Chairpersons Update
Well lookout Saturday, what a lineup we have starting at 12pm with Old Timers Day and a happy hour, then to Andrew Thomson, TRFU chair giving us an update on the Silverlake deal and what it could mean to a club like Tukapa at 12.15pm. From there we head to our first round of games with our Div 1 and Colts taking on NPOB and our Snr 3rds taking on Patea - all teams are hungry for a win.
From these games, we move into our feature match at 2.45pm which we will see Mitchell Crosswell lead our fellas out onto the field for his 100th cap for Egmont Seeds Tukapa Premiers.
After the game at 5.30pm we will present Mitchell with his Blazer and speeches. Then we move into Live music with Nathan Annand on the guitar playing some old favourites from 6.30pm.
Mitchell Crosswell 100 Games for Tukapa Premiers
Mitchell Crosswell arrived at Tukapa RFC for his first season in 2013 having already played in excess of 50 matches for his home club the Feilding Yellows.
Mitchell joined an-already strong Tukapa forward pack in 2013 which featured such notable players as Leighton Price, Carl Carmichael, Blade Thomson, Adrian Wyrill, and Laurence Corlett. On the strength of his contribution to Tukapa that season (when we reached the semi-finals), Mitchell gained selection for the first time in the Taranaki Bulls.
In 2014 Mitchell played in Tukapa’s relatively unsuccessful Senior A season when the team finished in fifth place after the round-robin series and missed out on the semi-finals. However, he again won selection in the Taranaki Bulls for that year’s rep season.
2015 was a huge year for Mitchell when the Senior A’s made the semi-finals (only to be beaten by Inglewood in a match which went to golden point extra/extra time) and he was again picked for the Bulls as well as gaining selection alongside Leighton Price for the Maori All Blacks, having already appeared for the Chiefs earlier in the season.
By 2016 Mitchell had assumed the captaincy of the Tukapa Senior A’s, who he led to a very decisive 39 to 17 victory over NPOB in that year’s grand final. Once again, he was also selected for the 2016 Taranaki Bulls.
In our 125th Jubilee year (2017) the Senior A’s achieved back-to-back Premier titles with a nail-biting win against Coastal in the final, which meant Mitchell collected his second Senior A title as captain. He was again selected in the Taranaki Bulls side and was awarded his blazer for playing 50 Senior A matches for Tukapa alongside Ryan Bishop, Jayson Potroz, and Isaia Tuifua. However, in 2017 Mitchell did not feature for the Bulls being ruled out by injury.
In 2018 Mitchell was back on deck again for both the Tukapa Premiers as well as the Bulls with him having the distinction of captaining both teams. However, that season we lost to NPOB in the semi-final played at Sanders Park, and not for the first time, our chance of doing the “three-peat” was also gone.
2019 was not a great one for Mitchell with our Senior A’s losing that season’s home semi-final against Spotswood United in controversial circumstances following a pitch invasion by players and supporters of the visiting team. Also, Mitchell did not feature for the Bulls that season having been overlooked by the new Head Coach.
Mitchell was back again in 2020 for both the Chooks and the Bulls in a Covid-shortened season with the highlight being his captaining of our Premiers to our 17th Taranaki Premiership title, this time after a win over Inglewood in the grand final in an almost empty TET Stadium.
In 2021 Mitchell missed the entire club season due to injury but did re-gain selection in the Bulls and became part of their very successful unbeaten run in the Championship competition.
All in all, it’s taken Mitchell 10 seasons to reach the prestigious milestone of 100 Senior A matches for the Chooks and to become our latest Centurion. That’s a testament to the man’s longevity as a player as well as his undying loyalty to his Blue and White teammates and the Club itself.
Volunteer Referees
As you may have seen Tukapa is trying really hard to help support our referees my reffing games up at Tukapa in our Yellow Volunteer t-shirts and we are getting really good feedback on what we are doing.
The other side of this is supporting the current referees and touch judges so that they enjoy the games and come back next week. With this I say, as supporters on the sideline or bench players, WE ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH!! On Saturday I heard far too much abuse from the sidelines. As the Club Chair walking the sidelines and meeting the referees saying that we are right behind them, then having someone yell something out over my shoulder, makes me look very silly. Please if you don’t have something good to yell at the referee, keep your mouth shut. To play our game we need these guys, so let’s all work hard to look after them.
Tukapa Bantams
This year we see the return of the NZ Forestry Tukapa Bantams after making the final last year they are back to try and go one better. 1st up we travel to Te Kuiti to take on the College Rifles Raiders from Auckland on Queen’s Birthday Monday 6th of June. If you are keen to play in this team hit up Nathan Laurence and if you are keen for a ride on the team bus, which will go up and back on the Monday, give Scotty your name. More details to come as we get them.
Premier Game Live Stream
Our technical team has worked hard over the summer to make some improvements to our live stream broadcast. Watch our home games live on facebook and look out for improved graphics and replays of all the tries.
Corporate Box
The Corporate box is available for some home games at $700 a game which includes a full fridge and food at halftime. If you are keen get in contact with me.
See you all Saturday for one of the biggest days of the year at the Chook House. Be sure to check out our guest Tap upstairs as well with this week's drop being Mac’s Apparition. A Big thanks to Lion Nathan for their ongoing support. See you Saturday.
Your Chairperson Scotty Siffleet Blue and White for life
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