AUCKLAND – Rugby league and football met head on recently when the Vodafone Warriors and Auckland City FC combined for a special workout at Mt Smart Stadium on Tuesday 25 March.
The Vodafone Warriors have in the past had training sessions with the leading rugby union and basketball teams from the Queen City (the Blues and the Breakers) and in late January the club’s forwards moved out of their comfort zone by jumping into surf boats in a session with members of the Piha Surf Life Saving Club.
The run with the reigning three-time NZFC champions covered new territory for the Vodafone Warriors although some staff – including current coach Ivan Cleary and Kevin Campion – played in a charity football match at Auckland City’s home ground Kiwitea Street in January 2005.
The game raised $30,000 for victims of the South East Asia tsunami tragedy in late 2004.
Cleary, who is of Croatian decent, played football into his teens before he switched to rugby league.
The session was a great opportunity for both teams to have some lighthearted fun on the training field while also making some new friendships.
The spirit, camaraderie and support between the players and management was a credit to their respective codes.
Auckland City’s New Zealand Football Championship (NZFC) and Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) O-League campaigns have suffered set-backs in recent times with arch-rivals Waitakere United assuming ascendancy after two derby wins over the Colin Tuaa coached outfit.
City gets a chance to get its OFC O-League Group A hopes back on track when it faces a difficult away match against Tahitian champions AS Manu Ura at Stade Pater, Papeete, Friday 28th March, 2008, kick-off 20H00 (French Polynesia Time).
Waitakere currently head Group A with seven points but struggled in its away match against AS Manu Ura drawing 1-1 and missing a penalty.
Auckland City trounced AS Manu Ura 6-0 when the clubs first met on OFC O-League business last year but since then the Patrick Pito-coached Tahitian outfit has finished top of Division Federale and clinched a morale-boosting draw with current OFC O-League champions Waitakere United.
OFC O-LEAGUE
GROUP A
STANDINGS
|
|
PL |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
PTS |
GD |
|
|
1 |
Waitakere United (NZL) |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
2 |
7 |
+2 |
|
2 |
Auckland City (NZL) |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
+5 |
|
3 |
AS Manu Ura (TAH) |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
9 |
1 |
-7 |
Remaining fixtures:
28.03.08 AS Manu Ura (TAH) vs. Auckland City (NZL)
02.04.08 Waitakere United (NZL) vs. Auckland City (NZL)
PHOTO GALLERY – COURTESY PHOTOTEK
