The Star: June 28, 2018

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44 Thursday June 28 2018 Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi The Star Sport Brothers in arms chase league title Duo link up at Northern Bulldogs • By Gordon Findlater BAMFORD brothers Chris and Jason have a lot in common – they’re both massive props, are renowned for breaking tackles, start most sentences with “yeah mate” and always seem to be up for a laugh. They’ve also won four Canterbury club league premierships between them. However, it’s taken until this year for them to play on the same team. When Chris, 35, returned from a stint playing in Orange, New South Wales, late last year he was unsure of where he would play his club footy this season. However, his mind was quickly made up after a conversation with his older brother Jason. “I just said to [Chris], why don’t you come to Kaiapoi and play for the Northern Bulldogs? They’ll love you,” said Jason. “I said if you [James] come out of retirement, then I’ll come and play for the ‘Dogs,” said Chris. Jason, 38, retired from the game in 2011 and up until January had no interest in returning to top flight club league. “I lost the love for the game. But this was too good to turn down,” said Jason. “I know that Kaiapoi is always looking for forwards so I started getting back into the gym.” The decision is reaping rewards. On Saturday, Jason crashed his way over the line to CHARGE: Chris Bamford playing for the Canterbury Bulls. PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER DOUBLE TROUBLE: Northern Bulldogs’ props Chris and Jason Bamford have four Canterbury Rugby League premierships between them. PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER score a match-winning try in the Bulldogs’ 24-20 win over the Hornby Panthers. The win moves them into a tie for second in the premiership with the Panthers on 14 points. The try was Jason’s third of the season. Chris is currently one of the leading try scorers in the competition with nine. While the pair are both battering ram props with Chris 125kg and Jason 130kg, how they go about scoring differs, according to Jason anyway. “He [Chris] is a bit more of a hot stepper and seems to jam his way through a gap, whereas I like to go straight through guys,” said Jason. Although the pair haven’t played on the same team until this year, it’s not like they haven’t tried. Jason has previously transferred to Linwood Keas and Celebration Lions in an attempt to link up with his brother. However, on both occasions Chris left for offers to play in Australia. “We’ve always been really close so it’s a privilege to finally be able to play next to one another,” said Jason. But he’s not just playing alongside his brother, now he’s also being coached by him. Chris has come on-board at the Bulldogs as a co-coach – alongside Brent Ringdahl – with the idea of taking over as head coach next year. Chris isn’t new to coaching. His first coaching experience came unexpectedly in 2010 in Australia when his agent Frank Endacott found him a job as a player-coach with Warialda in north-west New South Wales. “Frank Endacott rang me and said get over there and play. He then told me I was the coach as well. I thought bloody hell he’s thrown me in the deep end because I’ve never coached . . . he said don’t worry, it will be easy mate,” said Chris. “As it turns out, [Endacott[ looked after me because you get paid more for being a playercoach.” Chris is going for his own three-peat with the Bulldogs this year. He won the Pat Smith Trophy with the Linwood Keas in 2016. Last year he was instrumental in Orange CYMS winning the group 10 premiership. He was also awarded the competition’s player of the year award. “Yeah mate, the goal this year is to get to the grand-final. Once you’re there anything can happen on the day . . . we want to send a few old boys out with a bang,” said Chris. One of those old boys is Jason, who, along with Kyle Reuben, are the only surviving members from the Bulldogs’ one and only premiership win in 2007. Even with coaching duties set to increase next season Chris doesn’t see himself hanging up the boots anytime soon. “The body’s not too bad at the moment, definitely not as bad as Jason’s anyway,” said Chris. On Saturday the Bulldogs host bottom of the table Riccarton Knights at Murphy Park at 3pm. Rally remedy: Being hung-over and cold WAKING UP severely hungover at 6am on Saturday morning I had to contemplate whether the near two hour ride to Fairlie on easily the coldest morning of the year was worth the pay-off of watching some rally cars. Generally speaking, I don’t feel standing in negative degree temperatures with numbing toes while having your ear drums abused is recommended if you’re One-eyed Cantab Gordon Findlater gordon.findlater@starmedia.kiwi not feeling 100 per cent. But when the first car you see on the day is Hayden Paddon coming around a blind bend completely sideways at 100km/h-plus on an icy road, any ill feelings quickly pass by. On Saturday the South Canterbury hosted a round of the New Zealand Rally Championship for the first time since 1984. Thank goodness the decision has already been made to include the event in next year’s calendar – it’s a spectator’s paradise. Even with the hesitation to get out of bed and desire to get back to Christchurch before dark, I made it to four of the rally’s 11 special stages. However, it was possible to easily get to at least six stages, including a blast around Levels Raceway, due to the close proximity of stages and number of accessible intersections. Compare that to the recent Canterbury Rally around Ashley Forest, where you’ll spend 50min driving from one spectator point to another and be lucky to see three stages. Perhaps it’s time to make points of the forest more accessible to spectators or make use of the fast-flowing public roads surrounding the forest in North Canterbury. From talking to drivers, the proximity of the stages in South Canterbury also appears to be a hit with them, making for less time in the car between stages. The South Canterbury Rally was one of the fastest in the world. In all but one of the 10 public road stages, the top stage time was set at an average speed of more than 120km/h, made even more remarkable considering the drivers were dealing with icy roads in the early morning stages. We may not be getting the return of a round of the World Rally Championship any time soon, but with 96 entries at the weekend’s event, including our own WRC driver and two of Australia’s top drivers, the competitive level of rallying on a whole appears to be in a very good spot in New Zealand. It might be a further drive from Christchurch than Ashley Forest but come next year the South Canterbury Rally will be a highly-anticipated day out, especially for the Fairlie pork belly pie waiting to warm me up and blow off some dust.
