Comfortable win has Taniwha looking ahead

By DAVID LEGGAT

Bruce Hodder leant against the wall of the Trafalgar Park players' tunnel sucking on a celebratory drink and searched for something positive out of his Northland team's winning effort against Nelson Bays.

It was a hard job. He had just seen them secure their NPC first division place for next year with a comfortable 32-13 win over the gallant but outgunned second division champions. But it wasn't pretty.

After a long pause the coach settled on this: "They hung in there. A couple of guys did show skills.

"It wouldn't be a performance we'd be proud of, but we won the game, so I guess that's the important part."

Put that last bit in capital letters, because defeat was unthinkable for the proud northern union, who knew they had to be part of the 12-team premier division in 2006, or their future as a significant part of the New Zealand rugby landscape would have been in jeopardy.

Defeat on Saturday would have put that spot in real danger. Now it's time to plan ahead.

The place in the premier division is not confirmed. But it will be far easier to argue their case from the first division next year than it would have in the second.

"The guys were very nervous. I guess there was so much riding on this," Hodder said.

"We have to tidy up in some areas, but there's the potential for four years of consecutive first division play.

"Sponsors like that sort of thing and players do too, because there's some surety there."

Northland's biggest problems have been keeping players, and attracting good young talent.

Experienced lock Tim Henwood, who bagged two of Northland's five tries on Saturday, reckoned at the start of this season there were a handful of players with around 40-50 games for the union.

The rest had fewer than 10 behind them. A glance at the 2003 playing roster shows how many players had left the union at the end of that year.

"Hopefully the boys will learn from the pressure we were under from Nelson Bays so that if we stick together we will be a lot stronger team," Henwood added.

He said there was the odd whisper suggesting Northland should merge with North Harbour to make one stronger north-of-the-bridge union.

He looked like he was sucking a lemon as he said, "That's definitely isn't in anyone in Northland's plans".

Hodder said he had not tried to project too far into the future. Saturday's game had to be got through first.

He acknowledged a hard look at where they were weak this season was needed. Holes had to be filled.

He pinpointed the need to strengthen the clubs and bring through players to senior standard.

Tough times lie ahead for the union. It has been a difficult year but at last there were smiles on Northland faces on Saturday.

The amiable Henwood even dropped into a spot of local legend.

"We've got a saying up north that the mighty kauri tree will bend but never break," he said.

"Today she was bent but managed to get up tall and strong again."


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