Trillo Metals Men’s Canterbury Bulls primed to take finals fight to Auckland rivals
The Trillo Metals Men’s Canterbury Bulls head to Auckland this weekend on a two-game mission, striving to carry off the NZRL National Premiership title for the first time since 2014.
It’s another arduous schedule for the red-and-blacks, facing Auckland Vulcans in the semis on Saturday followed by another fixture on Sunday. If they beat the Vulcans, they’ll take on the winner of the Counties Manukau Stingrays-Otago Whalers semi in the final; if they lose, they’ll play the loser in a third-place playoff.
But the Trillo Metals Men’s Canterbury Bulls’ performances in retaining the South Island title a fortnight ago – winning all four of their games over two days at Ngā Puna Wai – provide the squad with plenty of momentum and confidence for this trip.
“I was pretty happy with the way the squad came together, especially towards the back end of the tournament,” Trillo Metals Men’s Canterbury Bulls Sean Spooner says.
“I think we just got better as a team and as a squad. We had to trust everybody, and that’s what I felt like we did. We really entrusted everyone to do their job, and it ended up getting the result that we needed.”
The Bulls overwhelmed Southland Rams 38-10 in their opening match, then staged a thrilling late comeback to edge out the Whalers 34-32.
On day two, they held off Wellington Orcas 14-10 after resting some key players, then powered to a 42-8 victory in the final rematch with Otago.
“We learned a lot as a team about ourselves, and we also saw that there were a few areas where we needed to attack,” Spooner explains.
“And we had a couple of players that we rested, too, before [the final], so it was about managing the team as best as we could. Like I said before, I guess we trusted the whole squad to do a job, and that’s what happened in the end.”
Among a host of quality performers across the weekend at Ngā Puna Wai, Linwood hooker Thomas Irving stole the show.
The tyro grabbed a late hat-trick to get the Trillo Metals Men’s Canterbury Bulls over the line in the round-robin nail-biter against the Whalers, then repeated the dose with the first three tries of the final.
“I’ve always known about Tom, I’ve watched him over the last couple of years and seen his game grow,” Spooner praised.
“I think it was a real credit to our forward pack, the way they were able to lay a great platform for him and for Kyran (Rosie), too. I thought the duo was really good. But the forwards’ platform really showed because he was able to get on the back of that and be quite successful.”
The Trillo Metals Men’s Canterbury Bulls will send a 22-player squad to Auckland on Friday.
Their attention turns to an Auckland Vulcans side that finished second the North Island competition in Hastings two weeks ago. The Vulcans beat Bay of Plenty (74-0) and Waikato (36-6), while they went down to cross-city rivals Akarana Falcons (24-22) and defending national champions Counties Manukau Stingrays (26-4)
Waikato’s shock win over the Falcons allowed the Vulcans to snatch a semifinal spot.
Spooner has been running the rule over his team’s confirmed and potential opponents.
“I’ve seen a lot of video on both [Auckland] teams there. Obviously my concentration’s on the Vulcans, and then whatever happens from there, we can adjust. But yeah, as for the Vulcans, they’re pretty strong overall.
“They like to attack it through the middle as well. So I think around the park, they’re going to be a pretty tough side, but I believe in our team. I’ve got full confidence in our squad to do a good job.”
Managing the players’ load while keeping the squad tuned up for the massive challenge ahead has been a delicate balancing act for Spooner and his support staff, but he’s confident the Bulls will be raring to go.
“Our preparation for it has been good. Last week, we obviously had a week off, so I tried to get the players to look after themselves a little bit.
“The Tuesday was kind of getting back to it, four games over the weekend, so we wanted to make it an easy Tuesday. And then on Thursday, we sort of kicked back into action and did a little bit more work around how we want to play.
“And then Tuesday [this week] was around the same things, too. So I think we’re going to go in all guns blazing, ready to go from tonight onwards.”
Far from the biggest representative team running around in 2026, the Trillo Metals Men’s Canterbury Bulls’ mobility and fitness was a telling factor in finishing the South Island tournament in such emphatic style.
Those qualities will form the foundation of their assault on the NZRL National Premiership playoffs at Bruce Pulman Park.
“We’ve worked hard around how we want to play and how we want to be up on the ball and making sure that we’re playing up-tempo footy, because it’s going to take that to really challenge these Auckland sides,” Spooner explains.
“We’ve made sure that [fitness] is definitely a mainstay in our game.”
Led by co-captains, veteran prop Kyle Leka and classy young half Klayton Waikato, every player has a key role to play in Auckland.
Spooner pinpointed a handful of players to impress so far, however, who he sees as integral to knocking over some highly-fancied opponents in enemy territory.
“Joel Leka is definitely a player that’s going to be great for the future, we’ve also got our captain Klayton who’s stepped up as well.
“Jimmy Wihongi, our halves and our spine have been really good. But also our experienced guys, too, with Danny (Samuelu-Latu) and Ken (Tofilau), we’re going to look to rely on them a lot.”
NZRL NATIONAL MEN’S PREMIERSHIP FINALS
Bruce Pulman Park, Auckland
Saturday, September 26
12pm – Trillo Metals Men’s Canterbury Bulls vs Auckland Vulcans
2pm – Otago Whalers vs Counties Manukau Stingrays
Sunday, September 27
11am – Third-place final
1pm – Final
All matches live of Sky Sport
