The Star: April 04, 2019

Arona helps off field
• By Gordon Findlater
TEVIN ARONA was hoping to
provide star power to a talented
Hornby Panthers side when the
rugby league season kicks of this
weekend.
Instead, he’ll be making an
impact off the field.
Arona, 23, has spent the last
two years in Auckland chasing
his NRL dream with the Warriors.
However, after being a
regular in the club’s New South
Wales Cup side last year he made
the decision to return home to be
closer to his four-year-old son.
“I got an offer at the Warriors
for another year, but it was beginning
to get too long between
me seeing him,” said Arona.
Last season the young scrumhalf
gained a full pre-season
contract with the Warriors first
grade squad and was then on a
part-time first grade contract
while playing for the NSW Cup
side. In February Arona tore
a pectoral muscle during the
Canterbury Bulls match against
his former Warriors NSW Cup
side and had surgery a month
ago. He is hoping to return to
action close to a month before
the Canterbury Rugby League
premiership finals.
In the meantime, he’s slotted
into a new role alongside Panthers
coach Jed Lawrie which is
ST THOMAS of Canterbury
College players had mixed
emotions after two penalty
shootouts at the New Zealand
secondary schools futsal
championships.
Both the school’s senior and
junior boys sides played grandfinals
in the space of two hours
at the tournament in Wellington
on Friday after advancing
through pool play and the
knockout section.
In the junior final, St
Thomas and Wellington’s St
Patrick’s College finished at
2-2 following normal and extra
time. St Thomas then suffered
heartbreak, losing the penalty
shootout 3-2. “Our senior team
were all watching the game, as
soon as they lost on penalties
they came on and got everyone
in a big huddle and talked to
them. Each of the senior players
was comforting a junior player,
it was pretty cool to see,” said
St Thomas’ teacher Jacob Allen,
who heaped praise on the teams
coaches Shannen Vailuu and
James Vallance.
The senior team then turned
around the school’s penalty
fortunes. St Thomas opened
the scoring in the senior final
against Wellington’s Scots
news online at www.star.kiwi
SPORT 33
One of two futsal penalty shootouts go St Thomas’ way
• By Gordon Findlater
NEW ROLE: Tevin Arona has slotted into a temporary
coaching role with the Hornby Panthers while he recovers
from injury.
PHOTO: JOHN DAVIDSON
allowing him to pass on his take
aways from his time with the
Warriors.
“I’ve sort of become an assistant
because Jed [Lawrie] doesn’t
have too much help in that area,”
he said. “I’ve just taken it on and
run with it. I’m actually enjoying
looking at the game from a different
perspective . . . I’ve been
taken a few drills that we would
do at the Warriors and see what
Jed [Lawrie] thinks of them and
if we need to make a few tweets
here and there.” The Panthers are
coming into this season on the
back of three consecutive grandfinal
defeats to the Linwood
Keas. Arona was part of the 2016
loss.
“I watched the livestream last
year and I felt for the boys,” said
Arona.
The Panthers open their season
against the Northern Bulldogs
at Murphy Park in Kaiapoi on
Saturday. Other opening round
games see the Linwood Keas host
the Riccarton Knights, Papanui
Tigers host Halswell Hornets and
Eastern Eagles host Celebration
Lions.
College when Aashish Rai drove
home a low free kick. They were
then reduced to four players
for 2min when Tom Stewart
received a second yellow card,
allowing Scots to equalise.
Locked at 1-1 after normal
and extra-time, St Thomas
nailed their first two penalties,
courtesy of Mika Rabuka and
Seth Simpson.
St Thomas’ goalkeeper then
pulled off a huge save which
allowed Rai to seal the win
when he scored the team’s
third penalty. Earlier in the
tournament the senior girls
title was won by Rangiora High
School.
One-eyed Cantab
Gordon Findlater
gordon.findlater@starmedia.kiwi
Todd Astle
hard done by
POOR OLD Todd Astle has
once again been overlooked for
Black Caps selection, this time
on cricket’s biggest stage.
It was always going to be hard
for Astle to book a spot to next
month’s Cricket World Cup in
England and Wales.
However, does he have a
strong case to feel hard done by
with Ish Sodhi being selected as
the squad’s leg spin option?
Astle’s nine match One Day
International career may pale in
comparison in size to Sodhi’s 30.
However, lets run the numbers.
Sodhi has bowled at an average
of 35.77, strike rate of 38.70
and at an economy rate of 5.53.
Astle bowls at an average of
24.60, strike rate of 27.0 and
economy rate of 5.46.
Going off those numbers,
Astle would be a shoe in before
you even consider he offers a
batting option averaging 26.33
The Star Thursday April 4 2019
compared to Sodhi’s 6.20.
It is worth noting Sodhi has a
greater list A bowling average of
30.26 compared to Astle’s 35.50.
However, you can again
counter with the extra batting
option of Astle averaging 33.71
compared to Sodhi’s 10.70.
The understanding is that
Kane Williamson made an
intervention insisting that
Sodhi be included, due to
his experience in English
conditions with County side
Nottinghamshire.
On this logic it should also
mean that Matt Henry will lead
the Black Caps bowling attack
after his record breaking English
County season last year.
Please Ish go and spin us to
World Cup victory so poor old
Toddy doesn’t have to wonder
what might have been while
he spends the next few months
pounding the pavement around
Halswell.
CHAMPIONS: St Thomas’ senior side celebrate winning
the senior boys title at the New Zealand secondary
schools futsal championships.
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