Opinion: Whanganui - Your duty calls

I want to take you back to a nice, somewhat sunny late winter's day down on the true West Coast in the South Island. September 6, 2006, to be precise.

It was the inaugural season of the Heartland rugby competition, and by coincidence the inaugural season for a certain third-year sports journalist getting to have the 'rugby round' all to himself.

But as much as formats change, some things stay the same as the Buller rugby team had come to Greymouth to square up with the Red 'n Whites for the annual derby clash, with the added spice of being the final round robin match before the new-fangled competition split into separate Meads and Lochore Cup grades for the remainder of the campaign.

While we were all still getting our heads around the idea of a mid-season divide into two six-team competitions with two more qualifying games for the playoffs, the deeply-ingrained belief remained for fans in Greymouth and Westport, back in those lean times, that no matter how many thrashings each province endured in the rest of their campaign, whomever won the battle of the border would claim their season a success.

Although the culture has altered somewhat in recent years, Greymouth, then as now, was more of a league town, even though the local union could usually scrape together one or two more senior club sides than their neighbours to the north, as Buller's tiny union somehow makes do with barely four clubs, one of whom - Reefton - had only switched allegiances around a decade before my arrival.

I can't recall if there was much else happening around the town that afternoon.

But what I do remember is being thoroughly embarrassed that as packed cars and a couple of busloads with Red 'n Blue supporters disembarked at Rugby Park following their 80 minute journey south, they actually found themselves in the majority at the tiny ground - milling around in large clusters on the embankment end away from the barely quarter fill grandstands.

The story of how Buller rugby has lifted themselves into Meads Cup contendership over the past three years is well documented, but back ten years ago, the visitors were not expected to be able to hang with the Coasters in the pack, or match the ability of their young Canterbury-import first-five.

But by playing smart as they chip-kicked for the corners and chased like the devil was after them, Buller negated the Coasters strength and had clawed their way to a 17-10 advantage with time running out and the home side rapidly running out of ideas.

However, their young kicker held his nerve - firstly landing a successful 45m penalty and then catching everyone by surprise with a stunning drop kick from near halfway to narrow the gap to a point with time almost up.

Awarded another penalty in also identical position as his previous effort, the young man had the chance to steal back a match which every other West Coast player would have to honestly admit they had otherwise let slip from their grasp.

Normal protocol for a home match is the supporters, usually the clear crowd majority, will hold their breath and wait with fearful silence, lest they distract the man in the moment.

However, with no surrounding local mobs to discourage them, the Buller supporters filled the park with a deafening racket - pounding their fists on the advertising hoardings and screaming at the top of their lungs.

And the kick missed. By mere inches. 17-16 Buller fulltime.

So don't ever tell me that showing up in big numbers to support your home town boys doesn't matter.

I know it's Labour Weekend and many of you have made plans or maybe are just after a relaxing day at home, particularly if the weather is a bit murky this morning.

But you need to know that Steelform Wanganui, having clawed their way to the home Meads Cup playoff that they missed out on last year, need your support more than ever to get them over the line today at Cooks Gardens.

A mid-week chat with Wanganui rugby chief executive Bridget Belsham shows the WRFU has done all they can to drum up your support.

There's a free sausage sizzle for the kiddies, prize giveaways and lolly scrambles, plus the chance to get your face painted in the good old blue, white and black.

And there's also a cracker rugby game on offer against Wairarapa Bush - who will feel, after making the Meads Cup semifinals four times in the past five years, that they are more than due.

And those Wairarapa Bush sides did not have a 27-year-old All Black in their midst like Zac Guildford, who through the trials and tribulations of his personal life has created this anomaly of having a genuine elite professional trotting out in the country's top amateur competition.

Their veteran first-five Tim Priest knows what it takes to defeat Wanganui on their home ground - he did it with a massive underdog West Coast outfit in 2013.

As Belsham wryly noted this week, Wairarapa Bush have a very strong supporters club.

Of the 2000 who watched them qualify for the Meads Cup by beating East Coast last weekend, a solid majority of those fans should have no problem making the 135 minute car trip from Masterton.

Simply put, there are flat out no guarantees of a Meads Cup final at Cooks Gardens next week.

"I'll catch up with them then," is not an excuse that will cut it.

Imagine if Wanganui kickers Craig Clare or Dane Whale, who don't have the best accuracy records this year, are lining up the goal kick to win the match, only to be met with a screaming din from the Wairarapa Bush contingent who feel secure enough to yell with impunity?

How bad would you feel when you read on Monday that the kick missed?