Tantrum hopeful for Heartland campaign

Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Kelvin Tantrum is "pretty happy" with what he has seen over the first three rounds of play in the premier division inter-club competition.
Tantrum believes most teams are ahead of where they were last season in terms of fitness and while skill levels have been something of a mixed bag there was enough individual talent around to give him hope for a successful Heartland championship campaign.
"Obviously it's too early to get carried away but it's been a good start, we're pretty happy with the way things are progressing," he said.
Tantrum said he and assistant coach Neil Foote were watching with interest the development of the many younger players who are debuting in premier division play this season with an eye to perhaps introducing some of them to the representative scene.
"It's all about form, if they can show us they can play well week in and week out then they have to have a chance," he said, "But if they don't show that sort of consistency then they won't be there."
Tantrum said he and Foote would not decide on whether they would introduce any "imports" into the Wairarapa-Bush team this season until they had given local players fair opportunity to press their case for selection.
"If there are areas where depth is a problem then we will probably look to bring players in from outside the region but right now we are focusing on what we have locally," he said.
Meanwhile, Eketahuna and Puketoi are playing their Wairarapa-Bush premier division rugby match under lights at Eketahuna tonight, kick off at 7pm.
With both sides languishing at the bottom of the points table through tasting defeat in each of their previous three competition games victory will be keenly sought and a close game is in prospect.
The key to success here promises to rest in whichever of the teams gains superiority up front as that is where their main strength lies.
Two of the unbeaten premier division teams, East Coast and Carterton, will meet at Carterton on Saturday.
The Coasters have already amassed 136 points this season through a series of big wins but, interestingly enough, Carterton have conceded less points than them, 26 against 35, which suggests their defensive strategies are working well.
A tight defence will obviously have to play a big part in the Carterton game plan here too as East Coast are once again sure to focus on utilising the speed and flair of outside backs such as Luke Shanks, Peter Gray and Nick Olson. How successful they are in that achieving that objective will probably dictate the result of this one.
Masterton Red Star have also won three from three but while that entitles them to start favourites against Pioneer at Memorial Park they can expect to be given a run for their money by a Pioneer squad on the improve, and at their most dangerous in broken play situations. Spill as much ball as they did in their win over Marist last weekend and the Rams could find themselves in big trouble.
Martinborough are at home to Gladstone in what should be another close tussle. Gladstone will rightly fancy their chances of having the edge in the forward exchanges, particular the set pieces, but Martinborough are a feisty lot with enough attacking talent in their backs to create their own share of attacking opportunities.
Greytown and Marist clash at Greytown and this should be an entertaining affair with both teams certain to bring their backs into play on a regular basis. Look for the Isaacs, Tavita and Senoa, to provide the spark for Greytown while Marist will benefit if old hand Patrick Rimene is back on deck to provide guidance to the likes of Daniel Blong and Murray Gleeson.
CURRENT PREMIER DIVISION COMPETITION POINTS ARE: East Coast 15, Carterton 13, Masterton Red Star 13, Gladstone 10, Pioneer 6, Martinborough 6, Marist 5, Greytown 3, Eketahuna 1 and Puketoi 0.
Carterton heads the senior reserves competition with 15 points, followed by Pioneer 14, Martinborough 13, Masterton Red Star 11, East Coast 9, Tuhirangi 5, Eketahuna 5, Featherston 1, Marist 1, Greytown 0 and Gladstone 0.
Eketahuna had the bare 15 players (in numbers fellas!) for their debut match against Oriental-Rongotai in the Wellington women's rugby competition last weekend so it was hardly surprising they ran out of puff in the second half, and were on the end of a decent beating.
Coach Cory Miller was pleased to report yesterday, however, that playing resources should be pretty much back to normal for their match against Poneke at Eketahuna on Saturday with key players like Perri Tatana, Jess Bennett, Shakira Baker and Michele Clarke returning to the fold
Miller said the game plan for Eketahuna would be move the bigger Poneke forwards around by having loosies Tatana and Emma Aldsworth get to the breakdowns quickly and free up possession for a backline including proven try scorers such as Black Fern Rebecca Hull, Baker and New Zealand Maori rep Dayna Reiri.
"If we can feed our backs good ball they should do the business for us," he said.