Makos primed for finals showdown

This time Tasman will be ready.

The Tasman Makos’ stunning 30-29 semifinal win over Taranaki in New Plymouth on Saturday has booked them a date with Canterbury in next weekend’s Mitre 10 Cup premiership rugby final in Christchurch.

It set’s up a replay of last year’s premiership decider, won comfortably by Canterbury, while also giving Tasman the chance to exorcise some demons from their previous 39-0 loss to Canterbury in this season’s opening round.

Tasman head coach Leon MacDonald was confident that his players would be better prepared as they head towards their third premiership final in four years.

Tasman lost 36-32 to Taranaki in the 2014 showdown but were never really in the hunt in last seasons’ 43-27 loss to Canterbury in Christchurch.

‘‘It’s another opportunity to take Canterbury on,’’ MacDonald said.

‘‘It was about 10 or so weeks ago when we first met them and we weren’t really ready as a team compared to where we are now, so it should make for a really interesting final.

‘‘We’ll start again with the team on Monday, but it starts for the coaches probably tonight [Saturday] as we start to get the week in place.

‘‘But we’ve done the preparation for Canterbury, so we’re ready to go and already on the front foot there.’’

Tasman RU chief executive Tony Lewis said it was another significant achievement for one of the country’s smaller unions.

‘‘From our perspective, a third final in four years is an outstanding achievement but I think it comes down to a lot of stuff off the field as well as on it,’’ Lewis said.

‘‘I suppose I put it down to having watched Leon MacDonald take control of the team during the week and how much work he put into it, you could just see Leon MacDonald all through the performance last night. He really worked very hard.

‘‘So I think it’s a combination of the board doing their job, the staff doing their job and obviously the high performance group doing their job which all obviously rolls on to the players.’’

Lewis said that the quality of Tasman’s premier club competition could not be underestimated as a contributing factor in terms of preparing players for higher honours.

‘‘In the last four years it’s no coincidence that we’ve done well on the field with the Makos and if you look at how much our premier Tasman Trophy competition has improved, that’s flowed on to those players.

‘‘That’s part of the key as well which is sometimes undersold and then there’s the attraction of playing for the Tasman Makos for people outside the region. So it’s a combination of all sorts of things.

‘‘We’re over the moon and this week it’s the players first and we’re going to give the players and the coaches all they need to make sure they get on the dance floor and bring the [premiership trophy] back where it belongs.’’

Saturday’s final kicks off at AMI Stadium in Christchurch at 7.35pm.

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES The Tasman Makos are celebrating another semifinal victory as they now prepare for next week’s final against Canterbury in Christchurch.