Saturday 5 October saw Ngā Puna Wai play hosts for The NZRL National Championship and Premiership Finals.

A moment made more significant by the fact that Christchurch’s own Canterbury Bulls were playing in the Premiership Final in front of a 500 strong home crowd for the first time at Ngā Puna Wai – Canterbury Rugby League’s new home ground.

Canterbury Rugby League Chief Executive, Duane Fyfe said, “The timing of a replacement ground for Rugby League Park, where we last hosted the National Finals in 2009, and the Rockcote Canterbury Bulls finishing top of the table couldn’t have been scripted better. NZRL have often determined the final be played in Auckland regardless of placing, however with a new facility they supported our lobbying and we were informed by phone call five minutes before the end of final game of the round when the Bulls went through unbeaten.”

The second tier National Championship final between the Wellington Orcas and the Otago Whalers was played first and set the scene for a spectacular afternoon of sport. The Wellington Orcas managed to complete a successful campaign with a win over the Otago Whalers 38-28.

The top tier National Premiership Final followed this, with the reigning Akarana Falcons, who travelled from Auckland, taking on the undefeated Canterbury Bulls.

After a slow start, the game eventually proved to be everything it was anticipated to be with electrifying pace and hard-hitting tackles. It was fairly even throughout the first half and early into the second with the Canterbury Bulls down 16-10 with 20 minutes to go. But it was not meant to be for the home side as the Falcons denied them any opportunity to take the lead for the rest of the match with a flurry of tries from the visitors before the final whistle.

The Akarana Falcons were to be the champions on the day with a convincing 28 – 10 win over the Canterbury Bulls. However, the result did little to take away from the excitement and thrill of the home crowd who witnessed a significant moment in Canterbury Rugby League’s history.

The players have an extended representative programme this season with a match against a formidable New South Wales Country Rugby League team this Saturday then the ultimate test, for any grassroots player, playing against the NRL laden Toa Samoa International team Friday night 25^th October. Both these matches are at Nga Puna Wai.

More details can be found on the Canterbury Rugby League website  - https://canterburyrugbyleague.co.nz/