Mike Moeahu did not win any banners as a player, but he is on the verge of winning his second title as coach of Alhambra-Union tomorrow.
Moeahu played 153 games of premier rugby for Green Island from 1979 to 1990.
He demonstrated his dedication to the cause by making the two-hour return trip from his home in the Waipori hydro village to Miller Park three times a week.
He had always wanted to win a premier banner, but that honour always eluded him as a player.
His best performance with Green Island was to reach the semifinals in 1990.
His membership of the Green Island club goes back a long way.
Mike joined when he was six and watched Green Island win three championship banners in the 1970s under coach Jack McLachlan.
"I wagged school to watch Green Island beat Southern in the 1978 final on a Wednesday afternoon," he recalled.
Moeahu has adopted many of the McLachlan techniques and it is bringing him success in his coaching.
Moeahu won the banner in his first year as coach of Alhambra-Union in 2006 and the team finished fourth last year.
His coaching ability has been tested this winter because Alhambra-Union did not start the season well and lost three of its first five games.
But it came right in the Gallaway Trophy competition winning nine of its past 11 games.
What made the difference?
"We just came together as a group of young men.
"Our ethos has got better and we are starting to understand each other," Moeahu said.
The Alhambra-Union forwards have performed much better than two years ago and this has made the team a more formidable force.
Star backs Karne Hesketh (wing) and fullback Casey Stone will also be returned for the final following Otago representative duty over the past two weeks.
Will they win tomorrow?
"We will give it our best shot," Moeahu said.
"If it's good enough we will be there."
The last time the two teams played in the final was in 1990 when Dunedin won 19-6.
It was in the days of the four-point try.
Kevin Galliven was the hero for Dunedin that day, kicking five penalty goals to score 15 of Dunedin's points to take his tally for the season to 192.
All Black Paul Henderson played openside flanker for Dunedin and the late Gordon Hunter was the coach.
Shayne Flanagan, the present Otago scrum coach who later coached Dunedin to three banner wins, was the Alhambra-Union coach.
International referee Lindsay McLachlan controlled the game and sent Nick Ledger off early in the game.
Alhambra-Union played most of the game with 14 men.
A video of the game showed that McLachlan had given the red card to the wrong man.
The Alhambra-Union team printed a T-shirt with a photograph of Ledger beind bars with a caption underneath saying "The wrong man."
Dunedin has won six banners in the past 20 years and has lost only one final.
It is a team that knows how to win crunch games and it proved this by playing smart rugby to beat University A 20-10 in last Saturday's semifinal.
It will also be strengthened by the return of Highlanders Jason Macdonald and Keith Cameron.
Both will add strength to a Dunedin team that also has classy loose forwards in captain Scott McKee, Richard Naylor and John Crossan.
University A dominated the set pieces, but the backline was not able to exploit this ball because they were cut down behind the advantage line by the Dunedin loose forwards.
Dunedin played pressure rugby and upset the students.
They will be expected to play the same way to tame the flair within the Alhambra-Union backline.
Dunedin assistant coach Mark Scully knows that it will not be easy.
"Alhambra-Union is a very good side.
"But we have a starter's chance," he said.
Scully knows that Dunedin has a very good record in finals rugby and knows how to prepare for the big games.
"Yes, we do have a very good record," he said.
"We will prepare as well as we can and take our chances."
This is the third year of the present format that gives the six top teams a chance of winning the banner.
Statistically no team that has finished in the top two spots after the Gallaway Trophy round has ever won the final and that trend continued this year.
University A was top after the round-robin competition and won the Gallaway Trophy.
Kaikorai, the other beaten semifinalist, was second and Southern third.
The team that has won the banner in the last two years has finished fourth in the Gallaway Trophy - Alhambra-Union in 2006 and Southern last year.
Dunedin was third in 2005 and fifth this year.
Teams
Alhambra-Union:
Backs: Casey Stone, Karne Hesketh, Doug Edwards, Luke Reihana, Paul Archbold, Jone Paumau, Matt George. Forwards: David Taumoepeau, Matthew Clutterbuck, Waharai Waitohi, Filisione Koloamatangi, Cowan Finch, Scott Manson, Ben Pereira, Dane Maraki. Reserves: Allan Wheeler, Doug Stewart, Luke Crase, Mana Faraimo, Michael Patillo, Hisa Sasagi, Shaun Crockford.
Dunedin:
Forwards: Joel Murphy, Tumua Ioane, Sam Scown, Michael Walding, Tom Halse, Josh Hamilton, Fraser Lau. Backs: Scott McKee, Richard Naylor John Crossan, John Fahey, Michael Gurran, Bronson Ross, Jason Macdonald, Keith Cameron. Reserves: Sam Anderson-Heather, Will Henry, Adam Duhig, Chris Damsteegt, Owen Booth, Scott Milne, Fraser Hunter.
>>Three Alhambra-Union players, Jone Paumau, Doug Edwards and Matt Clutterbuck have been confirmed in the North Otago squad for the Air New Zealand Cup. Alapate Fatafehi (Green Island) could also be in the mix.
>>With one round remaining, already the top four sides in the North Otago competition have been decided. Athletic, Maheno, Old Boys and Excelsior will contest the semifinals on August 2, with the final to be played on August 9.
