That player is Ben Maxwell, captain of the Cromwell Goats, the reigning champions, which copped a fearsome hiding from Wakatipu at the beginning of May. These sides clash again in the qualifying final at the Queenstown Recreation Ground tomorrow.
Maxwell was the standout player in the Central Otago competition in 2021, providing inspiration to the Goats as captain, halfback and goalkicker.
But he was missing, carrying a knee injury, when Wakatipu cut loose under lights at Anderson Park. The Goats fans, who’d cheered their team to 22 straight victories dating back to 2019, could hardly believe what was happening as Wakatipu won the second half 28-0.
As the season has unfolded, the halfback who has captured the imagination in Central has been Wakatipu’s James Valentine, who has won selection in the Otago NPC training squad.
But Maxwell is back, in all his guises.
As the Goats captain, he scored 21 points, including two tries, as his team downed Alexandra 36-19 last Saturday. And tomorrow he’ll be making his 100th appearance for the Goats, as will hooker and co-coach Mike Driscoll, who will come off the bench.
Wakatipu coach Brett Anderson acknowledges that the Goats will be tougher for having Maxwell in the No 9 jersey.
"They’ll be a different side this time," he said. "They were missing key players, it was a game under lights and we had a sensational second half."
Anderson said that while Cromwell will be improved, his side has been developing week by week and is ready to deliver another quality performance.
Wakatipu’s record makes for remarkable reading — unbeaten after seven outings while scoring 364 points including 56 tries.
And every key player is available, including threequarters Brooke Wilson and Michael Rewi, who missed the Maniototo game last weekend.
Upper Clutha, which finished top equal with Wakatipu (but with a slightly inferior differential), will have two players celebrating their 50th appearances when they take on Arrowtown at Wanaka.
Lock Matt Ward and midfielder Oliver Stirling qualify for their 50 Club blazers in what promises to be a closely fought contest, Arrowtown having held Upper Clutha to 22-18 a month ago.
Remarkably, the White Horse Cup will be at stake again, as it was when they last met. Equally as remarkably, Arrowtown has played only two games since that contest, having been awarded both the Maniototo and Cromwell Cavaliers contests by default.
The bonus for the winners of the two games at Queenstown and Wanaka is having next weekend off.
In the bottom half of the draw, Matakanui Combined will host the Cromwell Cavaliers, which has yet to win a game, at Omakau while Maniototo has home advantage against Alexandra. When the teams clashed three weeks ago, Maniototo won 13-12.
By Bob Howitt
