Hikurangi determined their fate in the Whangarei City and Districts competition when they thumped Takahiwai 40-10 in the preliminary final at Jubilee Park. Their win over last year's premiers set them up for a grand final encounter with Moerewa at Jubilee Park on Saturday. Hikurangi, who completed the round-robin in fourth place,started strongly. They scored first and led 18-10 by halftime. At that point Takahiwai coach Mark Freeman said he thought his troops were still in the hunt. "But Hika dug deep. We hammered their line for the first part of the second half but they defended really well. They kept us out," he said. "When the turnover came they capitalised and never looked back." Caleb Henare scored a double for Hikurangi while Jarom Wihongi-Henare ran in a hat-trick. Hikurangi manager Jim Lees said his side were in better physical condition. That was a big factor. "It was our fitness that won us the game," he said. "At the end of the day Takahiwai were carrying too many niggly injuries and their fitness was not up to it. "They had enough players - the same as us - but we were fitter." Dean Schueres was Hikurangi's standout player with solid work in the centres. The team had a point to prove to Takahiwai, Lees said, and it was a great feeling to roll them on such a big occasion. Freeman said aside from the bad run Takahiwai had during the second round, the season was a good one. "We have plenty of depth coming through. "We made it through to the semis and got knocked out a week before the grand final, so we can't really complain," he said. Freeman said he would not coach Takahiwai next year. While he will still take a team he felt it was time for a change. Lees said Hikurangi's focus was now on next week's grand final against Moerewa. As minor premiers, Moerewa had the weekend off and will be refreshed. Hikurangi will be running on adrenalin, ready to stamp their mark on the competition. "It will be a closely matched final and we hope we have the edge. "But you can't be too confident in a final. "Anything can happen," the manager said. The grand final will kick off at Jubilee Park on Saturday at 2.30pm.
