Are Valley’s title hopes already in tatters?
Can Athletic Marist keep 15 men on the field?
Could it be worth popping a lazy fiver on Maheno to win the Citizens Shield this season?
Are Old Boys and Kurow already in real danger of missing the playoffs?
Are Excelsior the real deal?
Just two rounds of the North Otago premier club competition have been played and already there are some juicy topics to debate.
What seems certain is that this will not be a Citizens Shield season that is decided until the very final whistle.
Take out Excelsior’s crushing of Valley at the weekend — the 41-7 scoreline was surely an aberration, unless the lack of depth at their club is finally starting to take a toll on the defending champions — and the average margin of victory this season has been just over five points.
That bodes well for the neutral.
Excelsior and Athletic are two from two, and while it is early days, there is a temptation to think the long reign of country clubs — Valley, Kurow and Maheno have combined to win eight of the past nine titles — could be in serious doubt.
Blues looked particularly impressive at the weekend.
They match a massive pack led by talismanic flanker Mat Duff and dominated by Pasifika athletes with the smart inside back combination of Tyron Davies and Josh Phipps, and some real potency out wide.
Athletic could also threaten but their season has been rocked by the suspensions of four players, three of them for seven weeks, for foul play.
Both Athletic and Valley’s depth will be tested tomorrow when they clash at Weston.
There is an intriguing all-country clash at Kurow, where the winless Red Devils really need to bank points against a Maheno side that looked exceptionally good in patches in a 37-26 win over Old Boys at the weekend.
Excelsior chase a third straight win and Old Boys seek to avoid a third consecutive loss when they meet in town.
North Otago rugby has an incredibly short season so there is little room for error in the coming weeks.
