• Winding back...
Interesting news that Auckland rugby is welcoming back three old - make that "old" - players for the NPC or whatever it will be called later this year.
Daniel Braid is the big catch. Not considered quite good enough to be Richie McCaw's openside back-up in the All Blacks two years ago, Braid has flourished in Queensland and will now be favoured to make the World Cup squad.
It's also significant that Auckland has signed fullback Brent Ward and utility back Ben Atiga, the six-minute All Black.
Perhaps they will lead Auckland back to the top; perhaps they will fail miserably. Either way, at a time when there are hundreds of New Zealand rugby players bolting for bigger cheques overseas, it's nice to see some players coming the other way.
Which got me thinking.
Who would you like to see come back to help Otago rugby climb out of its shocking slump, perhaps just in time to take the Ranfurly Shield off Southland?
• ...the rugby clock
The obvious first answer is "the big guy with the beard". But unless Wayne Graham's War Chest Committee can find millions, not hundreds of thousands, Carl Hayman will soak up the good life in France.
Nevertheless, a prop is badly needed, so why not see if Carl Hoeft is keen to come back from France? Aside from being a fine bloke and a scrummaging technician, he and Kees Meeuws would form the oldest propping combination in the history of New Zealand rugby.
With hookers also short on the ground thanks to injuries, Otago could do worse than pop in a call to Tom Willis in Wales. (But a quick search reveals Willis signed a new deal with his club last month. There goes that thought.)
The Otago backline, particularly the midfield, needs some serious help. Perhaps in the form of Seilala Mapusua, who has been superb at London Irish and just turned 30 this year.
It goes without saying that Otago would love to have the mercurial Nick Evans back, but he is now a hero in England and going nowhere.
Josh Blackie, Craig Newby, Filipo Levi and Byron Kelleher? You wouldn't say no, but Otago has good players in all their positions.
Nick Reily, Craig Dunlea, Hayden Pedersen and Lucky Mulipola? You would just say no.
• You booze, you lose
I still don't know which of these is proving more difficult to get my head around:
That a New Zealand rugby club is frowning on the excessive use of alcohol;
Or that there is a club in Oamaru called Athletic Marist. Say who? When I was a boy, they were Athies. How do you turn into a Marist club overnight?
• If the cap fits
The Melbourne Storm salary cap saga rolls on and I have been pondering the following questions:
1. Should Storm players have been allowed to play for Australia in last night's Anzac test? They were part of an illegally maintained super club. Whether they knew of the rort or not (I think they did), isn't there an argument that they - and the Kangaroos - are benefiting from the Storm's cheating?
2. Was there really no alternative to forcing the Storm to play for zero points the rest of the season? The club is breaking the rules each and every week. Shouldn't it have been kicked out altogether?
3. Couldn't there be some alterations made to the salary cap to recognise the importance of retaining players clubs have developed themselves? The NRL should look at American basketball, where the NBA has a "soft" cap with a range of exemptions for players who have given a certain amount of service to a team.
4. Seriously - the players knew nothing?
• Shocking time of it
Wanaka multisporter Dougal Allan finished third as part of a team at an adventure race in China last week.
But at least he got out of the country relatively unscathed, unlike team-mate Stu Lynch, of Auckland.
"In amongst getting muddy bikes and clothing cleaned for customs, our super-human team member Stu was electrocuted while trying to hose down our bikes," Allan blogged.
"He was at the hospital getting checked for a couple of hours. All is OK now, thank goodness."
• Then heroes came along
My lack of sporting ability has been a source of great frustration in my life but it is nice to see my name can still carry some clout.
About 11 years ago, I hooked in some ODT colleagues and friends to enter a team in the indoor football league at the Edgar Centre.
I'd just written a feature - so bad it makes me wince when I read it today - on my personal heroes (John Lennon, Steve McManaman, Bret "The Hitman" Hart and Chris Finch). So the "Hayden's Heroes" football team was born.
I eventually lost interest but somehow the Heroes survived, thanks mainly to James Smith, another personal hero of mine.
The league seems to have fallen away a little but late last month, a tense final was played out between Hayden's Heroes and the delightfully named Rotten Villa. Smith and his mates, Slats, Coops, Muir and Pierre, ground out a 1-0 win. My heroes.
• Happy school days
Make sure you catch some of the action in the excellent Highlanders First XV rugby competition.
The Otago Daily Times website (www.odt.co.nz/sport) is now featuring school profiles, results, a points table and a photo gallery.
We're also encouraging schools and school pupils to contribute to the site with their own photos, observations and match reports.
