HS Top 200 All Time Highlanders Team

When I watch the Highlanders Comp teams play I always see tough guy players that will always grind it out all day and they never give up. I think having that sort of attitude in a team culture goes a long way and even if you dont have the most talent, hard work will win. I have looked over the last 5 years and picked out players that I thought stood out to me and players I thought would fit this team from what they did in 1st XV Rugby. Now this is the Highlanders Comp so most players are going to be from Otago BHS and Southland BHS but I do have players from other schools as well so take a look.

The Props and Hookers for this Region was very hard to pick from because if you look over the last 5 years they have had some real top class Props and Hookers come from this small Region. There were 4 players that I had to leave out but should have been in here as well but there just wasn’t enough space for them all. They all play a brand of Rugby that needs you to be tough, aggressive, relentless and with a full heart to get a win. I really thought that Shaun Stodart, Jonah Aoina, Sione Asi and Abraham Pole were some real solid Props that I thought really dominated in 1st XV Rugby and even made the High Honors to prove their worth in their positions. Shaun and Jonah played this real grind out rugby and it was really taxing on defenders to have such big guys take run after run and even though they were not long meter runs, the effects were there on the tacklers. They both had a real good foundation for scrumming and making sure that they collected their own ball and also put pressure on defence too. Abraham a Prop/Hooker combo player I thought he did everything you wanted done from tackling at a higher rate and taking up the ball and making each run worth it. Sione was just a monster on the field and injury really was the only thing that could slow him down. Even when Sione played at 60% health he was still making a massive difference to the teams performance. Hooker was a very hard position because their have been some real class players in that position but came to these two and thought they fit everything i liked in a player. These two played almost the same style which was a real old school approach but their body types were very different. Sekonaia was this heavy solid guy that when he ran forward he went forward, Flynn wasnt a heavy player but his Mongrel was 100 which got him over a lot of his opposites.

There have been some real talented sort of Lock/Blind Side combo players come out of the “Deep South” and I think they have been some of the best in there. If you have a look at Josh Hill, Ben Paulin and Sam Dickson all 3 guys have a great mix of talent and they are all kind of the same in their styles of play on the field. Josh Hill to me was at the wrong school and that’s why he wasn’t picked up Nationally but if he had gone to Otago BHS or Southland BHS I really do think he would have been NZSS. Josh and Sam really have the same skill set and they are more like a Blind Side then a Lock. They both play at pace and are heavy on defence but do know how to carry the ball and make plays as well. Sam Dickson I honestly wasn’t to keen on through out the whole time but when I saw him play against Fiji as a Barbarian player I thought “Damn!! This dude can ball out!” and got the call up to the NZSS team against Australia. Ben Paulin who is more of a Lock I think is such a good player and very balanced and sound when it comes to the Lock position. He works very hard around the rucks and really dose make a massive difference. Ben’s very good on defence put guys down and then getting to his feet fast which makes the forwards have to come and clean out and not set for the next run. I like that he knows how to slow down the ball at break downs and really make the opposition work. The loose forwards I have picked, are guys that I thought were just some real “Work Horse” kind of players and knew that if they were on the field they would put 100% into the game. Slade was one of the best “Ball Hawks” in Top 200 and he was all over the place and really got to players trying to get him off the ball. Slade had a real high motor as well and that was one thing I always thought was better then most loose forwards was his fitness. Jamie Mowat was just this heavy hitter and runner that always looked like a man playing kids. His running game was always a force because of how many players it took to bring him down. Rory Ferguson maybe the best I have seen in the Top 200 out of the Highlanders Region and I wish I could have seen him LIVE and not just on film. I really wish he was able to play NZSS because I think he could have started. Taine Te Whata another player that I thought was one that should have got more of a shot or look in on the NZSS. He was so tough around the field that it was so much work just to get him away from the ball. For me it took an agent to tell me “Watch and study him more cause I think hes one of the best” and he was right.

