KEY POINTS:
There's a somewhat cliched school of thought that, in sport, teams have to lose a final to learn how to win one.
As it happens, the theory stands up. Manly reversing last year's NRL grand final defeat by Melbourne is a recent example.
It is a theory, however, that doesn't seem to apply to Wellington. Having lost the last two national championship finals - and four of the last five - the Lions have had no shortage of first-hand tutelage on the art of winning the big games.
Auckland (twice), Waikato and Canterbury have all shown the Wellingtonians exactly how it is done.
But rather than poring over those lessons, Wellington have adopted the approach of putting the recent defeats - and the scars associated with them - out of their minds.
Easier said than done.
"We try not to focus on that because it is obviously a bit of a negative thing for us," halfback Alby Mathewson said of the run of near-misses.
"But it is definitely in the back of our minds. This is my third year and I've been involved in two finals that we've lost.
"But there are other guys in the team who have been in four or five finals. Those guys would really, really like to put things right and win one."
Mathewson was on the bench for last year's defeat by Auckland at Eden Park but he didn't get on the pitch. This year his irrepressible form has seen All Blacks halfback Piri Weepu switched to first five-eighths, allowing the line-break specialist to start at halfback as coach Jamie Joseph looks to get his most potent line-up on the field.
Mathewson's battle with Canterbury's Andy Ellis should be one of the more intriguing match-ups of the final. Ellis, who injured knee ligaments in Canterbury's semi-final victory over Hawkes Bay, has been bracketed with Tyson Keats. But the All Blacks' third-choice halfback trained fully yesterday and is expected to play.
Mathewson's strong season has propelled him into All Blacks end-of-year tour reckoning but his prospects likely depend on Ellis' availability. His mates have been texting him all week with updates on the fitness of his Canterbury rival.
Mathewson has been doing his best to ignore the distractions ahead of tomorrow's final but he admitted it hadn't been easy.
"I would love to make the All Blacks but I am not really getting my hopes up too much."
Having his fate depend on someone else's is nothing new to the 22-year-old Hawkes Bay product. With Weepu in the All Blacks' pre-world cup reconditioning squad, Mathewson had expected to inherit the Lions' starting halfback jersey last season.
But Weepu's shock omission from the touring squad again bumped Mathewson to reserves duty, something he feared would happen again this season.
"I was gutted for him," Mathewson said of Weepu's world cup axing.
"Everyone thought he was going to be in there. And then I wasn't sure what was going to happen [with me]. I was worried it was going to be another year just sitting on the bench."
He had considered requesting a loan move in order to get more game time but a pre-season meeting with Joseph - who promised to pick players on form rather than reputation - convinced him to stay in the capital.
"I thought 'okay if he is going to pick on performance then I'll just have to do my best when I do get a chance'."
He caught a lucky break when regular first five-eighths Daniel Kirkpatrick injured his shoulder against North Harbour in round two, prompting Weepu's shift into the 10 shirt.
The Mathewson-Weepu combination proved so effective that Joseph had little hesitation re-reinstating it for the business end of the season.
Joseph has introduced centre Conrad Smith into his starting line-up for the first time this season, with Tane Tu'ipulotu dropping to the bench. Thomas Waldrom has also been relegated to the bench, with Rodney So'oialo switched to No 8. Livewire openside Serge Lilo, who made his return from a knee injury off the bench last week, is back in the starting line-up as Wellington look to challenge Richie McCaw's dominance at the breakdown.
Strong late-season form has seen Canterbury installed as $2.10 favourites to beat a Wellington team that has struggled to recapture its mid-season form.
"We have been down at times and the boys have fought well to come back and win," Mathewson said.
"That is something that past Wellington teams may not have done.
"We are confident. We have had a really good season and we thoroughly believe in [ourselves]."
