Woodlands was crowned the 2025 Southland premier grade club rugby champions on Saturday after winning the Galbraith Shield final at Rugby Park.
Woodlands beat Pirates Old Boys 40-30 in an entertaining match. Pirates were the minor premiership winners and started the game as slight favourites but Woodlands were confident.
Coach Richard Jones said it was a pretty special win.
"It was pretty gritty. We were confident within our group, nice and relaxed during the week with a good vibe. We knew we were strong."
Woodlands first five-eighth Marty McKenzie was the most impactful player in the opening 15 minutes, organising the attack before he showed his silky skills to glide through the defence to score his team’s first points.
With Woodlands leading 19-17 at halftime, most pundits favoured Pirates to go on to win with the wind behind them but Jones had a different opinion.
"Pirates are a strong side. They threw a heap at us but we knew if we worked hard, kept reloading and bringing the ball back into the wind then we can score points."
Jones labelled the individual performances from prop Paula Latu, No 8 Ethan McDonald and halfback Liam Howley as massive.
"Our young forwards Riley Smith, Alex Yallop and Caleb Karangaroa were also great."
Reid Murray has played in the club’s B team most of the season but he did a good job on the wing, as did regular loose forward Justin Shaw on the other side.
Jones had praise for the solid players in the team.
"Guys like Jahn Stodart and Drew Carter have been the guts of our team each week.
"It’s been a great group of guys to work with, a really enjoyable season."
Pirates have been the most consistent side during the last five years under the guidance of coach Dayna Cunningham and deserved another competition win but their execution was not quite where it needed to be on Saturday.
Their cause was not helped by fullback Kaea Nikora going off in the first half with a leg injury.
Albion lost 31-30 to Bluff down at the port-side town in the last round-robin games of the division one club rugby competition on Saturday.
This was a tough, physical contest and an exciting match to finish the season.
The Albion players put in all of their effort but the result did not go their way and they were dropped into fifth on the points table by Bluff.
Albion won five of their 14 matches in division one this year. The team and club had plenty of performances to be proud of and are grateful to all of their supporters.
Edendale beat Pioneer 43-21 at Edendale.
Lock Matt Ward was man of the match, while No 8 Cole Williams was another player to stand out, and first five-eighth Bram Fodie deserved to score his try, which was one of six for on the day for the Magpies.
Utility back Josh Davers defended well for Pioneer, while Jayk Kirby and Braiden Patterson were also good for the visitors.
The Magpies finished the round robin with 10 wins from 14 games and secured second position on the ladder behind Wyndham and will host a semifinal this Saturday against the Riversdale Waikaka Vikings.
Wyndham beat Te Anau 46-5 in Te Anau after leading 22-0 at halftime.
Blindside flanker Nathan Bee was man of the match, while right wing Luke Bryson impressed throughout the game and scored two of Wyndham’s eight tries.
Prop Kirk Given is also in good form leading in to this week’s semifinal against Pioneer.
Riversdale Waikaka Vikings beat Tokanui 39-22 in Riversdale on Saturday.
Tokanui have won three of their 13 games and are scheduled to play Te Anau this Saturday in a catchup game from the regular season.
By John Langford
