League: Stallions look to continue strong run

The Wai-Coa-Bay Stallions will take on the Northern Swords in Rotorua this weekend. Pictured is Stallions player Malcolm Noda (with ball). Photo / Andrew Warner

The Wai-Coa-Bay Stallions will look to continue their charge to the grand final when they take on the Northern Swords in Rotorua tomorrow.

The Stallions have completely shaken up the NZRL National Premiership competition this year, having already beaten heavyweights Counties Manukau Stingrays and Akarana Falcons (Auckland).

The Stallions have two more matches to play in the regular season against the bottom two sides, the Northern Swords in Rotorua tomorrow night and Central Vipers in Tokoroa.

They will be in a strong position to make the grand final if they win both matches with a current record of three wins and one loss.

Stallions coach Tony Lajpold said they certainly didn't expect a walkover this weekend as the winless Northern Swords almost toppled Wellington last weekend.

"We have told the players every game is a grand final for us. We want to be in the final and it is up to us," he said. "So we won't be taking anyone lightly."

In a bizarre twist of events, the Stallions finished fourth last season but qualified for the 2014 grand final after the top two sides were relegated for fielding ineligible players.

Lajpold said they had worked hard since losing the grand final last year to Canterbury, and he put his side's huge improvement in form down to three things this season.

"It is a combination of a lot of things. The culture that we developed last year with our leadership group has transferred to this year, and the new players have added to that," he said.

"And at the beginning of the year we reviewed last season and we realised that we don't have any big boppers, so we decided on a game plan that we would select a team that is a lot fitter and would play the game at speed."

He said they had also been given a bit of extra funding to allow players to travel to Matamata twice a week for trainings.

Lajpold said they hoped to see a good crowd out at Puketawhero Park tomorrow night. "Hopefully we will get a good crowd in Rotorua and hopefully next week in Tokoroa it will be the same."

He said the 28-26 victory over Akarana last weekend had given his side plenty of belief after they fought back from an 18-6 half-time deficit.

"To be brutally honest we said it was unacceptable the way they were playing. And to their credit they proved a lot to us and themselves," he said.

He said players out this weekend with injury or other commitments included Keanu Dawson, Jeremy Siulepa, Vinnie Morunga and Victor Karora-Reu.

•Wai-Coa-Bay Stallions v Northern Swords, Puketawhero Park tomorrow at 6pm. Entry: Adults $5, children (13-16) $3, under-13 free.

Women's event starts

Rotorua's Puketawhero Park will be buzzing with top rugby league action over the coming week.

The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) National Women's Tournament will be held over three days, starting today, followed by the National Youth Tournament which runs from Monday to Friday in Rotorua.

The NZRL National Women's Tournament features seven teams including the Wai-Coa-Bay Stallions women's team, in the national women's tournament for the first time.

The NZRL National Youth Tournament will see teams represent their regions and chase national under-15 and under-17 titles. Wai-Coa-Bay will be represented in both age groups.