A ray of hope for NPC minnows

CHRIS RATTUE reports on how the big guns of the NPC, which kicks off next Friday night, will be handicapped for the first few rounds.

There will be a nifty little handicap system in play during this year's NPC, and the minnows of the first division should aim to make the most of this while it lasts.

New Zealand rugby's major provincial battle ground is a place of haves and have nots.

The Super 12 franchise-base unions are stacked with professional players paid by Rupert Murdoch and the national union, while some other sides are not that far removed from the old chook-raffle funding system.

A comparison point might be Counties Manukau and Canterbury.

Canterbury were busy trying to lure young Steelers back Casey Laulala to Christchurch just a fortnight ago.

Counties Manukau finished the last financial year, to December 31, with a debt of $170,000. If they cleared that and sold all their assets, there would be a touch over $200,000 in the bank.

In contrast, the mighty Canterbury early this year transferred $500,000 to the Team Canterbury fund, just to lure and secure players.

The rich are getting richer, and the poor poorer, although Counties Manukau are aiming for a $120,000 profit this year.

Canterbury's financial success is built on big-game crowds - including Super 12 and NPC semis and finals, routine Super 12 games and Ranfurly Shield defences, not to mention the revenue possibilities of hosting test matches.

Yet Counties Manukau do not even hold Super 12 game these days and while they are due a piece of the Chiefs' profits, there were none to share in this year.

Financial clout dominates on the field, because the big unions can draw the best players through money and the Super 12 carrot, and field professional sides who can trounce teams full of part-timers.

The minnows get a little break, though, this year.

With the All Blacks' final Tri-Nations game against Australia in Sydney on September 1, the core test players will not be available for the first four NPC rounds, and may not be slotted back into their sides until round six.

The lightweights should attempt to make hay while the sun shines. It might be the last time they are given such leeway, because the New Zealand Rugby Football Union wants to reduce the overlap to just a couple of rounds at most.

But even given the disruptions Canterbury and Co will face, the big guns will dominate the competition again.

If sporting fairytales are your go, the main hope is that Taranaki will sneak into the semifinals for a third time in four seasons, but it is hard to see them challenging for the title.

There will be a new and hotly contested element to this year's first division - avoiding relegation.

The 11th-placed team will automatically drop, while 10th will have home advantage in a playoff against the second-division champions (from next year, the last side in a 10-team first division will play off against the second-division champions).

This is a tough call on promoted Bay of Plenty, who are not being given any breathing space this season.

The relegation contest might produce some of the most desperate and enjoyable football of the year. The battlers know that if they get the chop, it will be hard to retain good players and return to the top through a promotion-relegation game.

Look at the once-mighty Manawatu - who now stroll around in the second division - might be the catchcry.

And the rugby bosses appear to be revelling in the idea of this fight to the death.

The last round pits Bay of Plenty against Counties Manukau, and Northland against Southland. They are most pundits' relegation prospects.

This season will play a big part in the shape of their futures.

Our NPC Tips:

1. Canterbury

2. Auckland

3. Waikato

4. Wellington

5. North Harbour

6. Otago

7. Taranaki

8. Northland

9. Counties Manukau

10. Bay of Plenty

11. Southland