FLASHBACK FRIDAY: STUART LEADS WEST COAST TO JUBILEE UPSET OF CANTERBURY
In honour of this weekend’s South Island Men’s Championship opener between West Coast and the Trillo Metals Canterbury Bulls Men’s team at Wingham Park, Flashback Friday marks 35 years since a memorable encounter between the archrival provinces at the same venue.
West Coast Rugby League celebrated its 75th jubilee in 1989, and the representative side played its first match of the season against Canterbury in Greymouth, pulling off a 20-14 upset in a typically rugged encounter in front of a packed house.
Frank Endacott was in his first season as coach of a new-look Canterbury outfit (of the 32 players used by the red-and-blacks in ’89, 15 made their debut for the province) which included a host of young future Kiwis, such as Logan Edwards, Mike Dorreen, Whetu Taewa, Mark Nixon and Terry Hermansson.
West Coast notched a stirring four-tries-to-two victory, with captain Brent Stuart – who joined Canterbury the following season and played the first of 13 Tests for New Zealand in 1992 – the standout performer.
Engine-room brothers Gavin and Troy Forsyth, and experienced centres Bernard Green and Boyd Kilkelly also proved a constant handful for the visitors.
West Coast ultimately went unbeaten through its landmark season, downing Otago, Canterbury Emerging Players, Bay of Plenty and Southland.
Canterbury endured a tough campaign, with a pair of wins over Bay of Plenty offset by two heavy losses to Auckland and two tight defeats at the hands of Wellington – but Endacott was sowing the seeds for the overwhelming success the province would enjoy in subsequent seasons.
In 1990, Canterbury would carve out a drought-breaking win over Auckland, defeat Great Britain and redress the balance with West Coast via a 66-18 victory.
The Trillo Metals Canterbury Bulls played their first match under new coach Walter Wilson in Greymouth on Saturday, kicking off at 1.45pm.
West Coast 20 (Murray Brown, Troy Forsyth, Brent Stuart, David Stuart tries; Phillip Campbell, Craig Mahuika goals) defeated Canterbury 14 (John Green, Carl Hall tries; Paul Dunn 3 goals) at Wingham Park, Greymouth, April 30, 1989.
