Rugby: Renata Tenana stars as Old Boys Marist retain title

Old Boys Marist celebrate their second consecutive Bayleys Premiership title after defeating Mid Northern 34-25 at Toll Stadium. Photo/Michael Cunningham

Renata Tenana produced one of the great fullback performances to lead Old Boys Marist to back-to-back Bayleys Premiership titles.

Mid Northern pushed OBM the whole way, even looking like they would pick up the victory, but OBM came out 34-25 winners.

The stage was brilliantly set at Toll Stadium. The atrocious conditions that plagued the semifinals was nowhere to be found as barely a cloud covered the ground.

OBM got off to a rollicking start as Tenana broke the line and eased past the Mid Northern defence to open his account.

Mid Northern fought back through a Jordan Levavasour penalty before young winger Judah Andrews broke the game open.

He recovered a kick before putting a huge fend on to help set up halfback Malcolm McLeod to score.

Not to be outdone, Tenana struck back almost immediately in a carbon copy of his first effort.

OBM coach Greg Shipton said they knew what Tenana was capable of doing to the defence.

"When Renata's on he's a freak of nature. Everyone saw that today," he said.

"He was the difference in the end. We were struggling at certain times but he pulled us out of it."

Mid Northern skipper Jordan Olsen was again in the thick of the action as he willed his side to a first-half lead.

Levavasour snuck over from close range to give Mid Northern a slight buffer before he and OBM first five Peter Breen traded penalties to leave the game firmly in the balance at 18-15 going into the break.

OBM started the second spell with a big break from Breen but they couldn't quite capitalise off it. They didn't have to wait long however as lock Trevor Attwood barged over for the try.

Mid Northern struck back immediately after with a converted try of their own to get back the three-point margin.

Both sides defended staunchly as the likes of Mid Northern's James Cherrington and Josh Larsen putting in big shifts on defence.

OBM fullback Renata Tenana stood out with a four try man-of-the-match performance. Photo/Michael Cunningham

But much like his first-half efforts, Tenana broke the game open once again.

The fullback received the ball on the left side of the field before stepping through six would-be defenders to cross over for his hattrick try. He had no right to score, producing an extraordinary individual effort.

With under quarter of an hour to go the game was set for a grandstand finish as OBM led by four.

However an ill-timed contest for the high ball saw OBM replacement Ricky Goodwin sent to the sin bin, giving Mid Northern a chance to snatch the title.

Mid Northern sought to capitalise on the numerical advantage and camped deep inside OBM territory.

However, OBM stood tall and were unable to be broken in a defiant defensive stand.

Tenana iced the game on the fulltime siren as he again had Mid Northern grasping at air while crossing for his fourth try and sealing OBM's title.

OBM captain Ethan Crutcher hoisted the Joe Morgan Memorial Trophy aloft once more to the delight of the OBM faithful.

Shipton said Mid Northern gave them an almighty fight but they pulled through.

"We just hung in there. Mid Northern performed really well and put us under a lot of pressure which forced us to make mistakes," he said.

"We had some big hits with four of five guys going down in the last week or two but that shows the mettle of the boys."