The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi Thursday June 28 2018 45 Value Cars www.valuecarswarehouse.co.nz 32 Moorhouse Ave | 03 366 7768 The biggest range of vehicles in one location Big future predicted for Poihipi Another rising star at Lincoln Uni Top of the tables Massetti Cup P W D L PD Pts Linwood Keas 9 9 0 0 184 18 Hornby Panthers 9 7 2 0 94 14 Northern Bulldogs 9 7 2 0 72 14 Halswell Hornets 9 4 5 0 -14 8 Aranui Eagles 9 3 6 0 -39 6 Papanui Tigers 9 3 6 0 -79 6 Celebration Lions 9 2 7 0 -78 4 Riccarton Knights 9 1 8 0 -140 2 Metro premier section A P W L D Pts Christchurch 2 2 0 0 9 University 2 1 1 0 6 Lincoln University 2 1 1 0 5 New Brighton 2 1 1 0 5 Sumner 2 1 1 0 4 Sydenham 2 0 2 0 3 Metro premier section B P W L D Pts Marist Albion 2 2 0 0 10 Shirley 2 2 0 0 9 Burnside 2 1 1 0 6 HSOB 2 1 1 0 4 Linwood 2 0 2 0 1 Belfast 2 0 2 0 0 Men’s CPL P W L D GD Pts Harewood 9 9 0 0 19 27 in brief Guide to the weekend sporting action • By Jacob Page Massetti Cup rugby league The top four teams will be looking to stay out of trouble during round 10 of the Massetti Cup competition on Saturday. None of the top four teams play each other, which means the bottom four teams have a chance to upset the form guide. Linwood, Hornby and Northern all have a handy buffer on the remaining five teams, while Celebration will be looking to maintain their spot when they welcome seventh-placed Halswell to Cuthberts Green. Competition leaders Linwood travel to Wainoni Park to play fifth-placed Aranui, while Northern, fresh off their 24-20 CLUB DUTIES: Rameka Poihipi hopes to win the metro club title with Lincoln University before pushing his case for selection with Canterbury in the Mitre 10 Cup. PHOTO: TONY BRUNT • By Gordon Findlater RAMEKA POIHIPI became the latest Lincoln University player to turn out for the Crusaders after a surprise call-up to play the French Barbarians. Poihipi, 19, moved south to Christchurch last year after standout seasons playing at firstfive for Hamilton Boys’ High School in 2015 and 2016 which saw him heralded as one of the most promising players coming out of secondary school. “A big part of the decision was to be able to both study and play rugby . . . it’s obviously a really successful university that has had some great players come through,” said Poihipi. After playing predominantly at colts level for Lincoln University last year, he has stepped up this season and become a key component to the team winning the first round of the Hawkins Cup. Poihipi was also the leading scorer during the cup campaign with 122 points. That form saw him called into the Crusaders for a couple of training sessions where he made enough of an impression to make his debut at second-five for the team against the French Barbarians on June 15, before heading to Perth last week to play the Western Force. “I was really surprised . . . I’d been training with them for a couple of sessions and just win over Hornby, host cellardwellers Riccarton at Murphy Park. Papanui host Hornby at the Papanui Domain. Metro premier rugby University and Lincoln University will look to push their claims for contention in the metro rugby second round competition on Saturday. Both teams have a win and loss heading into week three in the compact section A. Topof-the-table Christchurch will look to keep their unbeaten run going against Sydenham, while Sumner will host New Brighton, with both teams desperate to find that winning feeling. In section B, high-flyers Marist will travel to Burnside; High School Old Boys host unbeaten Shirley and Linwood will welcome Belfast, eager to avoid the wooden spoon. CPL men’s hockey Seemingly unstoppable Harewood will face a stern challenge from Marist during round 10 of the CPL competition on Saturday. Harewood have won all nine of their games so far and have an 11-point buffer on second-placed Carlton-Redcliffs. However, Marist can leapfrog their way to second if they upset the favourites. In other matches, Carlton Redcliffs will look to get past