Yeah that's one unfortunate thing, while Waitakere will probably fall back to the pack a little bit, it also means that top-quality players who would normally not likely get game time with them (Hicks, Windust, Hobson-McVeigh etc) go into their mix, rather than having to come here.
Oh well, I guess it gives more opportunities to the local folk to show whether they're up to the task or not.