Puketoi exit a 'nightmare'

Puketoi's late withdrawal from the Wairarapa-Bush premier division series has created a nightmare for the council of clubs charged with the administration of club rugby in the region.
The first problem was how the club's withdrawal should affect points in first round matches which count solely towards the Chris Kapene Memorial Cup.
The question there was that if teams that had already played Puketoi were allowed to keep the points earned in those games how many points should be allocated to those teams still to play them.
Should they get the customary four for the win or the maximum of five, which comes when the winning side scores four or more tries?
As it happens the answer is neither.
Rather, all points picked up against Puketoi right from the start of the 2011 season have been dropped.
In other words it's as if the Bush-based side did not exist.
Unfortunately, the timing of Puketoi's withdrawal means two byes will now be in vogue through until the end of the Kapene Cup series despite it bringing the number of premier division participants back from 11 to an even 10. With so many teams already having had the bye, no other option was considered viable.
There seems a good chance, too, it will lead to changes in the format of the main championship for the Tui Cup.
The original intention there was to seed the teams into two pools depending on points earned in the Kapene Cup series with six teams in one pool and five in the other.
All teams would be starting from zero points and a full round of pool games would be played with the top two sides in each pool going into the semifinals.
On the face of it Puketoi not being there makes the numbers game easier in that if the format was unaltered there would the same number of teams - five - in each pool.
But if that was to happen then every weekend there would again be two byes (one in each pool). This is not the ideal situation, particularly for the new Wairarapa-Bush Heartland coaches Mark Rutene and Steve Thompson, who will want their players to have as many games under their belts as possible before that campaign commences.
Council of clubs chairman Tim Nathan says the Tui Cup format will be at the top of the agenda at a meeting early next month. But he didn't want to predict what the outcome would be.
"Quite honestly I don't know which way it will go, it really is a matter of watch this space right now," he said.
Meanwhile, two Wairarapa-Bush referees, Andrew Stringer and Scott Andrew, will be controlling matches in Wellington on Saturday as part of an inter-change with their counterparts in the capital.
Stringer will referee the Swindale Shield fixture between Petone and Wainuiomata at the Petone Recreation Ground while Andrew will have the whistle in the Harper Locke Shield game between Norths and Stokes Valley at Porirua Park.
The two refs from Wellington officiating locally are Andrew Rainey and Trevor Walker. They will control senior reserve games: Rainey the Pioneer v Marist encounter at the Park Sportsground and Walker the Carterton v Eketahuna game at Carterton.
Saturday's draw is:
Premier division: Masterton Red Star v Featherston, Memorial Park at 2.30pm (C Jefferies; T Roseingrave and T Porter); Pioneer v Marist, Park Sportsground at 2.30pm (D Goodin; A Rainey and J Devine); Carterton v Eketahuna, Carterton at 2.30pm (A Payne; S O'Gorman and T Walker); Gladstone v Martinborough, Gladstone at 2.30pm (G Hall; G Moorcock and P Weeks); Greytown and East Coast byes.
Invitation XV match (non-competition): Percy XV v Sharp XV, Whareama at 2pm (G Reisima).
Senior reserves: Masterton Red Star v Tuhirangi, Memorial Park at 1pm (T Roseingrave); Pioneer v Marist, Park Sportsground at 1pm (A Rainey); Carterton v Eketahuna, Carterton at 1pm (T Walker); Gladstone v Martinborough, Gladstone at 1pm (G Moorcock); East Coast a bye.
Secondary schools: Wairarapa College firsts v Aotea College, Wairarapa College at 12pm (S O'Gorman).