Semi finals in the Farah Palmer Cup

Game on!

This week, Suze at the Lockerroom asked me to write a preview for the semi finals this weekend. Thanks to you lovely folk and the updates I’ve been trying to provide you, I had these thoughts to hand!

So you can read my full preview here.

I wrote this and then Kendra Cocksedge announced her retirement. This now being Cocksedge’s final playoff series on home turf, well, I think this has increased the chance of another Canterbury Premiership title by 20%.

Kendra announces her retirement on social media this morning

If Kendra summons a performance anything like that she put on in her last Black Ferns game in Christchurch, Wellington will have their work cut out for them!

Wellington, oh my Wellington. I know I’ve been a harsh critic of theirs this season but it is said with love. Their performances were not enough really to have locked up this semi final but the talent in that team is. I hope that talent shines on Sunday.

I heard yesterday that Northland have already booked their flights to Otago, such is their confidence in the Kauri. Given I have played in a team that was left without training grounds when our union was surprised we made playoffs, I love this backing from administrators.

To be honest, it’s this semi between Northland and Hawke’s Bay which is the one I’m most looking forward to. It’s a staple of the Championship now to have these two square up and will be keen to see if the Kauri can finally get the monkey off their back and finally lock in a semi final win over the Tui.

You may have noticed in the preview I wrote that I included this line “As soon as the Kauri rejoined the provincial competition in 2019…”. This was very intentional, particularly the word rejoined.

That’s because yes, 2019 was the inaugural season for Northland in the Farah Palmer Cup but it was not their first experience of provincial rugby. They had been playing alongside many other unions in the 1990s.

I found this photo of a Northland side from the 90s on the unions website.

Bron Hames aka Horse, played for Northland in both 1990s and in the return season in 2019. She’s a deadset legend, running out as the countries oldest provincial player in 2019 at age 47.

Horse tells me back then they faced the other sides around the Auckland region, playing Waikato, Counties Manakau, Auckland and North Harbour. Reckons they may have even ventured as far as Geri Paul’s Bay of Plenty.

This is important to note in the way we tell our stories. If we are not careful, we can erases those shoulders we are currently standing on.

This is why one of my favourite whakatauki is kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua which roughly translates to walking backwards into the future with your eyes set on the past. It’s not about living in the past but it’s about having a clear line of sight of where we come from, who we are and what we’ve overcome. So many of the lessons we need to learn in order to thrive today, were already lived by those playing in the 1990s and earlier.

Anyway, all that to say watch some women’s footy this weekend would ya!

With you,

Alice