RUGBY LEAGUE: Leonard just glad it's over ... again

HAMISH BIDWELL
Somewhere, at some stage, you suspect that Waka Leonard sat down on Saturday night and allowed himself a wee smile of satisfaction.
But five minutes after watching his Maraenui Ford Phoenix team clinch the 2006 Hawke's Bay club rugby league Grand Final, with a 32-18 victory over Craft & Hern Sports Tamatea, was not the moment. Interviewing the great man as he trudged back to the dressing room at Park Island, you could be forgiven for thinking Leonard was not exactly over the moon.
"I don't want to sound big-headed or anything, but I felt we thought we were always going to win that game," grunted Leonard.
"It's always good to win, but I'm glad it's over."
By "over" he meant the season, one in which his side went through the competition unbeaten, handing Leonard what he reckoned to be his "fourteenth or fifteenth" title.
The Grand Final win itself was straight out of the Leonard handbook. Maraenui were fitter, their defence and ball control were better and they ground Tamatea down to the point where they simply ran out of puff and ideas.
"There's no secret to it, you've got to learn to coach first, and that's taken me 30 years. All up, I've been in this game about 46, 47 years, so I should know something about it," said Leonard of how to win the big matches.
But, while Leonard wasn't about to break out the bubbly, or pat himself on the back, Maraenui skipper Russell Brown said he and his teammates were delighted.
"We're stoked. Going through the season undefeated? You can't ask for anything more than that," he said.
"Going undefeated was something we talked about right from the start of the season. We had a bad run last year, so we were determined to come back and go undefeated and we've done it."
Even if the coach didn't seem particularly pleased? "That's Waka," said Brown.
"He's a hard man and he gives you plenty of stick, but you can't take it to heart."
Down 12-10 at halftime, Brown said no one in the Maraenui team was panicking. They knew Tamatea would tire in the final quarter and it was just a case of waiting.
That was exactly how things panned out and once prop Maunga Palu scored the first of his two tries, to make it 16-12 in Maraenui's favour, everyone in the ground knew they'd never be headed from there. Troy Caddy and Mark Malasia dotted down near the end to make the final scoreline more emphatic and then it was party time. At least for the players.