Massey victims of their own success as top players snapped up

Even the incentive of achieving a hat-trick of titles is not enough to fill Massey coach Graham Lowe with optimism for his side's prospects in the North Harbour premier competition which starts this weekend.

Lowe ruefully reflects that Massey, the outstanding Harbour club of the past two seasons, have been victims of their own success. Because of a combination of the professional juggernaut and retirements, Massey have been devastated.

Out of the starting XV in last season's final against Takapuna only one player has been a regular at most of the early training runs.

Roger Dustow, Junior Poluleuligaga, George Pisi and Anthony Tuitavake are all involved with the Blues in the Super 14, and Andrew Whiteman has moved abroad.

The retirement of two long-serving stalwarts, inspirational captain Steve Jackson and former Manu Samoa international Malua Tipi, who as a locking pair held the Massey pack together, has been a severe loss.

The newly structured NPC premier division has had a double impact on Massey. Not only will it have Harbour squad members missing for the last six weekends of the championship because the Air New Zealand Cup will start in July, but some players such as wing Junior Teleni have been lost to unions such as Tasman.

It would be good to have quality players, says Lowe, who would have preferred the Harbour premier title being decided in late June instead of spilling over to August and clashing with the NPC.

Lowe believes it is now time for administrators to look at where clubs sit in the game's structures.

Other clubs have also been hit hard by the even greater inroads being made by professionalism. Takapuna, runners up to Massey in each of the past two seasons, have lost to overseas contracts, key members of last year's pack, Marty Veale, Brent Wilson, Rodney Voullaire and Patrick Flavell.

North Shore will be without Ben Meyer, Viliame Waqaseduadua and Tom Harding, Northcote without Nick Williams and Craig McGrath and Silverdale will see little or nothing of Luke McAlister and Greg Rawlinson.

As Lowe points out, it's a levelling out process which should suit the union's smaller clubs.

But there have been other disturbing signs for Harbour club rugby.

Clubs like Marist and Helensville can't field under 21 teams and Navy have opted out of the premier and premier reserve grades, meaning there will be byes this season.