Taupiri have youth in the bank
21st May 2010 05:19PM
By Waikato Times
He made his Waikato debut back in 1979 as a teenage five-eighth.
Thirty-one years later he is taking a youthful Taupiri side into the heat of battle that is Waikato premier club rugby and to say the Ron Crawford Memorial Trophy preliminary round has been a learning curve for the youngsters is a gross understatement.
Harris was head coach of the Taupiri Under-21 side that won the Waikato championship in their grade last year. This year he has taken the reins of his club's senior A side and brought a dozen of those under-21 players with him, meaning about 80 per cent of the squad are 20 or younger.
They have yet to win a game in what has been an exceptionally tough and close competition this season, their best result a draw with bottom-of-the-table United Matamata Sports.
But they have gone close and given some good teams a fright along the way.
Tomorrow Taupiri Tavern Taupiri will host Hamilton Marist at Murphy Field in yet another bid to get their first victory, with Marist needing to win to keep in the hunt for a top-eight position for the main round.
Harris knows his team are no longer in that hunt and now face a cut-throat promotion-relegation round in which just the two Lion Cup finalists will make it into next year's 10-team premier competition.
"Most of these boys who have come up to senior rugby for the first time this year are only 18-20," Harris said.
About eight of them have regularly made the starting line-up and many of them are still young enough to play under-21s. It's an investment for the future.
"They've shown they can compete at this level, even though the results haven't gone our way.
"It's looking quite good for the future. They've learnt a hell of a lot, some of these boys."
When Harris got the coaching job of Taupiri's top team in the off-season he realised they needed to build more depth at that level and provide experienced players the youngsters could learn from.
So in addition to the core of the team that managed to finish second in last year's promotion-relegation round to earn a return to premier status, Harris convinced some old heads to return in the form of highly experienced lock Mark McConnell, who hadn't played for a couple of seasons since returning from a long stint in Ireland, and props Mark and Brian Cameron.
"We run one squad with the As and Bs and have good numbers compared to a couple of years ago. That has given us the depth we didn't have before when guys had to play two games on a Saturday for the Bs and As."
Harris believes a number of his players are another year or two away from hitting their straps.
"A lot have only just got into the gym," Harris said.
But the young tight forwards like highly promising lock Jason Te Brake have benefited from the experience of the likes of McConnell and the Camerons.
Young loose forwards Nick Richards and Dylan Thomas are another couple who have been making their mark this season.
In the backs the likes of Harris' son Ben on the wing and his nephew Peter Harris at second-five have learnt a lot off established backline members like centre Sam Fletcher, who is thriving in the environment, and the Litt brothers Grant and David at halfback and first-five.
"We had a bit of a bad run early on with injuries but we have depth to cover it." Harris said the mix of youth and experience had worked well and it was just a matter of keeping them all together and getting the young players into the gym in the off-season.
"They're country boys and we've got to get them into that frame of mind so they can match up with the guys in the city clubs who are already doing that."
The goal at the start of the season was to make the top eight, particularly with the fact it was being reduced to 10 teams for 2011.
"We've missed that now so the goal is to make the top two of promotion-relegation. It's going to be tough and there are going to be a couple of good teams coming down to first division.
"I've been around the Waikato club rugby scene a while now and this is the strongest competition I've seen in many years.
"Te Rapa have five wins and they are in danger of missing the top eight." As for Taupiri, Harris said they had given some good teams a fright this season.
"These young guys played against Melville on their home ground and lost by just five points. A week later Melville beat Old Boys.
"Hopefully we're going to get a win sooner or later. The club will really celebrate when we do," he said.
New competition leaders Shenanigans Irish Pub Fraser-Tech will have a challenge on their hands when they host an in-form third-placed OTC Otorohanga team at Elliot Park tomorrow.
Second-placed CBD Hamilton Old Boys are also at home, hosting a desperate eighth-placed Seafood Bazaar Te Rapa and looking to return to winning form after their unbeaten run was interrupted by losses in the last two weeks. Fourth-placed TDO Melville suffered just their second loss last weekend, but should be able to notch up five points when they host bottom-placed Reid and Harrison United Matamata Sports at Collins Rd.
APL Hautapu, who inflicted that loss on Melville, are also back at home on Memorial Park, Cambridge, for tomorrow's game against a rapidly-rising Ecolab Te Awamutu Sports.
Vital to the top eight composition will be the match at Campbell Park between 10th-placed defending champions Wagon Wheel Bakery Morrinsville Sports and ninth-placed The Shed Bar University.
