Puketoi's chance to stake a claim

It's probably too early to be talking about Puketoi as the "dark horses" of this season's Wairarapa-Bush senior first division rugby competition but a strong performance against last year's beaten finalists Marist at Memorial Park,Masterton tomorrow will give further credence to labels of that
kind.
An undefeated run in three pre-season matches suggested Puketoi would give a young Pioneer side plenty to think about when the first division series kicked off two weeks ago and they did even more than that, beating Pioneer by a relatively comfortable 27-14.
Last weekend the Pongaroa-based side had the bye but their first up effort was made look even better when Pioneer took on Marist and got to within nine points-21 to 12- off them after a late rally produced two excellent tries.
Taking those two results on face value the conclusion could be easily reached that tomorrow's encounter should be a closely-fought one which goes down to the wire and if that is the case Puketoi
will find themselves being looked on as a serious title contender.
That Puketoi's best chance of what would still be a surprise victory will revolve around them dominating the forward battle virtually goes without saying for gutsy as their backs are sure to be they simply don't have either the experience or the flair to match the Marist rearguard.
Up front, however, it might be a different story for while the Marist pack did show improvement on their first up effort last Saturday the sheer ruggedness of a Puketoi eight spearheaded by tough nuts like Jared Bambry and Evan Small is sure to cause them a headache or two.
Bambry, especially, will be looking for a good game at headquarters.He was a regular member of the Wairarapa-Bush squad last season but never quite ensured himself a place in the starting XV and tomorrow is his opportunity to demonstrate to new coach Kelvin Tantrum that he has benefitted from the experience and is ready for more action at that level.
Another Puketoi player keen to press for representative selection will be first-five Jason Liverton who was on the fringes last year but was hampered by a combination of injury and the consistently good impression made by Manawatu ?mport John Dodd, who is now playing his club rugby in Auckland.Liverton's kicking game is one of his strengths and the Puketoi tactics should give him every chance to utilise that tomorrow.
Marist too have a few players who will want to give their aspirations a boost, notably inside backs Patrick Rimene and Nathan Couch who were not available last season but are thought to be back in the reckoning in 2008.They both had a big say in the win over Pioneer last weekend,as did hard running No.8 Joe Nuku who will be even better with a couple of games under the belt.
EAST COAST V EKETAHUNA
East Coast takes on Eketahuna at Whareama in what should be anoher intriguing contest.The Coasters have made a good start to the season under new coaches John Pereira and Ritchie Robertson, beginning with a win over Greytown and then fully extending Carterton despite fielding a weakened team.
Eketahuna's only appearance to date saw them go down 10-5 to Martinborough but considering the big number of players they have lost from 2007 and the fact Martinborough, who have the bye tomorrow, have made a favourable impression early on it was hardly a bad result, was it?
The feeling is that Eketahuna could have the edge in the forwards and East Coast the greater pace in the backs so their tactical approach is likely to differ to a large degree.
PIONEER V GREYTOWN
Pioneer is at home at the Park Sportsground to Greytown with both sides looking for their first win of the season.So many of the Pioneer newcomers looked players of huge potential in the loss to Marist last weekend, none more so than loosies Mike Wilson and Lee Ewe and first-five Hoani Peacock.
Watching Peacock took this writer back to the days when a young Phillip Rutene burst onto the club scene here, such is his balance, tricky footwork and astute kicking and while some will argue the sense in having a player so young wearing the No.10 jersey at representative level I am not so sure...he is that promising.With specialised coaching -maybe from Rutene himself-Peacock could be something special
Greytown too has a highly talented youngster in Mike Hollis at halfback.He played a few games for Wairarapa-Bush last season and did encouragingly too and with that experience behind him this could be his year, especially with Hamish McKenzie no longer available.
GLADSTONE V CARTERTON
Defending champions Gladstone have won two from two and while a Carterton team with hardened campaigners like Joe Harwood and Tomasi Kedrabuka in their pack will make them work hard for set piece possession in the match at Gladstone tomorrow the all-round capabilities of Gladstone should have the final say.
They welcomed Mike Spence back to the loose forward department last weekend and he was in fine form and with talented newcomer Ed Taylor, who was rested last Saturday because of a slight injury concern, likely to join him and the ever-consistent Steve Wilkinson there tomorrow Carterton might struggle to compete in that area of the game.
Look too for Gladstone first-five Dean Grant to have a big impact on the game.The young South African is not only a nippy runner and big punter of the ball but he is also a very proficient goal kicker, skills honed by the huge amount of practise time he puts into that part of his game.Mind you, his Carterton counterpart Jono Hurley is no slug there either so any ill discipline from either side could mean points on the board.