o CAPTAIN, My CAPTAIN! YMP skipper and hooker Shayde Skudder will once again lead his troops on to the park for the Poverty Bay club rugby premier grand final. Picture by Paul Rickard
Can this grand final live up to expectations?
Defending champions GT Shearing Waikohu play East Coast Farm Vets YMP at Rugby Park at 3pm tomorrow.
At stake is the Lee Bros Shield for the Poverty Bay club rugby premier grade championship.
Not since YMP, the oldest active club in Poverty Bay, won their eighth championship — in their 100th year, the 100th year of Maori rugby — have they been better primed to play in the local scene's showpiece.
In 2010, led by lock Eru Wharerau, under head coach Rutene Maxwell, YMP had a 23-22 victory over a Pirates crew making the club's first grand final appearance in 58 years.
The best things in life are worth waiting for: in 1986, YMP won their first title in 56 years; in 1998, HSOB won the Lee Bros Shield for the first time in 26 years and Ngatapa had to wait 22 years to win their fifth title in 2005.
The emotional roller coaster of 2010 and 2020 for YMP (Waikohu beat them 27-20 two years ago) may be rivalled in history and collective memory by game's end tomorrow, when Waikohu — with a 10-from-11 record since Tiny White Opening Day at the Oval on April 23 — look to take their third title in a row.
As in 2020, the only side to beat the first-round Premier Cup holders Waikohu this season have been YMP, with nine wins from 11 games. These have been the best-performed teams in a busy season.
YMP had won three in a row when Waikohu beat them 21-17 at Barry Park in the penultimate game of the first round. Enterprise Cars OBM beat YMP 27-19 at the Oval a week later in their second and last loss in round-robin play.
YMP are on a six-game winning streak that began with a win by default against Pirates on June 11. YMP have the pack and the speed necessary to test and then tax the stamina of Waikohu.
YMP head coach Kahu Tamatea confirmed before his side trained last night that key players had niggles and with other personnel coming into the mix, it was all on in terms of intensity and a desire to impress.
YMP captain and hooker Shayde Skudder said he wanted his teammates to focus on their individual roles, play smart with passion and flair, have fun and pick each other up.
“If we do those things well, I'll be proud of the lads after the final whistle,” he said.
The game will be refereed by first-class official and farm manager Damien Macpherson, 36. Tomorrow he will equal Poverty Bay Rugby Referees' Association president Hamish Campbell's record of blowing the whistle in five consecutive grand finals.
Macpherson, assistant referee 1 (and PBRRA chairman) Paul Brown and AR2 Terry Reeves can expect super-heavyweight impact and power from both sets of forwards, plus lightning hands and feet from the backlines.
Macpherson rates both sets of backs highly, and expects — if ground conditions allow and the weather holds — to see good, fast, running rugby.
The closeness and knowledge that the players have of each other bears thinking about.
Current Waikohu captain Mario Counsell and Kahu Tamatea started for YMP at No.9 and No.15 respectively in the 2010 grand final. Colin Skudder, assistant coach of the 2021 YMP team and father of Shayde, played loosehead prop for them that day. YMP legend Ron Tamatea — then 49 — right wing in the 1986 team and father of Kahu and Willis, came on at lock for them in the 2010 showpiece. Willis had moved from the second row to the back row to make that possible.
Kelvin Smith took up the reins as Waikohu player-coach from Ra Broughton this year and, as was the case at Waikohu, Broughton has been excellent value for YMP at halfback.
Smith at fullback scored two tries — one in each half — in Pirates' 20-8 win against YMP in the 2012 showpiece: Skudder junior played No.6 for his family club that day.
Smith said: “The boys haven't said a lot this week, but they know our processes and what needs to be done. I'm excited that a small, country club like ours is in the grand final again.”
Intellectual property and former teammates' weaknesses are not as a rule offered up when players switch clubs, but what is shared is banter — and bruises.
These guys punish each other in the tackle.
Stuart Leach gives as good as he gets on the blindside flank for YMP, and has been brilliant to watch this season. The dynamic output of Leach and the size and searing speed of fullback Andrew Tauatevalu, plus the tactic of quick throws to restart from the sideline, stretched a hard-working, tenacious OBM defence in last Saturday's 2 v 3 semifinal at Rugby Park. YMP won that game 22-7, Waikohu having overrun Larsawn Ngatapa 64-5 in 1 v 4 first up.
