Hayden Meikle

Eight years ago, North Otago rugby got a monkey off its back when it sealed an extraordinary resurgence with victory in the old third division final.

A football-loving colleague of mine always says the same thing when the new Fifa game hits my desk.

Intense has been the analysis and loud has been the wailing since the Black Caps returned from Bangladesh.

Two Otago Daily Times sports reporters have won significant awards this week.

Former New Zealand chef de mission Dave Gerrard is staggered Commonwealth Games organisers have not been able to produce adequate facilities for athletes in Delhi.

Otago successfully retained its place in the top tier of the New Zealand domestic competition with a meritorious 51-46 win over Waikato on Saturday.

My all-time favourite flying game is a World War 1 simulation called Knights of the Sky.

Alison Shanks has been a world champion but she is not expecting to be able to win a Commonwealth Games medal just by turning up in India. She talks to sports editor Hayden Meikle.

Otago flanker Adam Thomson has spurned the advances of the Crusaders and will play for the Highlanders again next year.

The papers have been served and the divorce between Otago and the Highlanders is nearly complete. Sports editor Hayden Meikle looks at how a struggling franchise and a slumping union hope to flourish by forging their own paths.

He is the outstanding Otago rugby back of his generation and now he hopes to help continue New Zealand's remarkable record in Commonwealth Games sevens. Sports editor Hayden Meikle talks to Ben Smith.

One man steps into some rather large boots and two others have some ground to make up. That is the story of the Otago starting XV, which features three changes for the game against Bay of Plenty in Rotorua tomorrow night.

Nintendo promised the Wii will rock you. Now, Sony thinks you will like to Move it.

From humble beginnings, the Academy of Sport South Island has developed into a multimillion-dollar business. But within its walls, the athletes and coaches and administrators prefer to think of it as a family. That makes Kereyn Smith the mother.

Think of the prototypical New Zealand athlete at the Commonwealth Games and a 53-year-old woman from Balclutha probably doesn't come to mind. Anne Mitchell proudly breaks the mould, and she is chasing a medal in Delhi.