Wairarapa Bush could have been better

OPINION

‘It should of been a whole lot better’ is how I would describe Wairarapa Bush’s performance in this year’s Heartland Championship. Having watched every home game and read all the reports and comments from their away games, my opinion is that they definitely had the individual skills, the pace, the strength and often the hunger to do a lot better, however they often seemed to lack the ability to work as a complete unit, were guilty of switching off every now and then, and made too many simple errors. I was frustrated several times throughout the season when I positioned myself for a photo of a Wairarapa try after a good penalty kick down field, only for Bush to lose the throw, or if they did win it, the ball would be dropped or passed forward after a pass or two.

Individually, every player was good. Apart from the usual odd mistake (because no-one is ever 100% all of the time) I didn’t ever think that there was a player on the field that shouldn’t have been there. Some were outstanding and without denigrating any other players performance, it was a joy to watch players like Leon Tuiloma, Fiula Tameilau, Charles Mataitai, and pretty much all of the forwards when they were close to the oppositions try line.

I imagine Jamie Williams and the rest of the coaching staff will be a little disappointed with the eighth-placed finished as from what could tell, the team always looked well-prepared, ready and hungry during their pre-game warmups. I thought the coaches use of the impact players was bang-on and the team often had a burst of impetus after players were substituted at the appropriate time.

The team was a little unlucky with injuries to some key players, and also had a very limited buildup especially after they had to abandon the first warm-up game with so many of the players ill. More disturbing was the apparent lack of commitment from a couple of the loan players - which reinforces my theory that allowing teams to have such players is not the best idea. Sure, Bush would have been a lot weaker without them but I’d rather the union spend the energy developing and encouraging local lads to play for their local team - perhaps allowing former Wairarapa-based players as well - so that it becomes a true Wairarapa team and therefore improve the camaraderie and sense of commitment to the team.

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I also don’t think there is enough time for the coaches to get the team working as one and to experience playing against harder teams. I’ve said for some time that our players only ever get to play amongst themselves. They never get to experience playing against a stronger Wellington or Manawatu team. Perhaps Wairarapa Bush should look into a way that the top couple of teams in the local competition can have some games in (say) the Hutt Valley competition, for perhaps rugby needs to fit in a football-like extra competition such as New Zealand’s Chatham Cup or the UK’s FA Cup so that our club teams get some exposure to different players and styles?

So it was a year that wasn’t as good as it could of been but, on a positive note, a great group of guys most of whom gave their all and tried their very best. Thank you for all the good photos!!