Coach praises stalwarts

Memories of the recent past came flooding back for Carterton coach Steve Hurley after his team defeated reigning champions Eketahuna 17-5 in the grand final of the Wairarapa-Bush premier division rugby competition last Saturday.
Six seasons previous Carterton had been unable to field a premier division side because of a paucity of players, and Hurley was quick to pay tribute to club stalwarts like Garry Smith and George Rodger who had "worked their butts off" to ensure their absence was for only the one season.
"This is for guys like Garry and George who never gave up hope that we would be back in the top grade again??it's a great way to reward them for their dedication," he said of the grand final success.
Reflecting on the match itself, Hurley said it was very much one of two halves with Carterton dominating the action in the first half and going to the break 17-0 ahead and Eketahuna enjoying a huge territorial advantage in the second
"I suppose you could say we had most of the ball in the first 40 minutes and then hardly any of it in the second 40 minutes," Hurley said. "We knew they (Eketahuna) would come back at us and they certainly did that".
Hurley, who along with assistant coach Rex Playle was in the last Carterton team to win a premier division title in 1990, said the halftime message to his team was that they had played themselves into a position to take the trophy home, and it was up to them to make it happen.
"It's hard to keep going when you haven't got the ball, but I thought our defence in that second half was tremendous," he said. "To keep them to just the one try spoke volumes for that part of our game."
Whether Hurley and Playle will be back in the coaching positions for Carterton again next season is something they have yet to decide.
But even if they do, Hurley is keen to take with them someone who could be blooded to take over the role in the not-too-distant future.
Hurley is also optimistic that the majority of this season's line-up will be available to play for the club in 2007, including Fijians Tomasi Kedrabauka, Langi Peters and Andrew Compain, who all played such a big part in their grand final success.
Meanwhile, Marist loose forward Georgie Walden has been awarded the Wairarapa-Bush union's Bob Francis best and fairest player award for the 2006 club season.
It is a deserved honour for Walden who week after week played above his weight for Marist's premier division side.
Runner-up was another loose forward in Gladstone's Mike Spence.