Tasman Makos: News

United we stand - Makos coaches
20-Apr-2009

By WAYNE MARTIN - Nelson
If the players can match the enthusiasm of their two new coaches, then expect the Tasman Makos' 2009 Air New Zealand Cup rugby campaign to be based on solid foundations.

Bevan Cadwallader and Kieran Keane are still about three months away from naming their initial Tasman Makos squad, but preparations are well in hand following the union's belated reprieve from the New Zealand Rugby Union to remain part of this year's competition.

"We're happy to be in the comp first and foremost because I think the players in the Tasman region deserve to still be there," Cadwallader said.

"We've proved on the field that we're competitive. The board and the two provinces are now pretty positive and behind the team and behind the Tasman concept, which is great.

"They've embraced the concept, and I think that everyone realises that we can't have a Heartland (competition) mentality."

Cadwallader is into his eighth season as a provincial coach, although the previous seven have all been as an assistant. His apprenticeship began with Nelson Bays under Balie Swart and Wayne Love, followed by three seasons in Tasman's colours with Dennis Brown and Todd Blackadder.

Now he and Keane are excited about assuming their shared responsibility as co-coaches for this season's Air NZ Cup campaign.

"This is my eighth season of NPC," said Cadwallader, who turned 40 this week. "I'm quite young in coaching terms, but in terms of experience, I'm probably one of the more experienced guys at Air NZ Cup now at that level. Kieran's a couple of years older but he's had a wide-ranging experience through different teams.

"I think we're going to complement each other very well, and we enjoy working together."

The pair are confident that any residual "us and them" mentality between Tasman's two sub-unions has dispersed.

"Kieran and I are both the same; we don't think of Nelson Bays and Marlborough, we think of Tasman," Cadwallader said. "Everything we do is to try and benefit the Tasman union and the Makos as a team and as an entity.

"We've got to be a big family, really."

A core group of 28 players have been together since early December and after regular testing, Cadwallader believes the players are fitter than they've ever been at a similar stage.

In assessing player depth, Cadwallader says he and Keane are facing similar problems to most other provincial coaches in the perennial quest for big locks.

Will Crutchley's off-season departure for Australia means that Alex Ainley, Joe Wheeler and Dan Hyatt remain from last season's lineup, with Huia's Jared Aberhart, Nelson's James Foster and Waimea Old Boys' Brendon Kreft and Ben Coman also part of the extended squad.

He's heartened by the emergence of what he believes are quality front-rowers, with Tristan Moran, Sakaria Taulafo, New Zealand under-20 rep Hamish Cochrane, former Thames Valley prop Bradley Chubb and Siaki Peti part of the wider group. All Black Ben Franks will also rejoin the squad following the Crusaders' Super 14 campaign.

Halfbacks remain a little thin on the ground, with Crusaders pivot Kahn Fotuali'i the established No1 and Shaun Begg the only other No9 currently in the extended squad. James King's availability remains uncertain.

Otherwise, Cadwallader is satisfied with the talent available, much of it local, and says he and Keane will consider approaching the Crusaders franchise or Canterbury union for loan players only if it is absolutely essential.

Because of the uncertainty surrounding Tasman's involvement in this year's Air NZ Cup, only two pre-season matches have been confirmed. The first is against Otago at Trafalgar Park on July 18, and the second is a local derby in which Tasman will play both the Nelson Bays and Marlborough sub-union teams in separate 40-minute halves the week before the competition kicks off.

The official Makos squad will be named following the Nelson Bays club final on July 4, with their opening Air NZ Cup match against Taranaki in Blenheim on Thursday, July 30.