Falcons early pacesetters in NZRL Premiership

Friday, September 16, 2016
FALCONS EARLY PACESETTERS IN NZRL PREMIERSHIP

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As if an opening 60-point barrage against Wellington Orcas wasn’t warning enough, Akarana coach Keith Hanley has a few more surprises in store for week two of the 2016 NZRL National Premiership.

The Falcons take on arch-rivals and defending champions Counties Manukau at Mt Smart Stadium on Friday night with a line-up featuring as many as eight changes from their previous outing. That’s almost half the roster.

Now that the Pt Chev Pirates contingent, defeated in this month’s Fox Memorial club final, have completed an end-of-season debrief, their inclusion should further bolster the Falcons ranks.

“Obviously, we are a side with a few points in us,” reflects Hanley on the 60-26 score-line against Wellington. “That side of the board looked OK.

“Conversely, if you look at the defensive side of the ball, it’s fair to say we’ve got a bit of work to do there. But our mood is far from unhappy with the beginning of our season.”

Akarana have traditionally struggled through the early rounds of the national competition, given the almost inevitable overlap between club and representative seasons. Last year, they drew with the Orcas in their season-opener and waited until Round Six for their first win.

The new condensed premiership format has avoided that clash to some extent, but Hanley, who was assistant coach under Steve Buckingham last year, must still manage the transition carefully.

“It’s fair to say there have been a few challenges with the dynamics between clubs,” he says. “In saying that, the changes made off the back of last year have been good.

“We had to go away and have a good look at ourselves as a zone and what we wanted to achieve as a premier side. We’ve addressed some of those issues really, really well and are on the right track.”

Hanley’s previous involvement in the Falcons programme extends far beyond the senior side, stretching back to numerous national youth titles over almost a decade. Some of those youngsters are now back under his wing in his current role.

“We’ve got a number of good young kids from those age grades starting to make the jump,” he confirms. “But we’ve also got pretty useful older guys coming back into the mix.”

Counties Manukau Stingrays also wasted no time hitting their straps last week, with a 36-22 win over Canterbury Bulls in a rematch of 2015 finalists. They tend to handle the early exchanges somewhat better than their northern neighbours and have this week retained the same line-up that began their title defence.

“I’m full of respect for what Rod Ratu and the Counties side have done last year and the first round of this comp,” says Hanley. “They looked good on Sunday, there’s a lot of merit in what they’re doing.”

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NZRL NATIONAL PREMIERSHIP
Friday, September 16
Akarana Falcons v Counties Manukau Stingrays
7.30pm, Mt Smart Stadium (SKY Sport)

Sunday, September 18
Canterbury Bulls v Wellington Orcas
4pm, AMI Stadium, Christchurch

NZRL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday, September 17
Waikato v Canterbury Development
12.45pm, Davies Park, Huntly

Taranaki Sharks v Southland Rams
5pm, Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth

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