were also to be held as curtain raisers to the senior matches. The Premiers competed for the Albert Baskerville Trophy which was won by Auckland, who defeated Counties Manukau 14 - 6 in the Grand Final. Teams The seven zones are; Northland Zone (Northern Swords): Consisting of the Northland and Whangarei districts, the Northern Swords were coached by Revell Neal. The Zone was initially to also include North Shore clubs but the Auckland Rugby League went to court to reduce the financial impact of a three-way split. Auckland Zone: Consisting of players from West, Central, North Harbour and Eastern Auckland, the Auckland team were coached by Northcote Tigers coach Ken McIntosh and included Sala Fa'alogo and Malo Solomona. The manager was Mick Lacey from the Ellerslie Eagles. Counties Manukau Zone: Consisting of players from South Auckland, including Otahuhu, Counties Manukau was coached by Rusty Matua with Richie Blackmore coaching the under 17's. Upper Central Zone (Waicoa Bay Stallions): Consisting of players from the Waikato, Coastline, Gisborne and Bay of Plenty districts the Waicoa Bay Stallions were coached by Tahe Morunga. Mid-Central Zone (Heartland): Consisting of players from the Taranaki, Wanganui, Hawkes Bay and Manawatu districts the Heartland premiers were coached by Mike Graham. Manawatu and Taranaki played a trial match before the squad was announced, with Manawatu victorious. Wellington Zone (Wellington Orcas): Drawn from the Wellington Rugby League competition the Wellington Orcas were coached by Trevor Clark while David Lomax coached the under 17s.* The side included Bureta Faraimo. Southern Zone (South Island): Drawn from the Tasman, West Coast, Canterbury, Otago and Southland districts the South Island team was coached by Brent Stuart with Mike Doreen coaching the under 17s. The premiers team included Jaye Pukepuke and Blair Sims. Sims later lost his life in the 2010 Pike River Mine disaster. Otago defeated Southland 26–20 in August. *Gisborne and Hawkes Bay are included in Wellington Zone for administration purposes but their players play in the Upper Central and Mid-Central representative teams respectively. Season standings Source: Schedule Round 1 Bye: Northern Round 2 Bye: South Island Round 3 Bye: Counties-Manukau Round 4 Bye: Auckland Round 5 Bye: Heartland Round 6 Bye: Wellington Round 7 Bye: Waicoa Bay Grand final Mark Graham Cup The Under 17 competition was named after Mark Graham. Counties Manukau beat Auckland 22 - 12 in the final to become the inaugural holders of the Mark Graham Cup.