Guyton back in the hot seat and thriving on the competition
Tasman and Taranaki halfbacks Billy Guyton, left, and Kylem O'Donnell scramble for the ball during their NPC rugby match at Trafalgar Park in Nelson.
Tasman Makos halfback Billy Guyton's had former All Black Jimmy Cowan in his rear view mirror over the past two seasons.
Now he's got sharp young rookie Finlay Christie snapping at his heels.
Christie's impressive pre-season form earned him starts ahead of the experienced Guyton in Tasman's first three national provincial championship rugby games against Waikato, Canterbury and Taranaki.
Tasman halfback Billy Guyton is confident the Makos can make this year's premiership semifinals.
But Guyton's competitive spirit eventually won through and he's now back in Tasman's No 9 jersey and showing the confidence and spark that's made him a key component of the Tasman set up since debuting against Southland three seasons ago. And he clearly thrives on the competition.
"You learn things from everyone and Jimmy was awesome, he taught me a lot about the game. And Finlay's really quick so I had to speed up if I wanted to get in front of him because he's a quick little bugger," Guyton said.
"Rangi [head coach Leon MacDonald] said, `if you want to be in there, you've got to be quicker', so I've had to work on that and I think it's started to show over the last couple of games.
"It's been awesome. If it wasn't for [Christie], I don't think I'd be going maybe as well as I have been. I've had to work a lot harder on my core game and I think it's helped me improve as a player.
"I'm feeling confident at the moment which goes a long way and it helps being confident. When you do the work during the week, you go into the game knowing you can do the job and when you feel that you can do the job, you sort of just play and you don't have to think too much."
Timaru-born Guyton has now played 37 games for Tasman, complemented by stints with the Hurricanes, Crusaders and Blues Super Rugby franchises, meaning the 26-year-old now has a wealth of experience to call on. He's also represented North Otago and the New Zealand Heartland team.
So it's not surprising that, despite Tasman currently sitting in fifth place in the Mitre 10 Cup premiership, Guyton's still confident of the Makos pushing for a semifinal playoff berth - possibly even a home semi.
"I think we're there or thereabouts. We're tracking well now and just starting to get things right in our game at the moment.
"I know we didn't score too many points [against Counties Manukau] but I think the effort that's been going in has been awesome this year. We're creating opportunities, we just haven't quite nailed them in those last crucial moments. I think when we do get it right, it's going to be exciting."
Tasman have only earned one try-scoring bonus point this season, a far cry from their usual output as traditionally one of the competition's best attacking teams.
"Defence has been a big focus this year. We noticed last year that our defence wasn't as good as it could have been so we've worked on that and I think our attack's always going to be there, it's just [about] finishing those opportunities that we get," he said.
"We're really confident, we think we can get right up near the top. We've got a game in hand and I think [compared to] a lot of the other teams, we've got a wee bit of an easier run home.
"But, you know, in this competition, there's no easy games. We've got a couple of short turnarounds and they'll be a hard ask, but if the boys get the off-field stuff right, I think we'll go a long way to getting right up near the top and pushing for that home semi again.
"It shows the character of the side this year. The young fellas are stepping up and they want to be in it as much as the older guys do so it's creating that competition...and everyone's putting their bit forward when it comes time to bar up on defence."
Guyton's looking forward to heading back to Eden Park on Thursday, his home for this year's Super Rugby competition.
"It'll test the boys at Eden Park. We've never won there and it's a goal of ours that we want to go up there achieve but we've got to work hard for it, it's not going to come easily.
"[Auckland have] started to click over the last couple of weeks, so it's going to be really interesting. They've got a lot of strike power and hopefully we can stick together as a team and trump the individual brilliance that they do have."
And the distinctive bushy beard that Guyton sprouted ahead of this year's Super Rugby competition has gone.
"I've got a wee daughter and she kept pulling on it and I'd sort of had enough after about four months of that."
Tasman and Taranaki halfbacks Billy Guyton, left, and Kylem O'Donnell scramble for the ball during their NPC rugby match at Trafalgar Park in Nelson.
Tasman Makos halfback Billy Guyton's had former All Black Jimmy Cowan in his rear view mirror over the past two seasons.
Now he's got sharp young rookie Finlay Christie snapping at his heels.
Christie's impressive pre-season form earned him starts ahead of the experienced Guyton in Tasman's first three national provincial championship rugby games against Waikato, Canterbury and Taranaki.
Tasman halfback Billy Guyton is confident the Makos can make this year's premiership semifinals.
But Guyton's competitive spirit eventually won through and he's now back in Tasman's No 9 jersey and showing the confidence and spark that's made him a key component of the Tasman set up since debuting against Southland three seasons ago. And he clearly thrives on the competition.
"You learn things from everyone and Jimmy was awesome, he taught me a lot about the game. And Finlay's really quick so I had to speed up if I wanted to get in front of him because he's a quick little bugger," Guyton said.
"Rangi [head coach Leon MacDonald] said, `if you want to be in there, you've got to be quicker', so I've had to work on that and I think it's started to show over the last couple of games.
"It's been awesome. If it wasn't for [Christie], I don't think I'd be going maybe as well as I have been. I've had to work a lot harder on my core game and I think it's helped me improve as a player.
"I'm feeling confident at the moment which goes a long way and it helps being confident. When you do the work during the week, you go into the game knowing you can do the job and when you feel that you can do the job, you sort of just play and you don't have to think too much."
Timaru-born Guyton has now played 37 games for Tasman, complemented by stints with the Hurricanes, Crusaders and Blues Super Rugby franchises, meaning the 26-year-old now has a wealth of experience to call on. He's also represented North Otago and the New Zealand Heartland team.
