One week means nothing if you cannot back it up. That is the message from North Otago coach Luke Herden as his team hits the road for their battle against Buller on Saturday. The Old Golds had a dream start to their Heartland Championship season, knocking off defending champions Mid Canterbury 37-26 at home last week. It was a win that made Herden — who led North Otago to the Lochore Cup last year — a very happy man. “I think the most pleasing thing is we get away with a win and we still have a lot that we can get better at,’’ Herden said. The Old Golds showed some slick attacking plays when they kept the ball in hand and muscled up defensively, keeping the Hammers at bay for a large period of the game. “Defence has been the most pleasing thing. “Players are really buying into the system, and working really hard for each other, and understanding the roles that they play and turning our defence into a little bit of an attacking weapon.’’ But Herden knows they need to take another step up against Buller in Westport on Saturday. Buller are coming off a wounding 89-26 loss to Thames Valley, who were the Meads Cup runners-up last year. But they will be wanting to put in a good performance to celebrate some stalwart milestones. Miti Kalou and Anthony Ellis celebrate 100 caps for Buller, a rarity in modern day Heartland rugby, and Joel Hands brings up 50 games. Herden knew with the milestones and last week’s loss, Buller would be tough. Posting a strong win to start the campaign also made the Old Golds a target, he said. “The big thing is if we don’t perform this weekend, last week means nothing. “I guess complacency is something that we’ve talked about heavily [this week]. “We’re going to go in and treat this like a mental test match and make sure that we stick to what we want to do. “If we do that well, and they play well, and we play well, I’m confident that we’ll win.’’ Centre Mac Harris is carrying a calf niggle and will have the week off. Tyree Manaia gets his first start in the Old Golds jersey at centre. He is the only change in the backline from last week’s win. Cameron Rowland comes in at hooker for Hayden Tisdall, who moves to the bench, and Phil Taua-Ah Soon starts at hooker with Lisivani Tu’ifua moving to the bench. Epineri Logavatu will add energy off the bench and Harbour back Kyle Kloppers will make his debut off the bench. King Country will put the Bill Osborne Taonga on the line against Thames Valley, Mid Canterbury are home to Wairarapa-Bush, Poverty Bay meet Horowhenua-Kapiti, South Canterbury host West Coast and Whanganui play East Coast. Heartland Championship Westport, 1pm North Otago: Isaac Clunie, Ben Paton, Tyree Manaia, Tini Feke, Ben McCarthy, Rico Muliaina, Alfie Coop, Paea Fifita, Savenaca Rabaka, Mitch Morton, Corban Agar, Anthony Docherty, Phil Taua-Ah Soon, Cameron Rowland, Kelepi Funaki. Reserves: Hayden Tisdall, Jake Greenslade, Lisivani Tu’ifua, Viliame Mainawalala, Mat Duff, Epineri Logavatu, Mason James, Kyle Kloppers. Buller: Gruff Thomas, Iliesa Tora, Ngase Maile, Derek Stowers, Miti Kalou, Jack Parker, Josh Beveridge, Joel Hands, Bryn Graham, Bow Wallace, Ben Pratt, Caleb Havili, Sakaria Taulafo, Anthony Ellis, Cole McBride. Reserves: Tevin Tangitakatu, Stephen Crackett, Fusi Mailimali, Mausia Papani, Josh Tukia, Liam Craddock, Viliami Akauola, Sam Jope/Jack Anderson.