I am a fan of Tim Hogan and what he did in 1st XV Rugby and Otago BHS. A dude who played as a Year 10 student and was always a very sharp player and playing with so much control and meaning. I thought that he was one of the best Half Backs to play in this Top 200 Era. On the other side of this was Liam Howley, another player I was a fan of and it was because of his aggressive nature in the way he played and didn’t care who you were he just went at you and I like that style of play. I thought that these two were some of the best coming from the Deep South and would be keen to see how far they go in their careers. The 1st 5/8’s I thought I would go with Kaleb Talamahina and that’s cause he was an All Round Rugby player and could do almost anything on the field. He had first step quickness, speed, was a play maker, could kick, he could really just do whatever he wanted. Another guy like that was James Te Pairi from Kings HS and he was a very strong player that was really underrated Nationally and thought he could have got more eye’s on him so they could see what he could do. James coming from a Touch background always had real good foot work and knew how to play with space and was always on the look for gaps and broken defences.

If I was to pick a Top 200 All Time Team for the 5 years Sio would be a guy I would look at to maybe take the 2nd 5/8 position. I just thought he was always the best player when he took the field. He was one of those guys that you knew that if you needed to win the game he was the guy that was going to do it some how some way. I remember watching him at the Top 4 and hearing him make tackles and damn he was hitting hard. I would watch the way he moved on the field and he was always looking for that opportunity to make a play and get his team ahead. I have seen him tackle and strip a player then take off  30 meters and two phases after Otago score a try. The other two I looked at were players that were over looked and Hemaua Samasoni was a giant on the field and moved like a winger. He was so tall and so big if you were watching the game you always thought that there was a loose forward out there not getting to the rucks, then realize it was Hemaua. To strong in the run and hits so hard too. Josh Timu a versatile player that should have been a bigger deal but was just not looked at that way in the Highlanders Region. I thought his skill set fit anywhere in a back line.

One of NZ’s fastest kids at school and Gavin Stark went with Rugby and made NZSS in his last year. When you watched him it really didnt have anything to do with speed because his skills to pass the ball, create space, draw in defenders and have that timing to make the pass had nothing to do with his leg speed. Matt Whaanga I thought was again a player at the wrong school and they just didnt want to notice his talent. I thought he was one of the best at the time and at least a Barbarians Jersey should have come his way. He scored 60 points in one game scoring 10 tries on his own, now I dont care who you are 10 tries is unheard of and not something that is even seen at Under 6’s, when there is only one kid that knows how to play and everyone else is there for fun. You have to think too Matt did that as a Year 12 player, think how much you have to do to score 10 tries. Josh Buchan was FIRE when he got that ball and he just took off, there was always that thought of dont let him run, when you kicked down field to him. I think if we saw all his games over the season he was Year 13 we could have highlight after highlight cause that’s what he did on a weekly basis.

1.     Shaun Stodart (Southland BHS) (VC)
2.     Sekonaia Pole (Otago BHS)
3.     Jonah Aoina (Otago BHS)
4.     Josh Hill (South Otago HS)
5.     Sam Dickson (Otago Boys HS)
6.     Jamie Mowat (Otago BHS)
7.     Slade Mc Dowall (Otago BHS)
8.     Rory Ferguson (John McGlashane College)
9.    Tim Hogan (Otago BHS)
10.   Kaleb Talamahina (Southland BHS)
11.   Matt Whaanga (South Otago HS)
12.   Patelesio (Sio) Tomkinson (Otago BHS)(C)
13.   Hemaua Samasoni (Otago Boys HS)
14.   Gavin Stark (Blue Mountain College)
15.   Josh Buchan (Otago BHS)

16.   Sione Asi (Otago Boys HS)
17.   Abraham Pole (Otago BHS)
18.   Flynn Thomas (Southland BHS)
19.   Ben Paulin (Southland BHS)
20.   Taine Te Whata (Otago BHS)
21.   Liam Howley (Southland BHS)
22.   James Te Pairi (Kings HS)
23.  Josh Timu (John McGlashan College)