Otago ‘still a really young side ’— coach

Otago lock Fabian Holland charges ahead with ball as A-One Lolofie (left) and Ben Lopas play the role of defenders during team training at Logan Park on Thursday. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON

Otago fans may have to re-evaluate what success means this season.

Coach Tom Donnelly is certainly adopting a wider interpretation.

The province finished 11th last year with three wins from 10 games.

It was not a stellar campaign.

And there will be some significant challenges again this season.

Encouragingly, the playing roster does feature 20 players with Super Rugby experience, but that could be misleading, Donnelly said.

"It is interesting how you always go on about the Super Rugby players we’ve got, but if you actually look at it they are still really young," he said.

"If you look at last year, our backs had played about 3000 minutes between them in total and now they are coming back and they’ve got a lot more minutes behind them, so we’ve got a bit more experience than last year but we are still a really young side."

There is undoubted talent in the side, but a good portion of them are still feeling their way in the professional rugby ranks, as Donnelly points out.

"It is about us building more combinations and more experience and hopefully we’ll get better and better as the season goes," Donnelly added.

"We want to make the playoffs, there is no doubt about that.

"But if you look at what success is, then if we can grow our players and get more guys into Super teams next year, and if our young coaching group can develop as well, all of that has to count towards the success of our season.

"But making the playoffs is one of our focuses."

Those playoffs could quickly slip out of reach if Otago take some time to find their rhythm.

They open their season against Southland in Invercargill today and, if there is one game the Stags get up for, it is the one against their neighbour.

Otago follow that fixture with home games against Auckland and Bay of Plenty.

At the end of the month they play defending champions Taranaki in New Plymouth and then host Canterbury and Wellington.

It is tough first half of the draw and the preseason did throw up some concerns.

They edged Southland 33-24 in a decent hit-out in Gore late last month. But they were thumped 47-0 by Canterbury the following week.

There are also some troubling gaps in the squad.

Otago has contracted just three specialist locks and one of them, Will Tucker, has a foot injury and will be sidelined for another week or two.

They have been looking at bringing in a winger from outside the region but have had no luck in the marketplace.

"We run a pretty light budget and you can see we are pretty short of locks and pretty short in the back three.

"We’ve got some really good depth in some positions and we have some experience in some positions. But the rest of them are just young and, if we get injuries, it just means the next guy up will get a crack."

Otago brought in Dunedin winger Kyan Rangitutia, Southern fullback Mackenzie Palmer and Green Island midfielder Levi Harmon during the preseason to test them out, and Rangitutia has been rewarded with a spot on the bench today.

"But we need more guys, so we are still looking."

Donnelly was also upfront about the locking situation. Three was "probably" not enough, he said.

Highlanders blindside Ollie Haig can cover lock when needed, but he is sidelined with concussion symptoms at the moment.

Taieri loose forward Sam Fischli had a run in the role during the preseason and will fill in until Tucker gets back, while lock Ale Aho had a strong club season for University and the rookie will get plenty of opportunities to show what he is capable of at this level.

And Highlanders lock Fabian Holland will need to shoulder increased responsibilities.

This is probably Donnelly’s last season in charge. He had three years as an assistant before being appointed to the top job in 2020.

He has been let go by the Highlanders after a year as an assistant and is undecided whether he "will continue coaching fulltime".

If he does persist, he is likely to have to move out of the region.

"Mate, that is the life of a coach, really. You go where the work is."

Otago have made a late change to the team named on Thursday. Halfback James Arscott was injured at practice.

Nathan Hastie will replace him in the starting XV and New Zealand under-20s halfback Dylan Pledger is promoted to the game-day 23.

Co-captain Christian Lio-Willie also picked up an injury but a decision has not been made on whether he will play.

• Last night, defending champions Taranaki opened their campaign with a 31-15 win over Counties Manukau, while Wellington overcame Auckland 29-21.

NPC

Invercargill, 2.05pm

Otago: Finn Hurley, Josh Whaanga, Josh Timu, Sam Gilbert (co-captain), Jona Nareki, Cameron Millar, Nathan Hastie, Christian Lio-Willie (co-captain), Harry Taylor, Sam Fischli, Fabian Holland, Will Stodart, Saula Ma’u, Henry Bell, George Bower. Reserves: Liam Coltman, Abraham Pole, Rohan Wingham, Ale Aho, Lucas Casey, Dylan Pledger, Ajay Faleafaga, Kyan Rangitutia.

Southland: Rory van Vugt, Viliami Fine, Isaac Te Tamaki, Matt Whaanga, Michael Manson, Byron Smith, Connor Collins, Dylan Nel, Sean Withy (captain), Blair Ryall, Josh Bekhuis, Mitch Dunshea, Morgan Mitchell, Jack Taylor, Jack Sexton. Reserves: Nic Souchon, Hunter Fahey, Hamdahn Tuipulotu, Shneil Singh, Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa, Lachie Albert, Jason Robertson, Charlie Powell.

Key dates, players

Otago’s draw