Archive for August 2023
KEAS COMBAT LONG BREAK IN BID FOR BACK-TO-BACK WOMEN’S TITLES
By the time Linwood Keas run out onto Ngā Puna Wai for the CRL Women’s Premiership Grand Final to face Sydenham Swans, it will have been 42 days since their last game. A combination of weather cancellations, byes and defaults have conspired against the defending champions, who have also taken the field just once in…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: MEL COOKE’S BRILLIANT TEST DEBUT
Ahead of the Mel Cooke Trophy being awarded for the 10th time to the standout player in Sunday’s Grand Final, this week’s Flashback Friday goes back 64 years to the Test debut of the player recognised by most as Hornby’s – and indeed Canterbury’s – greatest rugby league product, the mercurial loose forward Melville Lance…
Read MoreLINWOOD V HORNBY: THE RIVALRY CONTINUES
This Sunday’s CRL Men’s Premiership Grand Final at Ngā Puna Wai will see another chapter of one of Canterbury Rugby League’s greatest club rivalries unfold. Linwood Keas and Hornby Panthers will go toe-to-toe for the Pat Smith Trophy for the seventh time in eight years – and the 10th time in the past 19 seasons.…
Read MoreCRL PREMIERSHIP DECIDERS: A GRAND HISTORY
The Pat Smith Trophy has been Canterbury Rugby League’s ultimate prize for more than half a century, awarded to the winning side in each year’s Grand Final since a playoffs system replaced the first-past-the-post format to decide the premiership in 1967. Sunday’s Men’s Premiership decider between defending champs Linwood Keas and archrivals Hornby Panthers on…
Read MorePAT SMITH’S ENDURING LEGACY
Most know the Pat Smith Trophy is the greatest prize in Canterbury Rugby League, but how much do you know about the man it is named after? As the silverware is polished up and prepared to be awarded for the 57th time on Sunday, to either Linwood or Hornby after the Men’s Premiership decider on…
Read MoreCANTERBURY BULLS SECURE SENZ AS NAMING RIGHTS SPONSOR
The SENZ Canterbury Bulls will compete in next month’s NZRL National Premiership following a partnership between Canterbury Rugby League and the national sports broadcaster to become the naming rights sponsor of the region’s flagship men’s representative team. “We are grateful and excited with the opportunity to partner with our national sport radio network in SENZ,”…
Read MoreRED AND BLACK REPORT 2023: EDITION NO.12
The Red and Black Report shines a spotlight on Canterbury Rugby League products featuring in Australia’s elite and lower-grade competitions. NRL The Dolphins have faded out of NRL finals contention, but Aranui Eagles product Jamayne Isaako and Burnham Chevaliers junior Kodi Nikorima remain in great form. Isaako scored a scintillating eight-minute hat-trick in the Dolphins’…
Read MoreCRL 2023: FINALS WEEK 2 WRAP
Linwood and Hornby will meet in the Pat Smith Trophy decider for the seventh time in eight years after the Panthers carved out a 26-12 victory in Saturday’s CRL Men’s Premiership preliminary final against Halswell Hornets. The Panthers, who bundled the Hornets out of the finals at the corresponding stage in 2021-22, got out to…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: PANTHERS EDGE HORNETS IN EXTRA-TIME GF THRILLER
As westside neighbours Hornby Panthers and Halswell Hornets prepare for their do-or-die preliminary final showdown at Leslie Park, Flashback Friday revisits the last of the clubs’ 11 Pat Smith Trophy Challenge encounters. The Panthers and Hornets had previously squared off in the 1984-87, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2001 and 2012 grand finals, with a Corey…
Read MoreCRL YOUTH WRAP & WEEKEND PREVIEW
YOUTH WRAP – AUGUST 7-9 The dominant teams in the CRL 16s and 14s Boys grades will contest next week’s youth night competition grand finals after all four carved out convincing semi-final victories at Ngā Puna Wai. In Monday’s 16s semis, unbeaten Linwood Keas defeated fourth-placed Celebration Lions 40-16, while Panthers Black overcame Panthers White…
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