Jimmy Cowan staying loyal to Highlanders
James Mortimer - (29/05/2010)
Despite the Highlanders having a mixed season, with even some players terming it a failure in terms of meeting their expectations, their captain and All Black Jimmy Cowan will be staying put in the coming years.
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With rumours ranging from mass player exodus, to even some surprising calls that the Highlanders be scrapped, through to the Crusaders headhunting key players, the region will be happy to hear the comments of arguably their most important player.
"I'm in there for the long haul," Cowan told The Southland Times yesterday.
"I went through a lot of trouble last year (deciding) what I was doing but I'm committed to the Highlanders' cause.
"I've signed with Southland through to 2012 and that means I'll be staying with Southland through until 2012 and the Highlanders. I'm not going anywhere."
While the Highlanders finished 12th with only three wins, there were as always glimpses of promise.
They only lost to the Blues by 4, put 35 points on the Bulls in a losing effort, lost to the Chiefs by 6, lost to the Hurricanes by only 2, beat semi-finalists the Waratahs 26-10, and then almost upset the high flying Reds in Brisbane losing by only 2.
And through it all, one cannot forget that Southland still hold the holy grail of New Zealand rugby trophy's - the Ranfurly Shield.
Cowan said there was no one to blame for their recently finished season.
"I don't think you can use the team as an excuse. It comes down to the individual. It wasn't from a lack of trying, I can tell you that. I was going out there with my best foot forward but it just didn't seem to happen."
"We all had high expectations. The boys worked hard in the December-January window. As I said, there was a lot of hype around the team and yet again we failed and that was disappointing. I don't know the reasoning behind it."