The North Otago Heartland side has been named for round four of the 2024 Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship. North Otago will take on East Coast at the Weston Sports Ground, with kickoff at 2:30pm. There will be free entry thanks to the Oamaru Licensing Trust, plus a livestream available via our Facebook page.
The foward pack remains largely unchanged from last week, with the only switch coming with the co-captains rotating places. Cameron Rowland will come into the starting lineup, with Mathew Duff to add impact from the bench.
Mavaetangi Finau makes a return to the run on side, while Hayden Todd shifts back to centre. Chihiro Matsuyama will start at second five in place of Mataitini Feke.
West Taieri number 8 Conor Lawson has joined the squad and is set to make his North Otago debut from the bench. Lawson, a former Eden club player in Auckland is on loan from Otago, having played for Otago Country in 2024. Roney Vanila and Jamie Mullan have both been called into the reserves, with Mullan set to make his first class debut after featuring during pre-season.
Starting XV:
Jake Greenslade
Ryusei Kato
Bradley Harewood
Apenisa Tuiba
Fergus Read
Savenaca Rabaka
Cameron Rowland (cc)
Kasimila Vaihu
Jake Matthews
Greg Dyer
Mavaetangi Finau
Chihiro Matsuyama
Hayden Todd
Oli Knopp
Ben McCarthy
Reserves: 16. Max Sawers 17. Roney Vanila 18. Mathew Duff (cc) 19. Conor Lawson* 20. Lawrence Leung-Wai 21. Tyron Davies 22. Jamie Mullan* 23. Seva Druma
*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