The North Otago Heartland side has been named for round six of the 2024 Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship. North Otago will take on Mid Canterbury in Weston, with kickoff at 2:30pm.
This week is all about Motor Neurone Disease, with our heartland side wearing a special one-off jersey which will be auctioned off to raise funds for the Motor Neurone Disease NZ charitable trust. Entry to this match will be free thanks to the Oamaru Club, while the game will also be covered live on Sky Sport.
The forward pack remains largely unchanged from last week, with just Cameron Rowland switching with his co-captain partner Mat Duff. In the backs Matia Batavotavo and Osea Qamasea both come into the starting lineup. Qamasea will be making his first appearance this season after debuting for North Otago in 2023. Hayden Todd moves back to the wing and Mavaetangi Finau will shift to the bench.
Two further potential debutants have been added to the reserves bench, with Excelsior prop Mateo Qolisese and Valley back Issac Clunie both in line to make thier first class debuts for North Otago.
Starting XV:
Jake Greenslade
Ryusei Kato
Bradley Harewood
Fergus Read
Lawrence Leung-Wai
Savenaca Rabaka
Cameron Rowland (cc)
Kasimila Vaihu
Jake Matthews
Greg Dyer
Hayden Todd
Mataitini Feke
Matia Batavotavo
Osea Qamasea
Ben McCarthy
Reserves: 16. Mathew Duff (cc) 17. Mateo Qolisese* 18. Max Sawers 19. Jacob Pledger 20. Anthony Docherty 21. Mavaetangi Finau 22. Oli Knopp 23. Issac Clunie*
*Potential North Otago First Class debut
Management: Head Coach: Jason Forrest Director of Coaching: Barry Matthews Assistant Coach: Scott Barnes Manager: Marty McAtamney Logistics/Communications: Colleen Carroll Trainer: Scott Mayhew Physio: Mike Wheeler
