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One of two long premiership droughts will end when Eastern Eagles and Riccarton Knights meet in Sunday’s Canterbury Rugby League Premiership grand final at Ngā Puna Wai.
Neither side has lifted the Pat Smith Trophy in decades.
Riccarton’s last title came in 2004, when they beat Linwood Keas 33-14. Eastern’s drought stretches back even further to 1981, when the club, then known as Eastern Suburbs, won a third consecutive premiership with a 16-2 win over Addington Magpies.
Now, 45 years later, the Eagles are back in their first grand final since that triumph.
“It’s quite a surreal feeling,” said first-year head coach Jarrod Race.
“I’ve been talking to people around the park, trying to get a bit of an idea of what it’s about, but obviously it’s been that long since we’ve been in a grand final, it’s hard to find somebody.”
Race took over at the end of last season after the Eagles finished bottom of the round-robin. He said there had been a dramatic shift in the squad’s attitude and commitment this year.
“The boys really wanted it. I don’t know whether some of them thought that perhaps this was, not necessarily their last chance, but how many more chances do you get at getting to a grand final?
“I think the attitude switched over for them. They decided they’ve got to work hard for what they want.”
Both finalists earned their place with impressive wins over top qualifiers Linwood.
The Keas went through the round-robin unbeaten before suffering a 32-22 loss to Eastern in the major semi-final two weeks ago. They were then knocked out 24-22 by Riccarton in Saturday’s preliminary final.
Riccarton hooker Justin Lynch crossed late before Jimmy Wihongi converted to seal a memorable victory after the Knights had been heavily beaten by Linwood 36-12 and 42-8 during the regular season and lost last year’s grand final 30-6.
Knights head coach Sean Spooner praised his team’s effort on Saturday.
“We worked on a lot of things during the week. Our middle forwards were really strong and our bench too. It was a good all-round team effort, to be honest.”
Spooner believes last year’s grand final defeat has better prepared his side for Sunday’s decider. Like Eastern this year, the Knights were playing in their first grand final since 2004.
“I think we’ve learned a lot from last year. We’ve really learned how we can do things better, and I think that’s put us in quite a good mood for the weekend coming up.”
The men’s premier final kicks off at 2pm, and closes Canterbury Rugby League’s finals day.
Hornby Panthers and Linwood Keas meet in the women’s final at noon on the main field, while the conference final between Linwood and Eastern’s reserves sides takes place on the No 2 field at 12.30pm.
The under 13 final between Papanui Tigers Gold and Eastern Eagles White is on the No 2 field at 11am.
• Tickets for finals day can be purchased at events.humantix.com
CRL Finals Day (Sun, Ngā Puna Wai)
Premier men: Eastern Eagles v Riccarton Knights, 2pm
Women: Hornby Panthers v Linwood Keas, noon
Conference: Linwood v Eastern
Under 13: Papanui Tigers Gold v Eastern Eagles White, 11am
“Winning a grand final, you never forget it”
Eastern Eagles’ last grand final appearance in 1981 came as part of a dynasty, the club then known as Eastern Suburbs sealing a three-peat of titles with a 16-2 win over Addington.
Captain Murray French and centre Bruce Murphy, both now 72, remembered the day fondly.
“On grand final morning, we met at the clubrooms and went to the game on a bus,” said French, who played scrum-half.
“And afterwards, win or lose, we always went back to the other clubrooms first before we went back to ours. The next day we went to the Woolston working men’s club, that was our Mad Monday sort of thing.”
Murphy said he did not remember much from the match but recalled the emotion in the aftermath.
“What you do remember is probably the winning part of it and the celebrations, it seems it never leaves you, winning a grand final.
“It feels still pretty good even now to have won those 79, 80, 81 grand finals. What I hope (the current team) realise is that to win a final, you never forget it. If things aren’t going well, just recharge, rethink and go to the next step.”
Both men said they planned to be at Ngā Puna Wai on Sunday when Eastern chase their first title in 45 years, even Murphy who said he would travel down from his home in Kaikoura.
“It’s been a long time between drinks and I’m definitely looking forward to watching them, it’s going to be a new experience for me to watch them play.
“I just hope that they go in well and enjoy their day.”