So it's not surprising that, despite Tasman currently sitting in fifth place in the Mitre 10 Cup premiership, Guyton's still confident of the Makos pushing for a semifinal playoff berth - possibly even a home semi.
"I think we're there or thereabouts. We're tracking well now and just starting to get things right in our game at the moment.
"I know we didn't score too many points [against Counties Manukau] but I think the effort that's been going in has been awesome this year. We're creating opportunities, we just haven't quite nailed them in those last crucial moments. I think when we do get it right, it's going to be exciting."
Tasman have only earned one try-scoring bonus point this season, a far cry from their usual output as traditionally one of the competition's best attacking teams.
"Defence has been a big focus this year. We noticed last year that our defence wasn't as good as it could have been so we've worked on that and I think our attack's always going to be there, it's just [about] finishing those opportunities that we get," he said.
"We're really confident, we think we can get right up near the top. We've got a game in hand and I think [compared to] a lot of the other teams, we've got a wee bit of an easier run home.
"But, you know, in this competition, there's no easy games. We've got a couple of short turnarounds and they'll be a hard ask, but if the boys get the off-field stuff right, I think we'll go a long way to getting right up near the top and pushing for that home semi again.
"It shows the character of the side this year. The young fellas are stepping up and they want to be in it as much as the older guys do so it's creating that competition...and everyone's putting their bit forward when it comes time to bar up on defence."
Guyton's looking forward to heading back to Eden Park on Thursday, his home for this year's Super Rugby competition.
"It'll test the boys at Eden Park. We've never won there and it's a goal of ours that we want to go up there achieve but we've got to work hard for it, it's not going to come easily.
"[Auckland have] started to click over the last couple of weeks, so it's going to be really interesting. They've got a lot of strike power and hopefully we can stick together as a team and trump the individual brilliance that they do have."
And the distinctive bushy beard that Guyton sprouted ahead of this year's Super Rugby competition has gone.
"I've got a wee daughter and she kept pulling on it and I'd sort of had enough after about four months of that."
Tasman and Taranaki halfbacks Billy Guyton, left, and Kylem O'Donnell scramble for the ball during their NPC rugby match at Trafalgar Park in Nelson.
Tasman Makos halfback Billy Guyton's had former All Black Jimmy Cowan in his rear view mirror over the past two seasons.
Now he's got sharp young rookie Finlay Christie snapping at his heels.
Christie's impressive pre-season form earned him starts ahead of the experienced Guyton in Tasman's first three national provincial championship rugby games against Waikato, Canterbury and Taranaki.
Tasman halfback Billy Guyton is confident the Makos can make this year's premiership semifinals.
But Guyton's competitive spirit eventually won through and he's now back in Tasman's No 9 jersey and showing the confidence and spark that's made him a key component of the Tasman set up since debuting against Southland three seasons ago. And he clearly thrives on the competition.
"You learn things from everyone and Jimmy was awesome, he taught me a lot about the game. And Finlay's really quick so I had to speed up if I wanted to get in front of him because he's a quick little bugger," Guyton said.
"Rangi [head coach Leon MacDonald] said, `if you want to be in there, you've got to be quicker', so I've had to work on that and I think it's started to show over the last couple of games.
"It's been awesome. If it wasn't for [Christie], I don't think I'd be going maybe as well as I have been. I've had to work a lot harder on my core game and I think it's helped me improve as a player.
"I'm feeling confident at the moment which goes a long way and it helps being confident. When you do the work during the week, you go into the game knowing you can do the job and when you feel that you can do the job, you sort of just play and you don't have to think too much."
Timaru-born Guyton has now played 37 games for Tasman, complemented by stints with the Hurricanes, Crusaders and Blues Super Rugby franchises, meaning the 26-year-old now has a wealth of experience to call on. He's also represented North Otago and the New Zealand Heartland team.
So it's not surprising that, despite Tasman currently sitting in fifth place in the Mitre 10 Cup premiership, Guyton's still confident of the Makos pushing for a semifinal playoff berth - possibly even a home semi.
"I think we're there or thereabouts. We're tracking well now and just starting to get things right in our game at the moment.
"I know we didn't score too many points [against Counties Manukau] but I think the effort that's been going in has been awesome this year. We're creating opportunities, we just haven't quite nailed them in those last crucial moments. I think when we do get it right, it's going to be exciting."
Tasman have only earned one try-scoring bonus point this season, a far cry from their usual output as traditionally one of the competition's best attacking teams.
"Defence has been a big focus this year. We noticed last year that our defence wasn't as good as it could have been so we've worked on that and I think our attack's always going to be there, it's just [about] finishing those opportunities that we get," he said.
"We're really confident, we think we can get right up near the top. We've got a game in hand and I think [compared to] a lot of the other teams, we've got a wee bit of an easier run home.
"But, you know, in this competition, there's no easy games. We've got a couple of short turnarounds and they'll be a hard ask, but if the boys get the off-field stuff right, I think we'll go a long way to getting right up near the top and pushing for that home semi again.
"It shows the character of the side this year. The young fellas are stepping up and they want to be in it as much as the older guys do so it's creating that competition...and everyone's putting their bit forward when it comes time to bar up on defence."
Guyton's looking forward to heading back to Eden Park on Thursday, his home for this year's Super Rugby competition.
"It'll test the boys at Eden Park. We've never won there and it's a goal of ours that we want to go up there achieve but we've got to work hard for it, it's not going to come easily.
"[Auckland have] started to click over the last couple of weeks, so it's going to be really interesting. They've got a lot of strike power and hopefully we can stick together as a team and trump the individual brilliance that they do have."
And the distinctive bushy beard that Guyton sprouted ahead of this year's Super Rugby competition has gone.
"I've got a wee daughter and she kept pulling on it and I'd sort of had enough after about four months of that."
