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Matthew Hampson/Stuff
Central player and coach Quentin MacDonald is “pretty happy to get a home ground final” at Lansdowne Park.
The flames of rugby rivalry between Marlborough and Nelson will be stoked this weekend when a Blenheim club tries to defend Tasman’s best silverware on home soil.
Central became the first Marlborough side in eight years to win the Stuff Tasman Trophy last season, and Central player and coach Quentin MacDonald was hoping for “one more good moment” after knocking out Stoke in the semi-final.
“At the end of the day, Central is a club, but, especially over Marlborough side, it is still that Marlborough-Nelson rivalry that gets everyone excited, and hopefully we can put a few more bums in seats and get some good support down there,” MacDonald said.
This year’s final would once again be played on Central’s home turf, Lansdowne Park. Their opponents, three-time trophy holders Marist, were eager to drive back to Nelson on Saturday with the trophy in hand, said captain Jake Wetere.
“We’re pretty much just sticking to our dynamics that we’ve been playing all year, and we’re just trying to fine-tune it, just for this final, and just make sure that we’re covering all bases,” Wetere said.
A supporters bus had been arranged “specially for the final” to take Marist fans over for the big match.
“So they’ll be a few people turning up over there, which is good for us,” he said.
Central had remained dominant in this year’s regular season, placing second in the round-robin table, and Wetere said it had been good for the competition to see Central “coming and beating some of our Nelson teams”.
Martin De Ruyter/Stuff
Nelson’s Marist celebrating their win over Kahurangi in a muddy semi-final in Motueka on June 8.
“They’ve been pretty strong for the last couple of years, and they took us out in the semifinal last year, so it’s definitely going to be a good one,” he said.
Central’s 33-7 triumph over Kahurangi in the 2022 final drew supporters from clubs across Marlborough, united in the region’s hopes of securing the trophy for the second time, MacDonald said.
“It was packed, there was over 1000 people for a club game, and in Marlborough, that’s quite a good number, and it was an awesome day,” MacDonald said.
Brya Ingram/Stuff
Braden Stewart becomes the first Central captain to lift the Stuff Tasman Trophy following the 2022 final.
“I just remember looking up, and you could see people from different teams, could see Pelorus shirts, Waitohi shirts, Renwick shirts, and then talking to some of the hard-nosed Moutere people down at the pub, and they were saying ‘yeah, it’s the only time we’ve ever cheered for Central’, and they were cheering really loud.”
MacDonald said Central’s squad had changed “massively” since last year due to an “injury bug” early in the season that took out several players from their forward pack.
Luckily, a group of players from the 2022 Marlborough Boys’ College Fiirst XV were eager to wear the blue jersey, and had “really stamped their mark”.
Brya Ingram/Stuff
Lansdowne Park in Blenheim is packed with supporters from across the top of the South at last year’s final.
“All three of those boys have been starting the last few games for us, so they’re a key reason why we’re in the final,” MacDonald said.
“We’ve got a good culture, we’ve got a good off-field and on-field presence around the club
“We’ve played some pretty good rugby, and managed to get to the business end the last couple of years.”
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