Shore takes on rugby rival in celebration showpiece

North Shore Rugby Club kicks off its 150-year celebrations this weekend with a massive Good Friday derby at home against arch-rivals Takapuna.

Along with the premier side, the club’s reserves, under-85kg team and under-21s will all go head-to-head with traditional foes Takapuna at North Shore’s Vauxhall Rd ground.

Takapuna beat North Shore 29-19 in the North Harbour premier-grade final last year.

But Shore, which beat East Coast Bays 37-7 last weekend, has put together a strong squad for 2023 – partly due to excitement at marking the club’s founding 150 years ago.

Former North Harbour player Leigh Thompson is among those bolstering the Shore squad.

Number eight/blindside flanker Thompson, who has been playing professionally in Spain, recently returned home with his fiancé.

“He’s sitting on 98 premier games, so he’s pretty keen to get to 100 for the club,” said Shore premiers forwards coach Chris Davies.

Veterans Alex Woonton and Adam Batt, who have both played more than 100 games for the club, are also back, as are most of 2022’s pack, including James Fiebig, Trent Luka, Donald Coleman and Rex Pollock.

The side was runner-up in the pre-season

Blues Cup, an eight-team invitation competition for the top club teams in Counties, North Harbour and Auckland.

Shore lost to Patumahoe 20-19 in the final, after beating Ponsonby and Pakuranga in the earlier rounds.

Long-time premiers player Edgar Tu’inukuafe has returned to Shore after playing in Counties, as has former TGS first XV captain Lochie McNair, a loosie-turned-hooker who has been playing in Canterbury.

One of the more interesting recruits is Ollie Marsters, a tight-head prop from England, and the son of former prominent Shore player Johnny Marsters, a former New Zealand under-19 captain, who later went to South Africa to play, before settling in England.

Imports from Northcote premiers include loose forwards Hone Haerewa and Morgan Reedy. North Harbour Player of the Year Sione Teu is injured but is hoping to make a return to play during the season.

The depth in the side is perhaps best illustrated by the number of hookers in the squad: Tom Hardy and Dan Sinclair are vying with McNair for a starting spot, along with a new French import.

Coleman, who has previously tried his hand at hooker, is a flanker in 2023.

One of the few missing from last year’s team is coach Davies’ son, Sam (20), who made great strides with North Shore in 2022, gaining caps for North Harbour.

He is playing professional rugby in New York under the guidance of former North Harbour prop Ben Afeaki. Sam is likely to return to Shore at the semi-final stage of the club season.

In the backs, James Little, a quality midfielder, is due back at Shore by late April or early May, after a three-year stint in England.

Oscar Koller, who made great strides in 2022, has been confirmed as the starting first-five.

Former All Black Frano Botica, who is working with the backs, said a number of other combinations would become clearer after the opening four or so club matches.

The 150th-celebration game against Takapuna this Friday was therefore “a bit difficult”, Botica said.

“We would love to win that game for our 150th against our long-term rival. But you don’t win a championship in the second game of the season. So, if we don’t (win) it’s not the end of the world.”

• Pages 34-37 C’mon Shore!, highlightssome of the greats of North Shore rugby from the club’s recently published history, written by Max Webb and Jim Eagles.

Matt and Trev’s Fishy Tails for March.

We love anchovies on our pizzas. Snapper, Kahawai and Kingfish love eating them too. We buy ours from the supermarket. These fish herd them all up, then smash through them, mouths open, filling up their bellies. The birdies love them too. They dive-bomb them from above, the poor ‘ol anchovy doesn’t stand a chance! This is where we can help. It’s simple, find the birds, find the schools, flick a small grey coloured lure out and “whammo” you’ll be into fish. Kingfish and Kahawai on the surface and the snapper will be below waiting for the scraps to fall down. The schools are so thick they look like rocks under the surface and they are literally everywhere. From just off Narrow Neck and out towards the islands you cannot miss them right now. Become a bird spotter and you will find the fish.

With the slight drop in temperature we are getting excited for some workup fishing out wide. Over the next few weeks we will see the gannet colonies starting to do their thing out in 40-45m. North of Waiheke, East of Flat Rock and further out by Coromandel will all start to fire up. In these depths our favourite has to be the Ocean Angler pink/lumo fish finger. As we progress into Autumn this area will only get better.

As always, we would love to hear any fishy tails from any of you locals. Come on in and tell us about “the one that got away”……if you do come in ask Matt about what he lost overboard from his boat this last weekend...

Colourful character… A 10.2 kg mahi mahi, caught aboard Oir Caladh. First place for heaviest mahi mahi in the Fitzroy Onebase tournament, hosted by the Clevedon Game Fishing Club. Caught due south of the Poor Knights. Skipper – Sam Tuck. Angler –Tige Seaburg.