'Nice to break the hoodoo'

Former Highlander Kelvin Middleton, of Queenstown, with (from left) daughter Lulu (7), niece Nina Hamilton (10) and daughter Bella (10) admires the Super Rugby Trophy in Queenstown yesterday.

Middleton played 56 games for the Highlanders, including the unsuccessful 1999 final against the Crusaders.

He said it was ''amazing'' to finally have the silverware in Otago territory.

''It's good to get the monkey off our back - I was fortunate enough to play in the last final and it's nice to break the hoodoo.''

The trophy, which was made by Queenstown-raised Demetre Tryfiatis, a design and project manager for a production house in Sydney that fabricated both it and the four-nation Rugby Championship trophy in 2012, will be at Placemakers Wanaka today from 10am until 2pm.