Taniwha fans feel time is right for Ranfurly Shield Fever

Dedicated Taniwha fans Arriane Christie and William Morunga are heading to Hawkes Bay for Friday night's Ranfurly Shield challenge by the Cambridge Blue. Photo / Tania Whyte.

The stars have aligned to give Northland a Ranfurly Shield challenge against Hawke's Bay this weekend.

We've had challenges before, but this year feels different. I am trying not to get too excited, but the way the competition has been going this year, and the way the Taniwha have been playing, and the way 2020 has panned out in general, this could be our time.

We (with partner William Morunga) booked our trip to Napier as soon as that final whistle went in the match where Hawke's Bay's beat Otago for the Shield.

There was never any question whether we would go to a Northland Shield challenge or not. I couldn't bear to think of missing what could be a historical moment.

It could be the first time in 41 years the Taniwha hold the Log o' Wood and the first time in my lifetime.

I've heard stories of the heralded Shield eras of 1972 and 1978 when North Auckland held the Log O' Wood.

Stories of Okara Park being filled with almost 40,000 fans, of parades through town every Saturday with a mechanical Taniwha float blowing smoke at an ever-increasing flock of fans, of hard-fought wins on boggy, muddy fields and spectators collapsing in the stands because of the stress.

Could this happen again?

This will be a tough challenge, there is no doubt about it.

With a short turn-around since their last game, in which Northland needed a massive defensive effort, it being a top of the table clash, with the Shield on the line, and in enemy territory, this game is going to be a massive ask for our boys in blue.

But it also feels like it's our time, with so many players hitting milestone games this season, a squad of experience and real Northland heart, and with deep-seeded, proud Northland names in the team like Going, Rush and Goodhue.

I am trying not to get too excited, but I feel a fever coming on. A Shield fever.

Northland's last challenge for the Log o' Wood was in 2015 at Hawke's Bay. Northland, then as North Auckland, last held the Shield in 1979.

• Arriane Christie is a long-time Taniwha fan, but only in her mid-30s, and she dreams of the day that her beloved team in Cambridge Blue wins the famous Log o' Wood.

It has not happened in her lifetime - yet.