The Silver Fern

The NPC squad is set to be assembled next week, with a new jersey to be revealed as well.

@Duluth There's a few ex-Harbour boys in the Manu Samoa lineup.

• Ben Nee-Nee
• Samuel Slade (who was on loan from Counties Manukau last year)
• Henry Taefu
• Luteru Tolai
• Michael Curry (I see he played for Auckland last year and Ta$man the year before)

For the fifth year in a row, the North Harbour club rugby final will be between North Shore and Takapuna, while Helensville have taken out the Plate title after an upset win over Silverdale.

Championship Semis:
North Shore 50-3 East Coast Bays at Vauxhall Sportsfields
Takapuna 15-14 Massey at Moire Park

Plate Final:
Helensville 22-19 Silverdale at Silverdale War Memorial Park

Lots of fresh faces in the squad this year, here's my predicted 23 to take on the Turbos in round 1.

1. James Lay
2. Bryn Gordon
3. Sione Mafile'o
4. Tom Savage
5. Jack Lee
6. Tristyn Cook
7. Jed Melvin
8. Murphy Taramai
9. Manu Paea
10. Patrick Pellegrini
11. Sofai Maka
12. Tom Barham
13. Tima Fainga'anuku
14. Mark Tele'a
15. Kade Banks
16. Penaia Cakobau
17. Leka Tu'ungafasi
18. Riley Tofilau
19. Felix Kalapu
20. Karl Ruzich
21. Siaosi Nginingini
22. Oscar Koller
23. Tika Lelenga

The boys are back at training today.

New signings being teased - the full squad will be announced next week. Appears that DPK will also stay with Wellington, so another false rumour posted in the NPC thread.

Signings so far:

Props:
Sam Davies
James Lay (did not play last year due to a prolonged injury)
Sione Mafile’o
Riley Tofilau? (potential new signing, NZ U20s rep)

Hookers:
Bryn Gordon

Locks:
Cam Christie (unavailable for the season due to a thumb injury during Super Rugby)
Felix Kalapu
Jack Lee
Mahonri Ngakuru
Tom Savage (new signing from Moana Pasifika)

Loose Forwards:
Tristyn Cook
Du'Plessis Kirifi? (Rumoured, see NPC thread)
Tamarau McGahan
Jed Melvin
Karl Ruzich
Wallace Sititi (on ABs duty, currently injured)
Murphy Taramai? (Potential return)

Halfbacks:
Luke Donaldson? (Potential new signing, see NPC thread)
Bryn Hall? (Could become our newest centurion if he stays on)

First Fives:
Oscar Koller
Cam Howell
Patrick Pellegrini (new signing from Moana Pasifika)

Midfielders:
Tom Barham

Outside Backs:
Kade Banks
Sofai Maka
Mark Tele’a (his final season on NZ soil)

Losses:
Tane Edmed
Fine Inisi (Dragons RFC, Wales)
Moses Leo (Melbourne Storm, NRL)
Tevita Mafile'o (Bay of Plenty
Samuel Slade (Unknown)
Shaun Stevenson (Kubota Spears, Japan)
Karl Tu'inukuafe (Retired)

As posted in the Harbour thread, on Friday, here's my predicted 23:

1. James Lay
2. Bryn Gordon
3. Sione Mafile'o
4. Tom Savage
5. Jack Lee
6. Tristyn Cook
7. Jed Melvin
8. Murphy Taramai
9. Manu Paea
10. Patrick Pellegrini
11. Sofai Maka
12. Tom Barham
13. Tima Fainga'anuku
14. Mark Tele'a
15. Kade Banks
16. Penaia Cakobau
17. Leka Tu'ungafasi
18. Riley Tofilau
19. Felix Kalapu
20. Karl Ruzich
21. Siaosi Nginingini
22. Oscar Koller
23. Tika Lelenga

@zedsdeadbaby It's a bit unusual not to have a squad publicly named.

And just like that, we've lost to the Turbos for the first time in 10 years! What an upset!
Last loss was 31-17 on 26 September 2015

@Canes4life Your predictions are very similar to mine!

Taramai's back!
First game in 1,449 days

Harbour's squad to be announced tomorrow

The new jersey has been revealed, and it's the same one that we've been wearing for the past 11 years except it's got a good old collar to mark our 40th anniversary.

All our merch this year is a nod to our history, with the 96/97 and 98-00 jerseys being the inspiration behind the gym tees, the 30th anniversary jersey for the training jersey, and the use of the old wordmark logo as well. I was hoping either one of the first two would be our jersey for the year.

Full range available here: Paladin Sport online store

@JK First time ever that Shore have won a 3-peat, and they're now just the second club to win more than 2 in a row - Takapuna did that in 1994-2000 and 2006-2009. The beginning of a new dynasty perhaps?
North Harbour Premier 1 Wikipedia

@Kiwidom I think Harbour’s squad will be announced tomorrow or Friday.

The boys are getting some guesses on what the new jersey will be like.

I hope it will be based off the 1996/1997 jersey…

or the 1998-2000 jersey (which was actually remade as a retro two years ago).

13 new boys in our squad - a few of them were on development contracts last year.
Full squad to be announced later today.

@JK He was playing for Northcote in their last three games of the season after coming back from Japan so that was obviously a good sign.

Also saw the news that Julian Savea is staying with Wellington despite the earlier rumours that he might stay in Harbour territory and play NPC for us. This would have filled some gaps in our backline spots, even if it was just for this season.

@zedsdeadbaby You mean first fives?

Harbour club rugby finals to be streamed live on Facebook on Saturday