much their own in recent times. Kick off at Eketahuna is at 1pm.
Next weekend will see the 1983 Masterton junior rugby team hold a 25th reunion with about 30 of their team attending, some of them flying in from Australia. Festivities will begin with a social gathering at the Masterton Red Star clubrooms on the Friday night and a series of events have been planned for the following two days.