Fired up Canterbury eye fitting farewells
Canterbury didn’t need a smidgen more motivation ahead of today’s Farah Palmer Cup final, but they got it courtesy of their opponents.
Already eager to send off Kendra Cocksedge, who will notch her 100th game in the final, and centurion Steph Te Ohaere-Fox with another title, some chat out of Auckland’s camp has further arched the red-andblacks.
That would be Auckland captain Eloise Blackwell’s comments during a radio interview this week, when she told SENZ ‘‘we know they don’t like physicality’’.
It’s fair to say her suggestion made Canterbury bristle, particularly their forward pack.
‘‘I know Ella has put a few comments out there around our physicality, but this team is probably the most physical it’s ever been,’’ Cocksedge said after her final training session for Canterbury.
‘‘We’ve got a dominant forward pack, and I love how she said that in an interview because it’s fired these girls up – they’re going to come out humming for that now.’’
Now in his third year in charge of Canterbury, coach Blair Baxter was bemused by the comment ahead of the final, which Canterbury head into on the back of an unbeaten regular season. However, he didn’t feel the need to make a big deal of it, saying it had been left to filter through the squad.
‘‘I’m intrigued by that ... I suppose not liking physicality is an interesting statement, we will embrace that – as long as it’s done fairly and legally.’’
Auckland have also made no secret of their desire to spoil Cocksedge’s and Te Ohaere-Fox’s leaving party on a day Christchurch’s Rugby Park has been renamed Te Ohaere-Fox, Cocksedge Park.
Put to her on Thursday, Cocksedge simply laughed off the talk coming from the opposition camp.
‘‘I bet there will be a lot of that. But, hey, I’m all about action.’’
That’s when Canterbury, up against their old foes, will try to bag their fifth title in six years, a stretch they’ve dominated with 42 wins from 45 games. Reflecting on her previous 99 games, it’s the team’s maiden title, won in 2017 after beating Counties in the decider, which stands out for Cocksedge. ‘‘I never thought that would happen ... we grinded for so long, we made so many finals, and we could never get a win,’’ she said.
More titles followed in 2018, 2019 and 2020, before Waikato denied them a five-peat last year.
That loss at home stung, and Canterbury have marched through the regular season undefeated.
That included a 33-27 win over 15-times champions Auckland in July, at the same ground the two sides will clash for the title.
‘‘It’d be a fairytale, wouldn’t it?’’ Cocksedge said of the prospect of going out with another title.
‘‘Not just for me, Steph as well, and we’ve got Pip [Love] in her 50th game as well. There’s a lot for the team to get up for, and we just hope we find that little bit extra in the weekend.’’
In the lead up to her final provincial game, the eighth final between Canterbury and Auckland, Cocksedge has tried to keep her emotions in check.
However, that’s easier said than done for the 34-year-old from Taranaki, who admitted the reality her time in the Canterbury jersey was coming to an end hit her during the team’s in-house team naming on Tuesday.
‘‘Today, I woke up and was like ‘oh my gosh this is my last Farah Palmer Cup training ever as a player’, so there are small little things. But I’m just trying to embrace it and enjoy it.
‘‘Even in the gym this week I said ‘all right, this is my last week with the Farah Palmer Cup, I’m choosing the music, I’m going on a power trip’.
‘‘So it’s been a bit of a laugh as well, but I know I’ve got to allow my emotions to happen when they do and reflect on the 16 years and what Canterbury has given me and enjoy the moment on Saturday.’’