Canterbury Bulls head coach Sean Spooner believes there is a lot to like about his side’s future in the wake of a third-place finish in the national premiership at the weekend.

The Bulls qualified for Saturday’s semi-finals by finishing in the top-two at the South Island tournament three weeks ago, which they won.

They played North Island runners-up Auckland Vulcans and went down 24-12, before dispatching Otago Whalers 44-8 in the third-place final. Auckland beat Counties Manukau 22-18 to win the national title.

“I thought we were very competitive to the eventual winners,” said Spooner.

“It showed that we’re not too far from where we need to be.”

Canterbury led 12-4 shortly before half-time, but the Vulcans showed their class at the back end of the game to claim victory.

“After halftime we were still in it, and we had our chances, just couldn’t isolate those moments.

“I think if we had scored, we were on our way to a good win, but I guess it’s a great learning curve for some of our players just to be able to stay in the moment.”

The third-place finish backed up last year’s second-place, albeit that was under a different competition format where Canterbury qualified for the final as South Island champions before losing to Counties Manukau.

Spooner, in his first year as head coach, said he was happy with where the team was at. He said the team achieved their short-term goal of winning the South Island tournament.

“As a whole, we did well to get to where we needed to be, and then to get through those challenging moments,” he said.

“It was still quite satisfying to see that we played six games and won five of them, so overall, it was a great campaign for us.”

Spooner said he would like to coach the Bulls next year.

“I’m hoping to come back and do it again, I’ll be looking forward to another campaign if I get that chance.

“For now it’s quite good to finally see the back end of the season, and then try and refresh myself and get ready for next year.”