Imports not completely off coaches agenda

Wairarapa-Bush rugby selectors Graeme Cheetham and Lofty Stevenson haven't completely dropped the idea of introducing "imports" for their team's Heartland championship campaign this season.
Cheetham and Stevenson have deliberately only used local players for the first three non-championship games off this season, against a Wellington XV, Hawke's Bay and Manawatu, and are keen to continue in that vein.
But Cheetham conceded yesterday that if current weaknesses in the Wairarapa-Bush squad remain a problem they could have to go the "import" way.
"The intention still is to use only players who play their club rugby here but, at the same time, we are not definitely saying we won't bring in players from outside & that remains an option," he said.
Cheetham's comments come on the back of news that the NZRFU appeals committee has turned down an appeal from the Buller, East Coast, West Coast and North Otago unions which aimed to have teams participating in the Heartland competition allowed more than four loan players.
In delivering its finding, the appeal council indicated that until the NZRFU board decision to restrict that number to four the board had, in fact, been intent on Heartland teams having no recourse at all to such players.
Furthermore, documents presented at the appeal council hearing by both the appellants and the NZRFU showed that the appellant's views had been taken into account when the NZRFU made its decision.
Former All Blacks coach and NZRFU president Peter Burke was on the appeal council, along with Rob Fisher, a former chairman of the NZRFU, and Wellington lawyer Stephen Ward.
Cheetham and Stevenson will be naming their Heartland squad about the end of this month and they will have their final dress rehearsal for their opening match against West Coast in Masterton on August 18 with a non-championship game against fellow Heartland side, Poverty Bay, in Gisborne on August 11.
While "fairly happy" with the progress made through their first three non-championship fixtures, Cheetham concedes there are three positions where depth of talent is still proving a headache & first five-eighth, tighthead prop and openside flanker.
Of those three it is first-five which has to be the main worry.
Marist's Patrick Rimene has made that position pretty much his own in recent times and played well enough in the Heartland championship-winning Wairarapa-Bush team last season to earn selection in the national Heartland side which undertook a brief tour of Argentina.
A combination of mental tiredness and fitness hassles has seen Rimene understandably remove himself from Wairarapa-Bush contention so far this season but in an interview with the Times-Age last week he emphasised he had not necessarily retired from representative play.
And his form at club level for Marist which heads the senior first division competition table would suggest that even if not fully fit he is still a class above his main challengers for the pivotal role.
Cheetham said he and Stevenson had still to talk to Rimene about his Heartland availability and indicated that even if he was not prepared to play himself he could be used as a mentor to whoever was asked to fill his boots.
"We understand just how crucial it is to have a first-five who can run the show and right now we are struggling in that area," Cheetham said. "It's a big one for us and, quite frankly, there doesn't seem to be any easy answers."