Central ready for historic trophy final

The Stuff Tasman Trophy final will be held on Marlborough soil for the first time this weekend.

It will also be the first time Blenheim’s Central Rugby Club has made the final, playing last year’s runners-up Kahurangi at Lansdowne Park.

Only one Marlborough side has won the trophy since the inception of the combined Marlborough and Nelson Bays men’s first division competition in 2007, with Waitohi triumphing in 2014.

Central were the top qualifiers going into last week’s semifinals, having topped the regular season table with 36 points, losing to only one team all season, Kahurangi. The combined Motueka-riwaka side came away with a 33-22 victory when the two teams met in Motueka in May.

Central player-coach Quentin Macdonald said his team was excited to face off against Kahurangi again, this time on home turf.

‘‘They’ve been pretty consistent for the last few years, they’ve been in the finals last year, so we know they are a team that want to go one better, but hopefully we can go out there on Saturday and get the result,’’ he said.

‘‘We set the goal this season of obviously trying to compete pretty well, and with the objective of hopefully making the final – so yeah, we’re pretty happy we’ve achieved that, and to go one step further would be awesome.’’

The Marlborough Boys’ College old boy said he was looking forward to playing the final on a pitch he knew well. ‘‘I’ve played that many games there, whether it’s for Central or when I was at school, or Tasman. It’s a very special place to play at.’’

The 33-year-old had worn multiple jerseys over the years, including for the

Ma¯ ori All Blacks, Crusaders and Tasman Mako, but he said playing for his local club in the final would be a big game in his career.

‘‘I’m at the twilight of my career, and to get something like this with the special bunch we’ve got playing for Central at the moment would be awesome,’’ he said.

Macdonald said he had ‘‘thoroughly enjoyed’’ his role as both coach and playing hooker for Central this season.

‘‘The support staff that we’ve got is awesome as well, so it makes that a bit easier.’’

New Zealand Rugby board member, former Tasman Rugby Union chair and former Central player and coach Wayne Young said the Blenheim club deserved to be in the final.

‘‘It’s real, real, impressive, especially the way they’ve got there. They’ve fully deserved it,’’ he said.

He thought the Central senior side was in good shape for future seasons. ‘‘Young fellas can look up to the senior players and say, ‘If they can do it, we can do it’.’’

Young said the final being played at home was something Marlburians could celebrate, and he hoped that people would come down to Lansdowne Park tomorrow and support Central. The game is set to kick off at 2.30pm.