With the middle row of Otago looking lean after the departure of both Blair Tweed and Josh Furno from last year, Englishman Dean Williams has headed south to try his luck.
He is hard to miss. At 2.13m tall and weighing in at 130kg he is no small fry.
Williams (29) has been playing for Suburbs in the Auckland club competition for the past three years but said he had come down to Otago to try his luck.
Originally from Manchester, Williams started playing rugby at school when he was about 12.
He grew as the years went on and eventually reached 2.13m - seven feet in the old terms - and there was only one position he could play on the field.
The lock played semi-professionally in England in the national division one competition - which was two tiers below the premiership.
Three years ago he decided to head to the other side of the world and have a crack at playing in New Zealand.
He ended up in Auckland and turned out for the Suburbs club.
It was a successful stint - the club won the title in 2016 and then was beaten in the final last year.
Williams said he received an offer to come down south and play for Harbour earlier this season.
``I'm not getting any younger and thought I might as well come down here and have a crack,'' he said.
``I've only just arrived but everyone seems pretty friendly.''
Williams helped Harbour to a convincing 47-27 win over Dunedin at Watson Park on Saturday and said he enjoyed the game.
He said there were always things to work on in his game and said the New Zealand game was a little less structured than that which was played in the United Kingdom.
With Tweed heading to Japan and the Italian Furno playing in Western Australia, the only current locks in the Otago system are Josh Dickson and Tom Rowe.
Also appearing for Harbour on Saturday was halfback Melani Matavao, who came off the bench for Harbour.
Matavao played three tests for Samoa last year on its northern hemisphere tour and has also played for Samoa under-20.
Halfbacks Jono Ruru and Josh Walden, who both played for Otago over the past couple of seasons, have both gone elsewhere, so there is a chance to stake a claim.
Former New Zealand under-20 No 8 Sam Godwin has come down from Christchurch to try his luck with University, as there are also vacancies in the loose forwards for Otago.
Otago announced last week it has signed prop Tom Hill, loose forward Dylan Nel and loose forward Naulia Dawai.
