Southland v Canterbury
Invercargill, 7.35 tonight
Tim Shadbolt switches off the mayoral motor. His campaign is coming to a close and he's keen to talk some footy.
Especially after his last prediction - a 9-6 victory for Southland against Auckland - came true.
"They call me the psychic octopus now," he cackled, in reference to the
World Cup soccer soothsayer.
"I have a feeling this will be a higher-scoring match, that both sides will get a couple of tries in a gruelling game and that the Stags will come out on top, let's say 17-14."
nzherald.co.nz will have live scoring of the Shield match from 7.35pm
Retaining the Ranfurly Shield has uplifted the province, which has battled recent disasters like the collapse of Stadium Southland, severe snowstorms and widespread stock losses.
"We are dependent on the farmers as are the shearers and freezing workers directly and of course the retail sector indirectly and, apart from the smelter, we are basically 100 per cent dependent on agriculture and maybe a bit of fishing as well.
"The Ranfurly Shield has been our beacon of hope, the one shining light on the horizon that keeps us unified as a province and inspired. It has gone everywhere," said Shadbolt.
"I think it has been to seven funerals so far and they've had to employ a guy fulltime running it round to all the kindergartens and old folk's homes."
Shadbolt had been to meetings this week with farmers at Wyndham and Otautau and the Shield was on display at both functions. It had done its work for the entire community.
That would have occurred without the disasters but it had now doubled its value and meaning for a region which had been hit hard.
"To be fair, a lot of the big cities have not begrudged our victories and I think that has been the most amazing thing about it.
"They see we appreciate it, see the huge crowds and even the one-eyed Cantabs have acknowledged we deserved to win it from them last year."
The first subject in most conversations has been the earthquake in Christchurch, followed by the snowstorms, then the Ranfurly Shield.
Shadbolt thinks tonight's crowd will rival the spectators who will come to watch World Cup matches next year at the same stadium.
The seven-term Mayor was a legend in his own mind as a flanker for the West Arm side when he worked as a hard rock miner at the Manapouri Dam in 1967.
The team would often break puddles which had turned to icebefore they began their matches.
"We'd often get 500 people round the sideline to our games in small towns and that is the sort of spirit we have seen since Southland claimed the Shield," he said.
Shadbolt will lead a procession again to Southland Stadium tonight though he will not take his shirt off like other marchers. His mayoral future will be known before kickoff with the latest polls showing him with a substantial advantage over country singer Suzanne Prentice.
"It could be a double celebration for me personally but the election has gone fairly quiet because it has been overshadowed by other events."
Mataura-born Justin Marshall has lived away from the region for some time now but you cannot take the Southland blood out of his veins.
"It's where I was born, the first province I played for and it's always dear to my heart," he said.
"I think I learned a lot playing for a team like Southland because they did not have all the superstars. They had some very good players, even All Blacks like Jeff Wilson, Simon Culhane, Ginge Henderson, but you rely on team spirit and togetherness, which helps you pull it together against sides full of more prominent players.
"It lets you go a long way."
Watching tapes of Southland this season, it was confusing to see how they retained the Ranfurly Shield. But they made tackle after tackle and never gave up.
It was easy for sides to give up when they struggled for possession but Southland's work ethic on defence was huge.
The Shield meant everything to them and they did not want to relinquish it.
"I hesitate to say their character is close to the Crusaders' but it is similar," Marshall suggested.
"Their success was built around work ethic, workrate, for your mates and the first couple of Super titles we won were built on defence.
"We built a rapport and attitude with each other.
"You can't do that without suffering some adversity and Southland are always going to have that because they are not chokka-full of big name players so they battle from where they have been, to where they are now."
That built confidence and it became a powerful and difficult monster to crack.
Auckland was a prime example. They walked away scratching their heads after losing their challenge and Marshall admitted he felt the same though he did not think Southland deserved to lose.
Auckland had been solid but they were not prepared to go 30 phases to score a try whereas Southland were prepared to defend for 25.
"The challengers did not have the composure to stick with a team that, dare I say it, wanted it more."
Southland had shown what they were capable of in attack against North Harbour and they were building their game.
Their pack might be stronger than Canterbury while the visiting backs might have the edge over the swede-eaters. There was no clear favourite and if conditions were testing Southland might be more suited to an arm-wrestle.
SOUTHLAND v CANTERBURY
Southland
Simon Culhane
Glen Horton
Mark Wells
Matt Saunders
James Wilson
T. Koonwaiyou
Robbie Robinson
Jimmy Cowan
Kane Thompson
Tim Boys
John Hardie
Joe Tuineau
Josh Bekhuis
Chris King
Jason Rutledge
J. Mackintosh (c)
Reserves: David Hall, Nick Barrett, Alex Ryan, Hua Tamariki, Scott Cowan, Seminar Manu, Pehi Te Whare.
Canterbury
Rob Penney
Sean Maitland
T. Marshall
Robbie Fruean
S. Bill Williams
Telusa Veainu
Colin Slade
Andy Ellis (c)
Nasi Manu
Matt Todd
Sam Whitelock
Isaac Ross
Luke Romanao
Peter Borlase
Steve Fualau
Wyatt Crockett
Reserves: Paul Ngauamo, Andrew Olorenshaw, Ash Parker, Brendon O'Connor, Willi Heinz, Stephen Brett, Ryan Crotty.