Star props set to say final farewell

Front row forwards are hard men who, by nature, are loath to show emotion but Masterton Red Star props Tim Hintz and Nathan Haglund could be forgiven if they break the mould after their team's Wairarapa-Bush premier division grand final rugby match with East Coast at Memorial Park on Saturday.
For Hintz, 34, and Haglund, 35, it will be their last appearance for Masterton Red Star at the top club level and the end of a partnership which for them traces all the way back to 1991 when they were team-mates in the Wairarapa College first XV.
Neither player admits to having any initial thoughts of Masterton Red Star making the grand final after not even fielding a premier side last season because of a shortage of players.
Hintz and Haglund both played for their senior thirds team then - Haglund only for a few games - and their return to premier division ranks was motivated simply by a desire to seeing the club back in the top grade.
"The big thing was to get a team up and running again, and to at least be competitive," Hintz said. "To get all the way to the final is a huge buzz, I can tell you!"
Haglund believes having the right mix of young and old players has played a key part in the current Masterton Red Star squad being among the front runners on the competition table from the word go.
"Us oldies have the experience to keep the young guys on track," he quipped.
"We keep pointing them in the right direction I suppose you could say."
Hintz and Haglund do agree, however, that Saturday's grand final will be a hard-fought encounter and they are both expecting East Coast to target the Masterton Red Star pack as a possible weakness.
"They gave us hell in the forwards in one of our earlier games and no doubt they'll remember that and be out to do it again," Haglund said.
"But that's OK with us, I'm sure we can handle it."
The powerful running of Hintz in broken play has been one of the standouts of Masterton Red Star's rise to prominence this season but he looks to play down his "glamour boy" status in that respect.
"Look, every player likes to get the ball in the hands and have a crack at the opposition, and front row forwards don't get that chance very often," he said.
"So when you do you make sure you give it your best shot, that's all I try to do."
Rumours too are that another of the props taking the field on Saturday, East Coast's Darren Walker, will also be making his swansong at premier division level and like Hintz and Haglund he will be dead keen to bow out on a winning note.
"You get to a final and you want to win, second is good but not good enough," Haglund said.
Which for a prop actually makes good sense, doesn't it."