North Otago is heading to the country.
The Old Golds are taking their final home game of the Heartland Championship down the road to Maheno on September 23.
It mirrors the country clash they held last year in Kurow and it was a great opportunity to repay opponent Thames Valley for taking the them on the road to Whitianga.
The move was also the union pre-empting the loss of Whitestone Contracting Park for a future season, with the Waitaki Event Centre project.
"We just thought we’ll take them somewhere and do something a little bit different at the same time," head coach Jason Forrest said.
North Otago has all the "big dogs" at home this season. It hosts Meads Cup holder South Canterbury (September 2), Whanganui (September 9) and Thames Valley. It also hosts Wairarapa-Bush on August 19.
Forrest wanted to work on regaining the community feel within the game in North Otago and hosting rival South Canterbury would help create an atmosphere.
"To have them back at home — we’re going to make that a massive day at the park....
"We really want to get that [community connection] back and that’s going to happen at every home game.
"We just want to create a bit of a fortress for ourselves there."
Its opening Heartland Championship is away against Hanan Shield rival Mid Canterbury on August 12. Other away games include Ngati Porou East Coast (August 26), Poverty Bay (September 16) and West Coast (September 30).
North Otago will play a pre-season game against Otago Country in Dunedin on August 5. Other games are in the works.
