Loan players a 'fact of life' for North Otago

The message on loan players from North Otago Rugby Union chief executive Colin Jackson is pretty blunt:
"Our position is to wait and see what the New Zealand Rugby Football Union is going to do about them next year ? and if they say no loan players, we'll go back to the Commerce Commission."
Today's rival of Wanganui in the Meads Cup rugby match at Oamaru, North Otago took on the NZRFU with the lawyers before the start of this season ? and won. Their stance, as espoused by Jackson, is quite simply this:
"We can't survive without the loan players ? we've only got 289 registered senior players. It's a fact of life, and if you don't have a tighthead prop, you have to go out and get one?.."
And Jackson fires a gentle volley at Wanganui's anti-loan player stance, one which was "eased" late in the piece with three names initially, finally settling on one ? Border prop Dan Clavelle, who is in the Wanganui reserves today:
"We've got six loan players. Wanganui say strongly it didn't want loan players ? but whether you have six or one, you still have loan players," Jackson said. "The best thing about this competition has been the use of loan players ? it's evened the whole competition up.
"It's given the very small unions, like us, an opportunity to be competitive."
North Otago is working on upskilling coaches and players ? thus the appointment of former Irish international centre Mike Mullins as player/coach, and also someone to coach the coaches.
Mullins, born in Northland, but with enough Irish blood to qualify, played 16 internationals for Ireland, was a member of their 2001 Rugby World Cup team, and played once against the All Blacks.
He has spent the past seven and a bit seasons playing for Munster in the centres. But a ruptured Achilles led him to come home to Auckland for last Christmas, he saw the North Otago advert, and applied.
He arrived back in Oamaru on May 31, so had to work hard to get to know the players. His assistant is former Wellington and Hurricanes hooker Shane Carter, who's shifted his plumbing business to Oamaru.
"We're trying to offer a good product," Jackson said. "We don't want to see rugby with 'old-man' scrums."
Thus the loan players, whether Wanganui likes it or not.