CRL FINALS WEEK 1 CLUB PREVIEW: KEAS HEED LAST YEAR’S LESSONS AS GREYHOUNDS PREPARE FOR HISTORIC DEBUT
The 2025 CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership playoffs get underway on Saturday with a CRL Happy Hire Grand Final Day qualifier at Linwood Park and an elimination final at Crosbie Park.
Perennial heavyweights Linwood Keas finished six points clear of the field to add another Massetti Cup success to the Thacker Shield that will sit snugly in the trophy cabinet over the summer, winning their last six games on the trot.
The Keas closed out their regular-season campaign with a comprehensive 34-12 victory over Hornby Panthers, foiling their archrivals and defending champions’ playoff hopes.
But Andrew Auimatagi’s side will be acutely aware there are no guarantees at finals time. Last season, the ladder leaders finished top of the table before missing the grand final for the first time in a decade, courtesy of back-to-back home losses to Hornby and Halswell.
The Hornets, the narrowest of runners-up to the Panthers in last year’s epic grand final, will be aiming for a repeat boilover at Linwood Park to nab the first CRL Happy Hire Grand Final Day on August 3 at Ngā Puna Wai.
Arresting a two-match losing streak, the Nick Evans-led Hornets snatched second spot in the final round last Saturday with a nail-biting 10-9 win over Riccarton Knights.
The teams’ two clashes this season have been tight. A late Sakiusa Lomanikaya try sealed a 22-12 win for Linwood at home in Round 2, while Halswell turned the tables 19-14 in May courtesy of two tries and a 15-point haul from Jacob Nyman.
Across town, the Knights are striving to keep their hopes of the club’s first grand final appearance in 21 years alive when they face a Greymouth Greyhounds side making a historic maiden CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership playoffs appearance.
The Knights dropped from second to third via last week’s last to the Hornets, but they have produced a solid campaign underpinned by three victories over the Panthers.
Meanwhile, the Greyhounds capitalised on the leg up provide by the Keas in the final round, leapfrogging the Panthers with a clutch 40-24 away win over Eastern Eagles. It was the West Coasters’ second win in Christchurch this season, having also upset the Hornets at Halswell Domain a fortnight earlier.
CRL ROUND 13 CLUB WRAP: GREYHOUNDS PIP PANTHERS FOR HISTORIC FINALS SPOT
The Greyhounds beat the Knights 30-16 at Wingham Park in Greymouth in Round 2, but the Knights turned the tables 21-12 at Crosbie Park five weeks later thanks to two tries in the last 10 minutes.
The Keas-Hornets clash gets underway at 2.45pm on Saturday, while the Knights and Greyhounds kick off at 3pm.
It’s a qualifying final double-header at Linwood Park, with CRL ISC Sports Canterbury Cup table-toppers the Keas hosting defending champions Eastern Eagles.
Meanwhile, third-placed Halswell Hornets and fourth-placed Hornby Panthers square off in a do-or-die elimination final.
Both Canterbury Cup playoffs kick off at 1pm.
The final round of CRL Division One matches sees defending champs Northern Bulldogs looking to hold onto third spot when they host second-placed Shirley Hawks at Murphy Park. Fourth-placed Eastern Eagles will be looking to pounce on a Bulldogs slip-up as they prepare to face bottom-ranked Halswell Hornets on the road.
Undefeated competition leaders Celebration Lions welcome Burnham Chevaliers to Cuthberts Green and Addington Magpies wrap up their season with a home game against Riccarton Knights at Spreydon Domain. The Division One fixtures get underway at 1pm on Saturday.
The CRL Bartercard Women’s Premiership regular season concludes on Sunday with Eastern Eagles hosting defending champs Sydenham Swans at Woolston Park, Shirley Hawks facing a daunting Macfarlane Park assignment against competition leaders Linwood Keas and Woolston Rams looking for some pre-finals form against second-placed Hornby Panthers – all kicking off a 1pm.
Photo credit: Kirsty Wilson Photography
