Apprentice scheme successful, Clark says

Roger Clark.
Roger Clark.
An apprentice scheme for young promising players does not mean players of an older age will be cut out of the Highlanders.

The Highlanders have signed four young players for next season, who will join an apprentice programme with the franchise.

Highlanders chief executive Roger Clark said the programme had been running for a couple of years and it was about looking to the future.

"The way it is now, we have been reasonably successful over the past couple of years and what we now have to do is look forward to the next three to five years and not fall flat on our faces," he said.

"So we have to actively recruit both locally and from other parts of the country."

The Highlanders have signed midfield back Thomas Umaga-Jensen, hooker Flynn Thomas and wingers Vilimoni Koroi and Moses Dawai, for 2017.

Umaga-Jensen, a former New Zealand schools player, was named in the programme last season but a hip injury meant he could not take part.

Thomas is from Southland Boys’ High School and has been in the New Zealand schools side for the past two years.

Koroi and Dawai are  outside backs of Fijian extraction, and played for the New Zealand schools side this year.

They played for Feilding High School this season.

Thomas has signed with Southland  and  the other  with Otago.

Clark said the players would spend the pre-season with the Highlanders and their development would be fast-tracked. 

They had access to strength and conditioning and nutrition advice and would also have access to specialist coaching.

Previous players who had gone through the scheme were midfielder Sio Tomkinson, lock Josh Dickson and first five-eighth Fletcher Smith.Talent identification was  undertaken aggressively throughout the country by both franchises and unions, Clark said.

"We want to keep some continuity going in our squads for the next three or four years and identify where there are holes. You look at us at lock.  We had [Mark] Reddish, [Alex] Ainley and [Joe] Wheeler all getting on . . . so we have put a lot of time into Josh Dickson over the past couple of years."

One only had to look at players such as Highlanders co-captain Shane Christie and hooker Greg Pleasants-Tate  to see players of a later age could still get into the franchises, Clark said.

Promising players were being identified at younger ages but there was still room for older players, he said.

Otago lock Blair Tweed was another example of that.

Tweed (25) was being noticed by franchises because of his physical style.

He was likely to be involved with the Highlanders in some way at least in the pre-season.

The Highlanders squad for the 2017 season  is  due to be announced next Wednesday, and Clark said the franchise had more or less finalised its squad.

Southland prop Guy Millar is believed to be in the picture along with the Otago props, Clark said.

Props Josh Hohneck is off to England and is not returning while Ross Geldenhuys is moving on.

Canterbury prop Siate Tokolahi is believed to have signed with the franchise after  several years with the Chiefs. 

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