Blues club climbs from bottom back to their place at top of Southland rugby

Sunday, 14 July 2019

Blues captain Micheal​ Peterson says the people behind Saturday's Galbraith Shield victory extend well beyond the players on the field and the management strolling the sidelines.

Blues won Southland club rugby's most prized possession - the Galbraith Shield - for the first time since 2005 when they beat Star 16-9 at Rugby Park on Saturday.

It was the first final the south Invercargill club had been in since 2012.

Since that 2012 final loss to Woodlands, the club has had to endure some tough years which included floundering at the bottom of the premier standings.

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But Southland's most successful club attracted some youth and rebuilt to the point Blues was proud owners of the Galbraith Shield on Saturday evening.

'After 2012 we had a big turnover of players I think 80 per cent of the team left. It was a couple of years of not many wins,' Peterson said.

'But what no one sees is what goes on behind the scenes, the committee is strong. That flows through to us, it provides a good environment.'

Peterson is one of the players who stood firm during tough times, and after 150-plus games and 13 seasons with the Blues club, he was able to get his hands on the Galbraith Shield for the first time on Saturday.

'It's something pretty new to me, I've been playing this competition for a long time and I had never got here. 

'The emotions are hard to explain. It's everything we've been going for, for the last, well 12 years for me,' he said.

In terms of quality, the 2019 final will not be recorded as one for the ages.

Both teams were guilty of countless errors, while ill-discipline from both teams meant referee Jaydyn Watson's whistle became a key feature throughout the 80 minutes.

But finals often play out like that and it is the team which can hang in the fight the longest which often prevails. On Saturday that team was very much Blues.

Their tactics were obvious, try to play the game at pace, tire the Star pack, and come home strong.

It included turning down kickable penalties early in the game with halfback Jay Renton instead taking quick taps to speed the game up.

Blues first five-eighth Mitch Taylor opened the scoring with a penalty just three minutes into the game before Star fullback Ben Pope levelled it at 3-3 in the 14th minute.

With 10 minutes to play in the first half Star was reduced to 14 players for the rest of the half when, for the second week in a row, hooker Greg Pleasants-Tate was shown a yellow card.

Despite that, Star was able to hit the lead at halftime through Pope's second penalty.

In the 56th minute, Taylor levelled the scores at 6-6 before Blues also lost their hooker Jacob Payne for 10 minutes in what looked like it could be a telling point in the game.

Payne was yellow-carded for a spectacular tip-tackle on Star loose forward Jordan Stewart.

It occurred right in front of the posts which meant Star was able to hit the lead at 9-6 through another Pope penalty.

But there was little doubt Star was fading, which was amplified when it lost the experienced trio of Pleasants-Tate, Junior Ngaluafe, and Mana Harrison to injury in the second half.

Big Blues midfielder Kelepi Holi started to make big inroads through the Star defence and with 15 minutes to play he scored to help push Blues to the 16-9 lead.

Star's scoring opportunities throughout the game probably out-numbered Blues but it was Blues who made their's count.

Star tried their best to level it up late in the game but lacked the fire-power and energy in the dying stages to break the gritty Blues outfit.

Flanker Taine Te Whata was outstanding at the breakdown for Blues while Renton at halfback delivered a mature performance.

Although it was Holi who was the victors best.