Victory hard earned for defending champs
While the winners of any club rugby final rightfully take the glory, it was hard not to feel some of it should go to Coastal after their heartbreaking 17-14 loss to Tukapa at the weekend.
To have victory snatched away from you with time up feels more painful than taking a flogging, believe me.
The pain was etched on the faces of the Coastal players as their opponents celebrated wildly across the tryline.
To their credit they picked themselves up, stood tall and congratulated the two-time defending champions post-match with dignity, despite the fact they would have felt ripped off.
Watching those final moments unfold from just a few metres away, you could see the desperation from both sides as they collided time and again while you could almost hear the collective air come out of the lungs of the broken men in green as Adrian Wyrill crashed over the line.
What was great to hear post-match was Coastal captain Brett Goodin say they’ll get them next year, him included.
The former Taranaki halfback epitomises the team in a lot of ways in the fact that you’d never see him give less than what he has to give.
They might not be the flashest team going around but they work bloody hard together to reach an end point they’d be satisfied with.
Coastal coach Aaron Fisher was adamant there were players in team who could fit into the Taranaki squad and on the evidence of what they have delivered this season, it’s hard to argue with him, especially around the likes of Dylan Juffermans whose workrate is phenomenal.
For all of Coastal’s hard work, Tukapa must be congratulated for defending their title.
They only had seven players start Saturday’s match who were involved in last year’s final and there was some pretty influential figures missing when you think of the likes of Leighton Price and Isaia Tuifua.
Sure, they could not deliver the same performance that blew Old Boys out of the final last year but they still found a way to win the title against a side who were extremely well organised in defence.
They might have folded in frustration at the sight of leading points scorer Jayson Potroz missing shot after shot but they stuck to task and remained positive throughout, despite their set piece also having its issues.
It will be interesting to see if they come up with a tap penalty move or two next season because they were without much imagination late in the game when close to the line and behind on the scoreboard.
That would have been forgotten in the haze of victory, though.
As for the finals day overall, it felt a lot better than the last few years. That might simply have been because the sun was shining but there appeared a more enjoyable atmosphere.
The quality of the games was also pretty damn good and that leaves some hope that club rugby is still sustainable, for the time being anyway.