LEAGUE - Stunning finale sought

Northland's spell as a top national rugby league entity will come to an end on Saturday when the Northern Storm play their final Bartercard Cup game - but if one man has his way it could well be a memorable day.
Storm coach Phil Marsh doesn't want the Northland franchise to disappear into the pages of history without one last hurrah, and a victory over the current champions, the Auckland Lions, might just do the trick.
Marsh is hoping the old adage, the bigger they are the harder they fall, may well apply to the visitors.
"If we can get all the players that are available to us this week and also get back all of our players that were out last week, then I'm sure we would have a good shot at beating Auckland," Marsh said.
And the odds against it would make it even more of a stunning coup. Especially after a doomed Storm effort in their penultimate match in the competition on Sunday against second-placed North Harbour.
The Storm were hammered 80-4, with former Storm standoff Joel Freeman running in four tries for Harbour.
On paper the Lions are stronger than their rivals from across the bridge but if Marsh has any luck recruiting his "dream team" ahead of Saturday's encounter, Auckland could be in for a nasty shock.
Marsh was at the semifinals day at Kaikohe on Saturday and approached players from the teams that aren't involved in the club football playoffs this weekend.
"I think Auckland have lost their last round robin games over the past three years for some strange reason and I'm hoping they might be encouraged to do it again.
"They're coming up on Saturday and they're staying up here probably to have a night out - maybe their mind won't be fully on the job," Marsh said.
"I've asked all of those guys who want to be involved in the final game to come to training on Thursday night at Blue Goose and we'll see how strong we can be."
While the Storm line-up on Saturday featured inexperienced Kaikohe and Northern Wairoa players with a few Moerewa players thrown in - it could be a different story this weekend if Northland's top players heed the coaches' call.
While players like Antony Clyde and Tawio Davis will still be out with their two teams clashing for the right to meet Hikurangi Stags in next week's club grand final, there are plenty of players that Marsh will be out to recruit.
Joe and Steve Rau, along with Kahu Henare and the rest of the Hikurangi team have a week off before the final.
If the Marist players buy into the idea, the likes of Simon Latu, Woody Maihi, Rawiri Papuni and Doug Makiri could find their way into the team.
The "hammer" Hamish Reid, who has played a number of matches for the Storm this year, will be keen to front up against his old team for the Storm's finale, while other Storm regulars like Wiki Record, Clinton Tau, Conrad King and Jarden Hohepa all are available again this week.
Northland's rising stars Cruize Neho and Shane Pumipi, who were on Northland under-18 duty over the weekend, will also be available for the game.
The squad will have a final training run on Saturday morning before the match kicks off at 5.30pm at Okara Park.
The playoff match between Moerewa Tigers and Takahiwai Warriors would be a popular curtain-raiser for the Storm-Lions encounter, Marsh said. That match is scheduled for a 3pm start, also at Okara Park.