Seedings won’t count for much in club rugby semi-finals

Seedings could count for nothing when semi-final matches in the Wairarapa-Bush premier division rugby competition are played tomorrow.
If overall preliminary round form is any indication East Coast should beat Greytown at Whareama and Masterton Red Star should account for Martinborough at Memjorial Park but it would be no surprise if the results went the other way.
Both Greytown and Martinborough came through testing assignments last weekend with flying colours.
They had to beat Pioneer and East Coast respectively to make it through to the top four and the manner in which they did so was impressive, to say the least.
Greytown also have the confidence of knowing that after losing their first preliminary round game against East Coast by a wide margin they bounced back to win the second in similarly comfortable fashion.
It was their unity which was the most notable feature of the victory over Pioneer at the latter's home ground eight days ago. The combination between forwards and backs, both on attack and defence, was outstanding right from the word go and once they put points on the board early in the game it was pretty much one-way traffic.
That East Coast will provide more spirited opposition than Pioneer is ,however, a given.
The defending champions have not been as consistent as they would like over the past few weeks but a lot of that has been due to key players being troubled by injury.With a full strength line-up available tomorrow they should again be firing on all cylinders.
No matter what the weather or the ground conditions it is difficult to envisage anything other than an entertaining match as both East Coast and Greytown have a penchant for spreading the ball wide, and their coaching staffs have already indicated they won't be making any changes to their approach on this occasion.
That being the case it will probably be the side which wins the most possession up front which wins the game and no department will be more interesting there than the lineouts. East Coast have two proven leapers in James Balfour and Joe Feast and Greytown likewise with Norm Henricksen and Brett Aitken. East Coast will also want to utilise the powerful running of Willie Leota and TK Karaitiana in broken play while Greytown also have a couple of experts in that field in the very much in-form Tommy Sargent and Johnny Avatea.
The playmaking skills of first-fives Zeb Aporo (East Coast) and Lawrence Matthews (Greytown) will be a vital component in back play as will the attacking skills of outside backs, Sam Mitchell and Nick Olson for East Coast and Julian Cosgrove and Senoa Isaac for Greytown
Olson and Senoa Isaac are also likely to have the goal kicking duties for their team and in a match as close as this one is likely to be their success rate could be crucial to the end result.
Martinborough won't be bothered by the fact that in their two preliminary round matches with Masterton Red Star they came off second best.
In fact, they will probably take heart from the fact that the last time they played they actually did enough to win but were undone by the accurate goal kicking of Masterton Red Star's Byron Karaitiana.
In that particular game it was the Martinborough forwards who led the way and one suspects they will be fancying their chances of having the edge up front again tomorrow.
In hooker Adam Marshall they have a player who likes nothing better than to run the ball back at the opposition and others like Daniel George, Scott Gudsell, Peter Ireland and Jared Hawkins are very much in that category as well.The more intense the physical confrontation the more they are suited.
It would be wrong, however, to discredit the Masterton Red Star forwards as while their backs are often rated as their main strength it has been the consistency of their pack which has actually kept them in, or near, the competition lead.
Front rowers Tim Hintz , Owen Riddell and Jake Bubb have all impressed with their determination with the ball in hand, lock Tyrone McTavish has been a regular winner of lineout ball whenever he has been available and loosies Chris Senior and Jordan Sutherland have shone in that area of the game.
First-five Byron Karaitiana has clearly been the pick of the Masterton Red Star backs, especially with his kicking, both for goal and in general play. Nullifying his influence will need to be a major objective for Martinborough here and they will also want to ensure that the likes of Jordan Watene and Heemi Tupaea are kept under wraps too.
The Martinborough rearguard could probably be described overall as solid rather than brilliant but wing Rob Atkinson is quick and elusive and Greg Wilson reads the game well, and is not too shabby in the goal kicking department either.
The message from all this then is that neither semi-final is anything like a foregone conclusion and that two intense, enthralling matches are on the cards.
In the premier division plate semis Pioneer will be at home to Marist at their Jean street grounds and Gladstone will play Carterton at Gladstone while the senior reserves semis see Masterton Red Star up against Eketahuna at Memorial Park and Pioneer playing Carterton at Jean Street.