Academy

Tau Mataafa Ardmore·Marist Club Position - Lock, Prop School - Wesley College	Maama Vaipulu    Pukekohe Club    Position - 8,6   School - Wesley College	Jamie Gilbert Clark Karaka Club Position - 7 School - Wesley College
Michael Lea Manurewa Club Position - Hooker School - Wesley College	George Latu Patumahoe Club Position - Prop School - Wesley College	Italia Hunt Manurewa Prop School - Manurewa High PHOTO TO COME ·
Nick Denz Karaka Loose Forward School - Auckland Grammar PHOTO TO COME	Matt Talaese Manurewa Prop School - Manurewa High PHOTO TO COME ···	Troy Abernathy Patumahoe Loose Forward/ Lock School - Pukekohe High PHOTO TO COME

There are currently 9 2009/2010 Academy members in the 2010 Steelers Squad.

Academy Manager·- Nick Leger

March 09

Counties Manukau Academy beat Bay of Plenty

The Counties Manukau Academy beat the Bay of Plenty Academy 28-15 on Friday night at Waikato stadium in their curtain raiser match for the Chiefs v Western Force Super 14 game.

Counties Manukau started off slowly in their first match of the season but gained momentum towards the second half.· Sticking to their game plan after the break paid off and was apparent as the visitors showed more consistency and started attacking off the front foot.· This resulted in twenty points being chalked up and some good tries being scored in the second half.· The stand out try was scored by Ashee Tuala.·· After the kick off, the young Counties Manukau side attacked from their own 22 and played four ground gaining phases which progressed into a text book try in the right hand corner.

The Academy coaching staff consisting of Pat Flavell, Andrew Hewetson and Milton Haig were happy with the teams' first performance but felt there was plenty to work on particularly with their scrum. "It was good to see the things that the team learnt from their two training runs being put into play.· The boys also maintained their composure against the more experienced team that contained five of the Bay of Plenty Steamers, so as a starting point it was quite pleasing but we will definitely be putting in a lot of work into our scrum before our next game" said the Counties Manukau Director of Rugby Milton Haig

March 09

Counties Manukau Academy put to the test

Having three games in five days took its toll on the Counties Manukau Academy as they lost to the Waikato Academy in howling winds 17-0 on Wednesday at Wesley College.

Despite not maximizing the wind in the second half the home side can draw many positives from the match, they concentrated well on keeping their shape in attack and showed a lot of heart under difficult conditions to finished the game on attack.· It was encouraging to see the team build on their performance on Friday night that saw them beat Bay of Plenty.

The match was a lot closer than the score reflected but Waikato deserved the win. Waikato were a good side that had been together for six weeks and it showed with the amount of energy and cohesion they bought to the field.

Counties Manukau Director of Rugby Milton Haig said "While we would have preferred a win, this is more about process than results.· We purposefully put the boys under the pressure of three games in week to see how they would cope.· This brings to the end our testing phase and we will use this as a benchmark to build on which is what the Academy is all about - working on our players to bring the best out of them for their club and rep season ahead".

CMRFU Academy

The Academy players are predominantly aged between 18 and 21 and have aspirations and the potential to play professional rugby.·All Academy·members are training with the Steelers wider training group.

The NZRU has implemented an initiative that identifies Academy players that they consider have tremendous potential to become Super 14 players and All Blacks.··Part of Academy Manager,·Nick Leger's·job is to not only develop the players currently in the Academy, but also to continually identify young talent in our area that has the potential to play professional rugby.

The Academy players are fully involved playing for their chosen club teams and attend scheduled Academy sessions. Other sessions concentrate on·aspects of the New Zealand Rugby Union High Perfomance curriculum, developing technical, tactical,·nutrition, mental and holistic·skills.

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