1. Rivez Reihana (St Kentigern College)
As a young dude coming through Rivez was not that tall and looked like he was going to be a real short player and would be in that range of halfback maybe being his best position. When he hit Year 11 he really looked like he shot up and it really kind of convinced me personally that we may have a legitimate Pro player on the come up. Rivez always had the skill set, focus, drive, humility and IQ in him that you thought “Man he could actually make it” but looked at his height and thought we’ll he’s got to get over that part first. Then he grew in Year 11, then in Year 12 grew some more and got muscled up and then I was more then convinced. NZSS to me, for Rivez, is just the start and this year a National Championship should be on his goal list this year.
2. Tevita Hala (Dilworth School)
I don’t want this to sound like a theme but Tevita Hala was another player that should a huge amount of talent and a wide arrange of skills but was falling behind on the growth chart. Last year to me Tevita grew a lot and showed up to play and it paid off with Tevita being the Blues U18 top 1st 5/8 last year and looks to repeat that again with a foot in the door into the NZSS. When you go to a Dilworth game, you see big boys running the ball and a team that naturally leans forward. To me Tevita is the reason because when you see him play everything is forward and up to the defence and runners are hitting onto the ball as they get to the advantage line and not 2 steps back from it. He gives them that extra motivation to get to the break downs and set for the next set of runners. He has a very good short kicking game that he creates plays out of turning the defence and forcing teams to half way hang back. This year is going to be massive and I think he’ll take that step up and make a serious push to the NZSS team.
3. Corey Evans (Auckland GS)
Cory is going to be the “Come Back Kid” this year and I feel like he is going to just pick up where he left off in 2016. As a Year 11 player starting for the 1st XV and really being one of the main guys directing play I think that he’s going to come back real strong. A player that plays in your face and direct, a dude that gets the ball moving with no effort at all and then just like nothing when your “Ball Watching” he’ll hit the gap on some lazy defence. Corey is going to be the leader of this back line and he’ll make this happen and take over some games when he needs too. I also like the fact that Corey will actually defend and make good tackles that are effective and that is why you wont see the open side panic every time there is a scrum because he’s got that on lock. Now with the Top 3 1st 5/8’s in the country being from the 1A, I really think you should get down and see these battles at 1st 5/8 because we could see both 1st 5/8’s for NZSS come from the 1A.
4. Stewart Cruden (Palmerston North BHS)
This year with Stewart Cruden in at 1st 5/8 Palmerston North BHS are set to be a team to beat this year. Palmy have always been strong and always have a great mix of players to choose from but a solid 1st 5/8 are not always available, but this year Palmy have one. Stewart I think will control everything that goes on and will run a fast paced game plan. Stewart has the ability to really move the ball wide or play close to the rucks or that inside runner but at a controlled speed. He’ll be the one that I would see as the go to guy with everything they do and they should because he is smart and alert with the flow of the game and when needed his kicking game is so good to watch maybe the best in the country right now. Watch for him to really show out and prove to be one of the best 1st 5/8’s in the country.
5. Tevita Asi (Otago BHS)
The 1st XV in Otago BHS have such a rich tradition of putting out all rounded solid teams that threat Nationally all the time. Tevita Asi has the responsibility to lead that team this year and will have attention of the boys to be ready to move when asked. Tevita is a solid kid body wise and is pretty fast off the mark and so when he goes for the line break he will draw a lot of attention. Along with that threat he is also good with the passing game and really knows how to hook the boys up with catch-able passes going into contact and making breaks off of them. He always seems to be talking and yelling instruction the way you should play this position and most of the time it works out. He’ll have the “Wheel” for the 2nd year in a row to steer around this team and they will be looking to make it back to the Top 4 and Tevita is a definite “Key” in that success.
Caleb Beck (Rangiora HS) Y12
Kynan Stowers-Smith (St Bedes College) Y12
Joshua Loveday (St Peters College)
George Harris (Tangaroa College)
Aidan Morgan (Kings College) Y12
Henry Williams (Napier BHS) Y12
Quinn Collard (Gisborne BHS)
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