Alexandra coach playing down prospect of hat-trick
Two seasons back, after a decade as one of the competition's also-ran clubs, the Armadillos, under then new coach Lee Wilson, knocked over Cromwell in the semifinals before defeating hot favourites Upper Clutha in the final at Wanaka.
They were again unfancied entering the semifinals in 2024 but unleashed one of their Irish imports against Wakatipu, Nathan Hook, who had not taken a kick at goal all season.
But after the team's heroic captain (and goalkicker) Tyler Ford had scored two great tries, injuring his leg in the process, Hook banged over four booming penalty goals to give his side a 24-21 victory at Queenstown.
They were outgunned by Upper Clutha in the final but had done wonderfully well to get that far again.
Given what they achieved in 2023 and 2024, you would expect them to be full of optimism ahead of the semifinals now.
But coach Wilson is not firing out any warnings this time.
"We're coming off three losses and our No8 Will Healey hasn't recovered from the injury he sustained against Arrowtown. Wakatipu will certainly go into Saturday's game as a strong favourite.
"The mud we've encountered over the past three weeks hasn't helped us. Here's hoping we have a dry ball to play with at Queenstown on Saturday."
The Alexandra-Wakatipu clash at Molyneux Park on May 24 was one of the highlights of the season, with Wakatipu storming back from 29-12 down to score the winning try in the fifth minute of injury time.
Wakatipu coach Jordan Manihera, while frustrated that his team did not convert their second half territorial advantage to points against Upper Clutha last Saturday, is confident they can do the business this weekend.
"We proved our resilience against them in round three," he said.
''We know Alex's game, we know what they do, we know how to shut them down.
"It's a massive opportunity to right some of the wrongs from last year. If we get through it will mean a first final for co-coach Kapa (Te Rangi Moeke) and myself. We're wanting to go all the way."
The game offers some intriguing individual challenges. Ford is the competition's leading point-scorer with 114, three ahead of Wakatipu's Rube Peina. And Alex flanker Sam Chapman is the competition's equal top try-scorer (along with Matak's Dean Sinnamon) on 11, three ahead of Wakatipu's Conner Hamlin.
Upper Clutha, boasting 11 victories from 12 games, are strongly favoured to defeat Maniototo at Wanaka Domain, although the Maggots are much-improved this season, having won seven of their 11 games.
Maniototo have a couple of matchwinners in their backline — fullback Daniel Adam and first-five Ben Maxwell.
If Maniototo can hold up against Upper Clutha's scrum, where hooker Scott Cunningham will be making his 100th appearance, they could cause the locals some concern.
But it will be a massive surprise if Upper Clutha are not featuring in their third consecutive grand final on Saturday week.
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