Tantrum 'not too unhappy' with 2009 Heartland draw

Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Kelvin Tantrum is "not too unhappy" with his team's 2009 Heartland championship draw.
Defending champions Wanganui are one of five teams Wairarapa-Bush will play in pool A matches, along with West Coast, East Coast, Horowhenua-Kapiti and Buller.
Shaping up in pool B will be last year's beaten finalists North Otago, South Canterbury, Mid-Canterbury, King Country, Thames Valley and Poverty Bay.
After Wairarapa-Bush failed for the first time last season to qualify for the premier section, the Meads Cup, Tantrum is wisely taking nothing for granted but he noted last year's results suggested they might have the easier of the two pools to contend with.
"I think you can say we are not too unhappy with the draw but that's about as far as I would go," Tantrum said "Teams can change quite dramatically from season to season so you can't be too certain right now about who will be playing for who."
The pool A draw sees Wairarapa-Bush playing three of their games away, including the opener against West Coast at Greymouth on August 29, and their home matches will be against Wanganui and Buller.
The August 29 start is slightly later than normal but the format will be the same as usual with the top six teams in pool play (three from each section) going on to play off for the Meads Cup and the bottom six contending for the Lochore Cup.
Indications are that Wairarapa-Bush will have played up to six matches before the Heartland championship commences, one of which will be the Ranfurly Shield fixture against Wellington at Memorial Park, Masterton on July 2.
Hopes are that at least two of those games will actually be played before the Shield encounter the New Zealand Police being a likely opponent then and there are also plans for a Bush v Wairarapa match on Queen's Birthday Monday.
That was a regular clash before the merger of the two unions in 1971 and Tantrum is keen to revive it now that the annual fixture with Hawke's Bay on that date has been abandoned, along with the other usual pre-season games against a Wellington XV and Manawatu.
It has been customary in recent times for the Wellington XV match to be played for the Jimmy Cotter Memorial Trophy but that trophy will also be up for grabs in the Ranfurly Shield encounter this year.
Three of Wairarapa-Bush's lead-in games before the Heartland championship will be played in August and they will be against North Otago Country, Horowhenua-Kapiti and Poverty Bay.
Tantrum sees those matches, which are all likely to be staged at Memorial Park, as especially important as the Heartland squad will be finalised by then and will be aiming to hit peak form before the championship proper gets underway.
"It gives us time to get all our systems in places, there should be no excuses for a slow start," he said.