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Taieri's only banner win was in 1955. Harbour has never won it. The fortunes of one of the clubs will change today.
It will be a remarkable story for the club that wins.
Taieri pulled out of the premier competition in 2001 because it did not have enough players of premier status. It spent eight years in the wilderness.
Taieri re-entered premier ranks in 2009 and finished eighth. It lifted its performance last year, to finish fifth.
This will be the fifth time Harbour has reached the finals since the club was formed by the amalgamation of Port Chalmers and Ravensbourne in 1992.
The club finished runner-up in 1992, 1999, 2002 and 2003.
But it has been its performance this year that has been the most remarkable.
Seven weeks ago it had won only four of its 13 games and looked down and out.
It won its final five round-robin games with bonus points to qualify for the play-offs and continued its roll when it beat beat Southern 19-18 in the semifinal. It has a chance of winning the Speight's championship shield today.
Captain Pete Mirrielees told the Otago Daily Times Harbour had some serious soul searching after being outclassed by Southern 52-5 seven weeks ago.
"We had a look at our individual and team preparation for games," Mirrielees said. "Our coach Gary Dawkins gave us a neuro-linguistic programme and we came up with solutions and it has been working ever since."
"We are a team without superstars and learnt all the techniques. But it won't work unless we all want to do it. We want to do it for each other and for ourselves."
Both clubs have bettered the expectations they had before the season started.
"We have yet to give our best performance," Mirrielees said, "It was a nail-biter in the semifinal against Southern. But when we looked at the video there were another four tries we should have scored. We have yet to play our perfect game."
It is 56 years since Taieri last won the banner.
"Its been a long time coming and a long time between drinks," Taieri captain Charlie O'Connell said. "It's an exciting time for us to be back again.
"We've proven we can beat any team on our day. We just have to make sure we front up. Our preparations been spot on this week."
A weak point in Taieri's play over the last three weeks has been the poor standard of its goal kicking since Andrew Reid was injured. He has recovered from his thigh injury, passed a fitness test on Thursday night and will be the goal kicker today. He has scored 158 points this winter.
"It's an exciting time for the club and for our supporters. It is time for us to stand up," O'Connell said.
Both clubs have big support and have hired buses to take fans to Carisbrook.
TAIERI v HARBOUR
- Road to the final
• Taieri: Played 19 games, won 15, lost 4. Points for 562, points against 297
• Harbour: Played 19, won 10, lost 9. Points for 418, points against 460
• Venue: Carisbrook
• Time: 12 noon