Taieri has fallen at the last hurdle for the past four years and missed the chance of having a crack at a promotion-relegation game against University B to get back into premier rugby.
Dunedin, the other finalist again, has beaten Taieri four years in a row to win the premier two competition. But the odds appear to favour Taieri in its 125th anniversary year as it trounced Dunedin 42-16 in the final of the North Otago-Metropolitan combined competition.
Erik Vaafusuaga, who has played more than 150 premier games for Taieri, is back at his best position at No 8 and will play a key role at the University Oval today. The other key player in the Taieri pack is openside flanker Jeremy Corliss, whose speed to the breakdown has been a feature of the competition.
The key players in the backline are lively halfback Ricky Stewart, wing Jake Bennett and fullback Matt Hogan. Bennett was a prolific try-scorer for Zingari Richmond in a long premier career.
Hogan, the Taieri goal-kicker, will be playing against his brother, Ben, the Dunedin hooker. Sam Baker, the Dunedin first five-eighth, is the son of Ed Baker, the Dunedin premier coach.
