Can an injury hit Canterbury side THRASH a Counties-Manukau side to ensure a home semi????

Here's hoping!!! : - )

I would say the red 'n' blacks would be hurting after their unsucessful tilt at the shield & will want to exact revenge on those country bumpkin Aucklanders!

But you can never underestimate Counties.

To be fair on Counties-Manukau, if they were allowed to call on all the clubs within their catchment area, it would probably make them THE strongest union in the country. The Manukau City Council has been trying for years to create a seperate identity for Manukau seperate from Auckland City. Seeing Manukau City heads up to the eastern suburbs of the area (Pakuranga etc) as well as Otahuhu in the south (they won the Gallagher shield last year) you would think a team called 'Counties-Manukau' would have call on these clubs??

Nope! Auckland does.

Maybe they should stick with the Counties name until they truly are a team representing their district?

The team that represents 'Auckland' in the NPC (which is basically Auckland City, a small chunk of Waitakere City, & a large chunk of Manukau City) already has a huge catchment area to call on. Surely with the population advantage 'Auckland' has, it would make sense to allow Counties access to all the clubs in the Manukau area.

Mind you, from their performances this year, perhaps they need all the players they can get!!!!

It's quite funny seeing the boot on the other foot now. Pre professional days Auckland had all the player depth due to the fact they were the only 'pro' team around. Big business in NZ is located in Auckland City so the $$$ were always there. 'Jobs' were created out of thin air (Sales Rep's etc etc). Players got attracted to the area from other provinces because of it. The resulting success laden decade or so made Auckland tops.

Now with professional rugby, other unions can afford to pay players. Auckland based players can now choose to live in an area with a much more relaxed lifestyle, crowd support & hometown feeling without all the hassles of living in the crippled City Auckland sometimes is.

The fact their $$$ goes further in a place lke Dunedin than Auckland (cheaper housing etc) makes the move even more attractive.

Basically Aucklanders moaning about all their players getting attracted to other provinces should stop WHINGING!

The provinces had been robbed by Auckland for years. Now they are getting their own back!

Of course this means very little to me 'cos I'm a Cantab! Only one team that matters to me!

GO THE RED 'N' BLACKS!!!

Looks like Angus is out with injury, but with our new Oscar award winning halfback not suspended (Go the Swede!) the Cantabs are looking good.

Also looks as though Greg Feek may be wearing a Crusader AND a Canterbury NPC jersey next year! GREAT NEWS!

DH

Hmmmmm, me thinks Counties-Manukau needs a cunning plan?...
Let us know what you think!