Shortbread route to Cantabs' hearts

The Crusaders say they know Joan Belcher will be with them in spirit tonight. Picture / Simon Baker

At 86, Joan Belcher may not be able to ply the Crusaders with sugary treats as she used to. But she can still lay claim to being their greatest and most beloved fan.

When the Crusaders run out on to Jade Stadium tonight in a quest for their sixth Super rugby title against the Hurricanes, Mrs Belcher will be in front of the big-screen television in her small rest home unit, dressed in all of her red and black gear, hanging on every pass and kick.

"I'm starting to get nervous already," she said when the Herald visited her this week.

"Wellington is our bogey team. You never know what we are going to produce or what they are going to produce. And they have got some stars as well, but we have got more stars."

Mrs Belcher has become a bit of an institution in Canterbury rugby circles, winning the Crusaders players and management over with her freshly baked shortbread and getting to know them at training.

In the past 18 months, her health has deteriorated.

She has moved into a rest home in Rangiora, 30km north of Christchurch, and can no longer make it to Crusaders matches, for fear of having a fall. But she is as committed as ever to supporting the team.

A Crusaders spokeswoman said the team missed her baking, but they knew her support would be with them tonight. Her attendance at training and airport welcomes had always been appreciated.

It all began in the early days of Super 12, with some of Mrs Belcher's birthday shortbread for former Crusaders and All Black captain Todd Blackadder. He proclaimed it the "best I have ever tasted", and other players began stealing pieces from him.

From then on it became a weekly tradition for Mrs Belcher to supply the team. She would also bake cakes for their birthdays.

Some players were reluctantly forced to turn down the treats if they were watching their weight.

Mrs Belcher founded the Pride of Canterbury fan club that followed the Crusaders team with its large club banner draped across the stands at home matches.

The team often took time out at training to have a chat or a joke with her - especially her favourite, the recently departed Andrew Mehrtens.

"I had more to do with Andrew and [was] closer to Andrew than anyone. And Toddy and Daniel [Carter] are the ones that I had quite a lot to do with. Toddy is a great guy."

She fondly remembers Mehrtens and former Crusader Norm Maxwell exchanging wise cracks during training, "not like it is today".

Mehrtens is immortalised as a knitted doll that Mrs Belcher carried with her to matches, and a woolly version of coach Robbie Deans also takes pride of place in her room.

This week the Crusaders franchise delivered her a stack of team posters, signed by Deans, to pass on to North Canterbury schools.

"I'll keep one for myself of course," she says, gesturing at her walls covered with Crusaders team pictures.

She is wearing her red and black socks for luck.

"It's my last pair. They keep disappearing out of the wash-house here."

Mrs Belcher keeps scrapbooks of the team and the many players who have donned the Crusaders jersey.

"It's interesting to see them change their personalities or not make the grade, the odd ones.

"And the ones that are sitting in the background, really struggling to get a start, and then they come good.

"The first time Richie [McCaw] appeared at training, you knew he was something special."

Daniel Carter was just a "skinny little kid" when Mrs Belcher first saw him at a training.

"I told him he grew six inches every time I saw him. He was a nice boy, right from the start."

Mrs Belcher thinks the secret to the Crusaders' success has been the "extra special rapport with one another".

"They look after one another."

Her prediction for tonight's game? "28-18".

To the Crusaders, of course.