Taranaki coach Neil Barnes champions NPC as new season starts amid uncertain future
Sunday, 4 August 2024
Champions Taranaki start new season against Counties on Friday.
Wellington, Auckland, Canterbury and Taranaki among the favourites.
Barnes says competition remains an irreplaceable part of the rugby landscape.
The NPC kicks off on Friday with a contest between champions Taranaki and Counties Manukau in New Plymouth, and with a now-familiar set of storylines.
There will be new stars unearthed and old rivalries renewed, but there will also be a backdrop of uncertainty.
New Zealand Rugby is weighing up the future of the competition - not its actual existence but where it sits in the bigger picture.
Taranaki coach Neil Barnes has been among those canvassed for their views, and he tells The Post he used it as an opportunity to reinforce long-held views about the value of the NPC.
“I've been pretty consistent all the way that it's a system that's worked well for our country for years,” he said.
“It's a natural progression with professionalism now for people to forget about the lower levels of the game and the support you need to put in there.
“But it is something that's worked well for us and we can't move away from it.
“How else are those players that are later maturing going to make their way through to professional rugby?
“If the NPC is not there, it won't happen.
“And for anybody out there that thinks they can pick kids at 16 to 18 years old into academies, and think they're going to get all the good ones, they’re dreamers.”
The straight-talking dairy farmer has become a de facto spokesman for the competition’s virtues, in part because of his province’s ability to develop players from club rugby into Super Rugby athletes.
Barnes proudly says that five Taranaki players earnt their first Super Rugby contracts last year, and says development success is “about half the reason I coach”.
He believes that most front-rowers shouldn’t be anywhere near Super Rugby until their mid-20s, says highly promising Taranaki lock Fiti Sa will be used “sparingly”this season, and took a swipe at provinces such as North Harbour who have looked outside their regions for players instead of backing their club competitions.
“I would suggest to coaches up up there that they had a look a little deeper into their club competition and do some coaching,” he said.
“I'm adamant that NPC is there to develop players from clubs, and give them an opportunity in a semi-professional environment to show their worth and be able to train like a professional for 34 months of the year and display their talents to the Super Rugby clubs.”
There are no shortcuts in Barnes’ world, but he’s also happy to dish out praise for other provinces that have done the work on their pathways.
He name checks Counties and Northland as provinces on the up, noting the passion they brought to their contests last year, and relishes the fact that on any given day “10 or 12” teams could beat each other.
As for Taranaki’s ambitions this year, Barnes notes they have lost some influential players in Pita Gus Sowakula, Teihorangi Walden and Tom Florence.
Having weaved in some of Ireland’s attacking shapes into their structure last year, Barnes also says they’ll have to evolve to keep one step ahead of their rivals.
But he says that about half of the competition are a legitimate shout to take out this year’s crown.
“The laws of averages says all the bigger provinces are naturally going to be in the mix somewhere because they've got way more depth of players, and you've got to put Hawke's Bay in that mix as well,” he said.
“They've been consistently one of the best teams in the country for a lot of years now.
“So any of the five big provinces and Hawke's Bay are going to be right up there and I'd like to think there's a group of us underneath that, on our day, we can beat anyone.
“That's the beauty of the competition.”