CLASSY fly-half Hare Meihana steered Maitland to their first Hunter Rugby first-grade premiership in 24 years.
Now Meihana is tasked with helping Hunter claim the Caldwell Cup for the first time since 2017.
Hunter return to the top tier of the NSW Country Championships in Tamworth this weekend.
They meet Illawarra on Saturday morning and back up against defending champions Central West in the afternoon.
The top team from the pool will meet the winner of pool B (Central Coast, Far North Coast, Mid North Coast) in the Caldwell Cup final on Sunday.
Meihana is one of six players, alongside Sam Callow, Coby Wetini, Zane Dallinger, Sam Parkinson and Aiden Procopis from the Blacks' 2023 premiership side in the Hunter squad.
Centre Dane Corbin was a late withdrawal due to a staph infection. Merewether breakaway Rhys Bray (neck) has also been ruled out.
"Winning the grand final was very cool," Meihana said. "Especially for the club. It had been a long time since their last premiership.
"Winning the country championships would be the icing on the cake.
"I played rep rugby at home for Whanganui growing up. This is my first time for Hunter. There are a lot of quality players in the Newcastle comp. I'm excited to see how we go.
"I have no idea about the opposition. There are 15 blokes on the other side you have to get past. I just worry about achieving what we are trying to achieve."
Meihana, who moved to Singleton in 2017 before joining Maitland in 2022, is joined in the halves by Blacks teammate Coby Wetini.
"We have played together for the past three years and are at a point where we can read each other's mind," Meihana said. "Having a club combination will help at the next level."
Meihana's kicking - in general play and at goal - will be crucial.
"With the pool games only being 50 minutes, you want to play at the opposition end and take points when on offer," Meihana said.
Coach Martin Brett has brought in Merewether utility Josh Fisher to replace Corbin.
Dallinger is likely to come into the starting side for Bray, who represented NSW Country last year.
"Obviously, I would rather have both players available but I'm pretty confident we will be right," Brett said. "Josh Fisher can play centre, wing, or fullback. I could move Fiso Vasegote to the centres or even use Sam Parkinson there. We have a few options.
"We haven't brought in a new play for Rhys. We have plenty of cover there.
"We had a good session in the rain on Thursday night. We will have another team run Saturday morning. We need to hit the ground running."
Hunter (likely): 1 Dave Puchert, 2 Bernie Hati, 3 Nick Dobson, 4 Kade Robinson, 5 Taufa Kinkini, 6 Zane Dallinger, 7 Sam Callow (c), 8 Lachy Milton, 9 Coby Wetini, 10 Hare Meihana, 11 Josh Fisher, 12 Cassius Misa, 13 Fiso Vasegote, 14 Aiden Precopis, 15 Tute Grant. Res: Charles Fielder, Sam Parkinson, Billy Clay, Matt Baggs, Dave Aoke, Pat Teddy, Sione Puli'uvea, Lachy Summers
