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The Mahurangi Rugby Football Club Premier team is hoping to turn things around after suffering four heavy defeats at the start of its season.
After four rounds of the competition, the side sat bottom of the table without a point to show and a points differential of -229.
They opened the season with a 52-7 loss to Kumeu and more recently suffered an 83-0 hammering by table-toppers East Coast Bays.
Premier head coach Amasio Valence, who started in the role this year, says the setbacks have been caused by a number of things, including lack of commitment, injury and the quality of their opposition.
“We aren’t getting every player at every training and that means we have less time to perfect our game plan, which becomes evident on match day,” Valence says.
“Being a smaller club we also lack depth, so having injuries every week has made things difficult, especially as we are facing big clubs with strong back up players.”
Despite the challenges, Valence is still intent on the team achieving its original season goal of being competitive in every match.
“I’m a strong believer in building a good team culture as a foundation for success and we have some more experienced players who can help do that.
“We also need to refine individual skills and execution of game plan, but once these things are sorted, I think we could surprise some of the teams this season.”
To help bolster the side, Valence has scouted five players playing sevens rugby in Fiji.
They are expected to join up with the team this month.
“All of these players are quality athletes and should give us more depth to cope with injuries and fatigue.
“The Mahurangi club members have done a brilliant job in getting them to New Zealand and Warkworth Toyota has also been really generous in giving me a car to get to trainings and matches this season.”
Premier head coach Amasio Valence (left) is stoked to receive a set of car keys from Warkworth Toyota’s Wade Whitaker for this season.