Leach and Tauatevalu should hold the attention of every eye at Rugby Park when YMP have the ball tomorrow.
As fit and powerful as YMP are up front, it would be a waste of time to charge at the likes of Waikohu props Toru Noanoa and Jarryd Broughton, if — over phases — the ball can be made to beat the man. Speed at the breakdown will be essential; so, too, the muscle of YMP No.8 Jesse Kapene. YMP No.1 Nehe Papuni is playing great rugby, and he has earned the tries he has scored of late.
Leach and lock Willis Tamatea, a former captain of YMP, should be their primary lineout options. Waikohu blindside flanker Adrian Wyrill is likewise strong in the air.
With the likes of hard-working wingers Genesis Bartlett-Tamatea and Te Peehi Fairlie on hand, Tauatevalu and YMP have the option of trying to beat everybody to the punch with the quick throw-in.
The scrum battle will be important but it is extremely hard to see either pack dominating. Broughton as a scrum-anchor is not easily shifted, but if he, powerhouse Tristan Morten — who will lock with Tulsa Kaui — and hooker Geoff Pari can break and make inroads fast, Waikohu will have the quick ball they need.
Waikohu first five-eighth Ruan du Plooy and the midfield pairing of Jacob Leaf and Tane McGuire can cause problems. Although their sleight of hand and opportunism is known to all, reading their intentions is difficult. Wingers Tione Hubbard and KC Wilson are both more than a handful. Given room, Hubbard can fly by bigger men. Wilson stands out for his ability to keep things simple and finish movements.
In terms of X factor on the reserves bench for Waikohu, Smith will bring generalship and acumen wherever the need exists in the backline; reserve rake Matekairoa McGuire is solid, not flashy; No.8 Tapu Dixon can bowl through the opposition as if they were ten pins.
On the bench for YMP are the likes of feisty, fearless young forward Seth Lundon. He played hooker when at Gisborne Boys' High School two years ago and has gone from strength to strength at club level at blindside flanker. Bracketed with Tharin Cox-Peratiaki in 22 is a flying machine: Whaimotu Craft-Chemis, a member of the Gisborne Boys' High School first 15 that won the Top 4 in 2007 and the Meads Cup-winning Ngati Porou East Coast posse of 2012.
Players of the calibre of Craft-Chemis can give their teams a huge boost, although some can try too hard. To play rugby successfully now, even at club level, a player has to be aware of space, techniques, option-taking, and the referee's likely response to any action — or an action, such as a tackle, gone wrong.
Discipline will be a make-or-break factor in the final, with nerve and skill being of equal importance.
Waikohu: Toru Noanoa, Geoffrey Pari, Jarryd Broughton, Tristan Morten, Tulsa Kaui, Adrian Wyrill, Kupu Lloyd, James Rutene, Mario Counsell (captain), Ruan du Plooy, Tione Hubbard, Jacob Leaf, Tane McGuire, KC Wilson, Moses Christie. Reserves: Peryhn Martin-Barber, Michael Tane, Tapuraka Dixon, Te Mana Barbarich, Jordan Christie, Punch Noanoa, Roy Horo.
YMP: Nehe Papuni, Shayde Skudder (captain), Rocky Monika, Willis Tamatea, Liam Ngerengere, Stuart Leach, Isaiah Leach, Jesse Kapene, Rawiri Broughton, Mitchell Purvis, Genesis Bartlett-Tamatea, Taine Aupouri, Jayden Milner, Te Peehi Fairlie, Andrew Tauatevalu. Reserves: Lewy Fleming, Seth Lundon, Te Irirangi Maxwell, (TBC) Brian Whaitiri-White, Matt Rutene, Tharin Cox-Peratiaki.
“Jarryd Broughton and Tristan Morten are definitely going to have a big influence for Waikohu with their running game. For YMP, watch Stuart Leach — he's always a danger — and, on defence, Isaiah Leach.” — Rikki Terekia, OBM
“There are great ball-carriers in both Waikohu and YMP. The forward packs in both teams play a very physical brand of rugby, and those backlines have speed to burn.” — Tamanui Hill, HSOB
“Waikohu have a very strong scrum, as do YMP. I played lock against Waikohu in Week 2 and hooker when we played against them in Week 7. In that first game, I could feel the power of their front row when they pushed.” — Bernard Nepe, Pirates
“Both teams run a simple but high-tempo lineout. It'll be a good match-up there.” — Dan Law, Ngatapa
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