Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Kelvin Tantrum is "pretty hopeful" the Wellington union will look favourably upon his side's application for a Ranfurly Shield challenge next season.
Tantrum said Wairarapa-Bush and Wellington had worked closely enough together over many seasons to give optimism that Wellington would not only agree to the request, but
even play the match at Memorial Park in Masterton.
"I suppose you could say we are living in hope," Tantrum said. "Obviously they (Wellington) have a lot of choices to make but I'd like to think we would be somewhere near the top of their list."
Tantrum concedes some local rugby fans could question the value of a Shield challenge for Wairarapa-Bush on the basis of their below-par form in the 2008 Heartland championship, plus the fact they had taken some hefty beatings by heavily-depleted Wellington teams in recent times.
But his own view is that playing for the famed "log o' wood" would be a "once in a lifetime" opportunity for many of the Wairarapa-Bush squad, and it would also have the effect of enhancing the enthusiasm of the players towards pre-season training.
"It would be a huge incentive for everybody involved in the team, management as well as players," he said.
"The Shield has a special aura about it, no one can argue with that. And imagine if the match was played at Memorial Park & how great that would be for our supporters as well."
Tantrum said the results achieved by Wairarapa-Bush during the 2008 season had been the subject of scrutiny at a debriefing session held with leading union officials, and there was agreement on both sides of the fence that they were not as good as anticipated.
"Things didn't go as planned. I think everybody knows that," he said. "But at the same time there were contributing factors which didn't help and they won't be there next season. There was a positive feel about 2009, and that was encouraging."
Tantrum revealed he and assistant coach Neil Foote were currently in the process of establishing a squad of about 30 players who will be asked to meet with them either late this month or early next month so that the likes of individual training programmes could be discussed and implemented. And plans are also afoot to meet with the club coaches so that everybody was on the same wave length from an aspirational viewpoint. "If progress is to be made we need the clubs to be right behind us, their support is vital," Tantrum said. "The closer that relationship is the better for the game."
