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Narawa embraces new role with surging Steamers after All Blacks disappointment
SENZ • August 29th, 2024 8:23 am
Looking at the NPC schedule at the start of the season, not many would've punted on Bay of Plenty ripping through a gruelling opening week to climb atop the competition standings.
The Steamers defied that infamous quirk in the NPC calendar known as 'Storm Week' - where teams must play three matches in the space of a week - by dispatching Waikato, Counties Manukau and North Harbour inside seven days.
While they were edged by Otago in Dunedin on Sunday to cop their first defeat, head coach Richard Watt admits he's quietly chuffed to have negotiated one of the most difficult stretches of their campaign right out the gate.
"Yeah, you've got to be happy with that mate," Watt told SENZ Mornings.
"We put a fair bit of work in during the preseason around how we were going to go about that week, and it came off."
The Steamers coach says the opening weeks are always a matter of finely balancing the blend of Super Rugby and club players, getting the team on the same page both off and on the park.
Instrumental in that process was limiting their pre-season action to a single hitout against Taranaki, and their now traditional camp at Waihi Beach, which offered the ideal environment for the squad to mesh.
"It's sort of the art of NPC rugby now," Watt explained.
"You've only got the two or three weeks. You've got to manage your Super players, coming off a long season of Super Rugby anyway, and then mix them in with the new guys you're bringing out of club footy, so it's a real art to get that merger right.
"Some Super guys have had big minutes, some haven't. So, it's just getting that mixture right. Then you've only got a couple of weeks to get it all together. We go for camp up at Waihi Beach, which we've done the past four years.
"You've got to get them tight, but you've got to get the footy in as well. So, it's a real balancing act."
Among the big guns Watt is integrating into his squad is Emoni Narawa, who has missed out on an All Blacks recall this year after injury limited his opportunities in his maiden call-up last year to just a solitary test. Another is prop Pasilio Tosi, who was called into Scott Robertson's Rugby Championship squad but left home for the two-Test tour to South Africa.
Watt says motivating a talent like Narawa after his All Blacks disappointment hasn't been an issue whatsoever. In fact, he says Narawa is simply relishing the chance to play regular rugby - which he's also been doing outside of his regular wing role in the Steamers' midfield - and has been a driving force in their fast start to 2024.
"At the end of the day, they're all footy players," Watt noted. "Sometimes you can be in that environment and you're training your ring off but you're not getting the minutes. So, when they actually come back they're just so hungry to play rugby. That's quite easy because they're motivated for that reason.
"Emoni was a tough one because he actually got dropped. So, we looked at it as part of our job to help him get back there. I think he's an amazing footballer.
"We're a little bit light in the midfield, so Emoni is playing centre for us at the moment, and he's embracing that. It's obviously a big change for him. But he's just so hungry to play."
Narawa and the Steamers will try to keep their strong early form going when they take on Tasman in Blenheim on Saturday.
Listen to the full interview below:
