Mid Northern centre Himiona Manuel is stopped in his tracks by the OBM defence at Hukerenui. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Mid Northern centre Himiona Manuel is stopped in his tracks by the OBM defence at Hukerenui. Photo / Michael Cunningham
In the worst-case scenario, a coin toss may have been required to send one of the two teams to the final when a ding-dong battle between hosts Mid Northern and Old Boys Marist went right down to the wire on Saturday
. All that was needed was one mistake -and that's exactly what happened.
Take a bow, Rob Rush. Who else to get Mid Northern out of jail but their No 8, forcing OBM to concede a penalty just inside their half with time almost up and the hosts trailing by one point.
Buoyed by their fans at Hukerenui, Rush secured a lineout ball and with their trademark rolling maul firmly in motion, everyone joined in the fun all the way to the tryline, and the last to get up was ball carrier Allan Craig.
That felt like a dagger to the heart for OBM and while they got a scrum feed in the Mid Northern half to push for a try one last time, a knock-on at the boot of the scrum by halfback Austin Ryburn put paid to those efforts.
There's no doubt Rush and Olsen have been the beating hearts of Mid Northern. Rush's aerobic capacity seems to have got even greater from a considerably high base, and he threw himself at almost every breakdown to create the much-needed zip and dynamism on both attack and defence in the semifinal.
The cleanliness of the ball Rush provided enabled his team to make punchy attacking movements that were enhanced by the speed of the recycling at the breakdown.
"Heart-shattering but credit to Mid Northern, they came at us with all their guns blazing, just small little things tipped it in their favour and that's finals footy," OBM skipper Bram Egli lamented post match. "It's only small things that make or break a game and they took their chances, we didn'."
OBM's Patrick Elia is helped up by his captain Bramwell Egli after their semifinal loss. Photo / Michael Cunningham
The message after regaining the lead with minutes to go, he said, was to keep the ball in hand, keep it tight but the hosts somehow managed to get a penalty, got down in the OBM danger zone and took their chances.
In the first meeting between the sides last month, Mid Northern won 29-10 and Egli said his side came into that game expecting things to just happen, but they learned a lot and came fully prepared for the semifinal.
OBM will likely retain most of the players for next season, when the club turns 100.
For Mid Northern, this will be their second final in a row and the pain of losing to Waipu last year with the game won on extra time isn't lost on skipper Jordan Olsen.
but said they'll have to focus on the full 80 minutes this weekend against a quality opposition.
"It was a classic finals battle really. Could have gone either way, it was pretty even throughout the match but thankfully we managed to finish strongly enough to get away with the win there, but Marist pushed us right to the end.
"Patience is always key in those sorts of situations, keeping our composure. We really had to trust our systems that we can get back up there and get some more points, which worked out for us, so very proud of the composure our young team showed there at the end."
Western Sharks mentor Peter Hugo is rapt at taking his side to the final in his first year coaching the team and said the players have worked hard to get this far.
OBM No 10 Noah Cooper flings a pass during what was a pulsating semifinal but he couldn't help his side overcome Mid Northern. Photo / Michael Cunningham
He said Mid Northern boasted a number of players who were part of the high-performance group and he expects a titanic battle from two form sides this season.
"The coaching this year has stepped up where we want to learn at training. We amalgamated the Sharks and Kaihu and it worked, with good community support. The team has all local players, same as last year.
"Patrick Robinson and Ethan Pocklington have come back from overseas and then we've got the likes of Tevita Fa'ukafa who's a young talent, he's got a big frame, and good footwork and does good work around the lineout as well."
The Sharks and Mid Northern have played with incredible self-belief this season and with the confidence that if they trusted their skills, regardless of the situation they could achieve their goal.
It's the perfect illustration of anything being possible if everyone stays calm and task-focused to the point of being obsessed about process and oblivious to outcome.
Referee Boris Jurlina kept tight control of the semfinal between Mid Northern and OBM at Hukerenui. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Mid Northern have earned the right to be taken seriously and while it has been a significant feat to play in the final two years in a row, judgment about their true state of readiness will only be made this weekend.
Victories require control, discipline and strong decision-making and there's no side more likely to expose vulnerability than the Sharks, who can sniff weakness like their aquatic namesakes.
The final will be played on Saturday afternoon at Semenoff Stadium.
