The country club has been the big success story in North Otago rugby in recent years, winning the shield for the first time in 39 years in 2021 and holding on to it last season.
Three straight titles would be special at any time — Kurow has never achieved that feat, and only Old Boys has managed it in the past 50 years — but the fact Kurow celebrates its 125th jubilee this year is tantalising motivation.
"Our target is definitely to win this year, because it’s a special year for the club," coach Andrew Fisher said.
"I think this will be the toughest year, because we have a big target on our backs, but it’s definitely our focus to go for a third straight win."
Kurow opened with a 23-21 win over an improving Athletic Marist side, but fell flat in a 38-13 loss to Excelsior last weekend.
"We had a bit of a setback last week. We didn’t turn up, which was disappointing. We were flat.
"We’ve lost a couple of key guys to injury, which hasn’t helped, but we’ve got some depth and we will track along OK."
Ah, yes. The "key guys".
Every team has its important players, but Kurow inevitably attracts huge attention because of the sheer pedigree of its five-eighth combination.
Hayden Parker and Matt Faddes both ooze the class and experience picked up over their long spells at the professional level.
Both got injured against Excelsior — Faddes is out for 4-6 weeks with a hamstring strain, and Parker’s dicky shoulder makes him a week-by-week proposition — but Fisher still expects the star pairing to be influential every week.
"Those two have been a great asset to the team and to the club with all their experience and their ideas.
"I don’t even go anywhere near the backs — I just leave them to it — because I’m not going to pretend I know more than them about what they should be doing.
"Even injured, they come to training and they love being involved, and the guys really respond well to them. They’re fantastic."
Tomorrow, Kurow hosts Old Boys, who have been underwhelming in starting the year with two losses.
"It’s going to be hard to know exactly what they will bring," Fisher said.
"We’ve had some good results against Old Boys the past couple of years, and they’ve had probably their worst start in a long time, so they’ll be coming up here to get their season on track."
Maheno is home to Valley, while Excelsior and Athletic Marist clash in town.
