Coach Jason Forrest has named a 26 man squad for the challenge, which will take place at Rugby Park in Christchurch on Friday afternoon.
North Otago has brought in some wise heads in the form of prop Ralph Darling and outside back Lemi Masoe, both who have played more the 100 games for North Otago.
Maheno backs Robbie Smith and Nick McLennan are also included, while loan players Charles Elton, Sef Fa’agase and Mike Williams will also line up.
Forrest said he had brought in the experienced players for the Ranfurly Shield game as he did not want to expose the younger players to the high level of intensity in a shield game.
‘‘These experienced guys want to play and I don’t want to put the young guys under pressure which might do them more harm than good,’’ Forrest said.
He said many of the older hands had indicated they would only be playing this game and would not be available for the rest of the season. But everything was up in the air and things may change, the coach said.
The side was playing a series of games with Hanan Shield unions next month.
Elton, a versatile lock and loose forward from the Harbour club in Dunedin, played for North Otago last year as a loan player and had contacted Forrest early on in the season wanting to be involved.
He was named the team’s player of the year last season. Elton was part of the Otago team’s wider training squad, but was unlikely to make the Otago squad.
Fa’agase was part of the Highlanders last year and was not contracted by Otago this season. He had previously played for Queensland and the Reds.
Williams played for University in Dunedin but has moved to Bay of Plenty this season. But he had played for North Otago for the past couple of years and had contacted Forrest to see if he could play. With Lachie Kingan unavailable, Williams was the obvious option.
Forrest said he had talked to Otago coach Tom Donnelly about loaning players from Otago. A captain will be decided next week.
There was some exciting young players in the squad. Hooker/loose forward Jack Kelly had been in the Australian schools system and was an aggressive player, while young halfback Mataitini Feko had arrived from Tonga and had impressed.
Forrest said he was expecting a strong Canterbury team, even if the Super Rugby players were not turning out.
North Otago lost 49-14 to Otago in Oamaru last year in a Ranfurly Shield challenge and Forrest said he wanted the side to stay in the game longer than it did last year.