HSOB-Burnside, Southern United will look to maintain fourth place by repelling the challenge of Fendalton/Avon and University will host Hornby. assumed I was there to make up numbers, so I was really honoured when I found out I was going to be playing,” said Poihipi. “It was surreal. You see all these guys on TV and next minute you’re rubbing shoulders with them and being welcomed into their environment with open arms.” He will return to club rugby this weekend when Lincoln University play University at Ilam Fields in a repeat of last year’s club final. You only need to look 12 month’s back from that club final to see the odds of Poihipi going onto bigger things are in his favour. The 2016 Lincoln University team that won the metro final against New Brighton consisted of a backline made up of Jordie Barrett, Caleb Makene, Jack Goodhue, Harrison Groundwater, Josh McKay, Brett Cameron and Ere Enari. Since then Barrett and Goodhue have both gone onto represent the All Blacks. McKay, Enari and Cameron have all played at Super Rugby level, while Makene and Groundwater have both played Mitre 10 Cup. Poihipi also has genetics on his side. His father – also Rameka Poihipi – played 61 games at halfback for the Bay of Plenty Steamers between 1994 and 2002. For now though, Poihipi says he’s remaining grounded with his eye on a club title before pushing his case for game time with Canterbury in the Mitre 10 Cup. CPL women’s hockey Two mouth-watering games highlight the latest round of the CPL competition on Saturday. The top-of-the-table clash between Carlton Redcliffs and unbeaten HSOB/Burnside promises to be a treat, while fourth-placed Marist will play Harewood. Both matches have the possibility of drastically changing the complexion of the competition. H and B Avon will battle Southern United to avoid the wooden spoon while Hornby has the bye. Southern League football The re-established Southern League competition gets under way this weekend. The league returns after its last stint in 1999 Students make NZ under-17 squad Four Canterbury footballers have been named in the New Zealand under-17 girls talent ID squad. St Andrew’s College’s Blair Currie, Rangiora High School’s Macey Fraser, Papanui High School’s Jayda Stewart and Middleton Grange’s Marisa van der Meer are part of the squad which will prepare for the age-group World Cup in Uruguay in November. The squad will be reduced in size before the tournament. Coffey becomes life member of NZRL John Coffey was recognised by New Zealand Rugby League on Monday when he was made its newest life member at its annual general meeting. Coffey has documented the rich history of rugby league in Canterbury and New Zealand as a journalist, historian and author. He covered rugby league, cricket and other sports for The Press for 44 years (1963- 2007). Coffey was also a handy player himself and played in the 1971 Canterbury rugby league grand-final for Marist. and pits the five top qualifiers from the Mainland Premier League – Cashmere Technical, Coastal Spirit, Nomads, Ferrymead Bays and Nelson Suburbs – against the best from Dunedin and Southland. The league aims to provide a higher level of competition heading into the national league season for the Canterbury Dragons, Tasman United and Southern. Cashmere Technical will host Queenstown AFC at Garrick Memorial Park at 11.30am, Ferrymead Bays welcomes Nomads to English Park at 2.45pm, Coastal Spirit travel to Saxton Fields to face Nelson Suburbs at noon on Sunday and Dunedin Technical will meet Southland United at their Caledonian Grounds at 2pm on Sunday. Carlton Redcliffs 9 5 3 1 9 16 Marist 8 4 2 2 8 14 Southern United 8 4 3 1 4 13 Fendalton Avon 9 4 4 1 -5 13 University 9 3 5 1 -5 10 HSOB / Burnside 9 1 4 4 -5 7 Hornby Vipers 9 0 9 0 -25 0 Women’s CPL P W L D GD Pts Carlton Redcliffs 8 7 1 0 25 21 HSOB/Burnside 7 6 0 1 30 19 Harewood 7 4 1 2 20 14 Marist 8 4 3 1 6 13 Hornby 8 1 5 2 -26 5 H and B Avon 8 1 6 1 -16 4 Southern 8 0 7 1 -39 1
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