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West Coast majority in Heartland side

The West Coast Heartland rugby team has a genuine local flavour to it this season.

The 2018 West Coast Heartland squad is: (Click player name for full career break-down)

Name Position Club Height (m) Weight (k) Games
Oliver Varley Prop Marist 1.85 108 0
Daniel Foord Prop Kiwi 1.96 130 11
Jesse MacRae Prop South Westland 1.90 107 20
Tyler Kearns Hooker Grey Valley 1.88 112 0
Daniel Davies Prop South Westland 1.78 105 10
Troy Tauwhare Hooker Kiwi 1.85 108 64
Tumma Tu’ulua Lock Loan – University-Auckland 1.98 119 0
Josh “JJ” Manning (Captain) Lock Loan – Marist-chch 1.98 111 28
Kelly Rasmussen Lock Kiwi 1.85 114 10
Amenatave Tukana Number 8 Loan – Belfast-chch 1.87 108 16
Josh Tomlinson Flanker Wests 1.87 90 7
Steven Soper Flanker Grey Valley 1.80 96 13
Brad.G.Tauwhare Flanker Kiwi 1.86 107 35
Kevin.J.Curtis Flanker Blaketown 1.85 95 18
Jasyn Van Vliet Lock Kiwi 1.90 110 0
Brad.G.Houston Number 8 Blaketown 1.92 110 68
Jarrod.C.Ferguson Halfback Kiwi 1.73 77 18
Oliver Dimmock Halfback Wests 1.80 83 0
Nik.K.Cumming Five eighth Loan – Sumner-chch 1.80 83 27
Tom Reekie Five eighth Marist 1.87 85 12
Nathan.L.Smith Five eighth Origin  – Shirley-Chch 1.8 85 15
Sione Holani Midfield Back Grey Valley 1.75 102 0
Regan Stanton Midfield Back Blaketown 1.94 102 36
Duncan Wood Outside Back Blaketown 1.75 84 0
Maleli Mudu Utility Back Marist 1.67 73 92
Peter.E.Te Rakau Outside Back Kiwi 1.85 100 18
Declan Delany Outside Back Kiwi 1.85 94 0
Sean.R.McClure Midfield Back Kiwi 1.83 87 47

2018 Fixtures & Results

Sat 04 Aug 2:30 pm A Seddon Shield Marlborough 33 - 07
Sat 11 Aug 1:00 pm A Representative Match Nelson Bays 22 - 19
Sat 18 Aug 2:00 pm A Pre-Season (non 1st Class) Canterbury Maori 40 - 17
Sat 25 Aug 2:00 pm A Heartland Championship Thames Valley 25 - 27
Sat 01 Sep 2:00 pm H Heartland Championship Whanganui 21 - 33
Sat 08 Sep 2:30 pm A Heartland Championship Mid Canterbury 36 - 29
Sat 15 Sep 2:30 pm H Heartland Championship Poverty Bay 31 - 30
Sat 22 Sep 2:30 pm A Heartland Championship / Rundle Cup Buller 28 - 34
Sat 29 Sep 2:30 pm A Heartland Championship North Otago 40 - 19
Sat 06 Oct 2:00 pm H Heartland Championship Wairarapa Bush 05 - 23
Sat 13 Oct 2:00 pm H Heartland Championship East Coast 62 - 26
View all fixtures

Apart from the three imports and one origin player, the remainder of the 28-man squad, announced today by the West Coast Rugby Football Union, are West Coast-based players.

Coach Sean Cuttance told the Greymouth Star he was looking forward to the season and was impressed with the talent he had secured.

The three imports to pull on the West Coast jersey are Christchurch’s Josh Manning and Amenatave Tukana, both of whom played for Coast last year, Manning as captain.

The new import is lock Tumama Tuulua, who played in Auckland this season, but has also played tor Sydenham in Christchurch, where he has family. Tuulua has also played for the Samoa under-20.

The origin player is former West Coaster Nathan Smith, who now plays for Shirley.

Cuttance said he was excited with the number of young players in the squad, with special mention of Wests lock Josh Tomlinson was m the side last year as a development player and has impressed already in our pre-season matches. He is a real talent who can play at either six or seven and has good height which will help us in the lineouts. He it a player we really need to look after and has the talent to go a lot further in the sport.” Cuttance said.

Another Wests player, 19-year-old Vinnie Lucas, also rated a special mention, with his versatility at either halfback or 15. “We have a good number of players from last year coming back, which gives us continuity, and with the new guys we are keen to go one better than what we did last year.”

Cuttance will again have the support of two assistance coaches Kyle Parker and Bruce Pearson, both from Hokitika.

Both have completed a number of coaching courses in their build-up to the Heartland season.

Luke McNeish returns as team manager.

West Coast will play their first game against Thames Valley in Te Aroha.

by Viv Logie – Greymouth Star