Friday Flashback
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: CANTABRIANS IN NRL GRAND FINALS
Ahead of Sunday’s night’s NRL grand final between Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers, we recognise the 11 players from the Canterbury region that have previously featured on the game’s biggest stage. Bill Noonan – Canterbury-Bankstown (1974): Simultaneously becoming the first New Zealander to play in a Sydney grand final along with teammate Henry Tatana (who…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: SOUTH ISLAND STUNS AUSTRALIA AT THE SHOWGROUNDS
One month out from the historic Pacific Championships double-header in Ōtautahi Christchurch – which will see the Kiwi Ferns take on the Jillaroos and the Kiwis face the Kangaroos at Apollo Projects Stadium on October 27 – Flashback Friday goes 44 years back in the time tunnel to revisit Australia’s last defeat in the city.…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: BULLS OVERRUN LEOPARDS FOR INAUGURAL BARTERCARD CUP TITLE
As the Trillo Metals Canterbury Bulls Men’s prepare for their South Island Championship-deciding showdown with Southland Rams in Oamaru tomorrow, Flashback Friday revisits one of the Canterbury provincial side’s greatest triumphs since taking on the Bulls moniker – the 2000 Bartercard Cup success. Coached by the late Gerard Stokes, Canterbury finished second in the 22-round…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: VAEALIKI TRY SWINGS 2000 QUALIFYING FINAL
As the 2024 NRL finals get underway tonight, Flashback Friday relives a bizarre, memorable try by a Canterbury product that spearheaded Parramatta Eels’ 2000 qualifying final upset of Sydney Roosters. The youthful, seventh-placed Eels approached the do-or-die assignment against the seventh-placed Roosters as rank outsiders. The Eels had fought back from an early deficit to…
Read MoreFLASHBACK 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…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: CANTERBURY WINS 1985 RUGBY LEAGUE CUP
With the countdown until the campaigns of Canterbury’s senior representatives teams down to one week, Flashback Friday celebrates the province’s memorable 1985 season, in which it clinched the Rugby League Cup. The code was enjoying a resurgence in New Zealand during the mid-1980s courtesy of the Graham Lowe-coached Kiwis’ drought-breaking Test wins over Australia in…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: PANTHERS HALT KEAS’ STREAK TO BOOK FIRST SPOT IN 2017 GF
Ahead of yet another high-stakes showdown between Linwood Keas and Hornby Panthers in Saturday’s CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership major semi-final, Flashback Friday relives a classic playoffs encounter from the relatively early stages of the heavyweights’ epic modern rivalry. The Panthers built their 2017 campaign on blistering attack, but it was their best…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: EASTERN SUBURBS INTERRUPTS PAPANUI DYNASTY
As Eastern Eagles attempt to catapult themselves into the CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership finals with a win at Halswell Domain tomorrow, Flashback Friday recalls one of the great grand final performances from Eastern Suburbs. Papanui won four straight grand finals from 1971-74 and would take out another three in succession from 1976-78.…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: MEL COOKE’S BRILLIANT TEST DEBUT
As Hornby Panthers prepare to farewell a pair of club legends on Saturday, long-serving premiership coach Jed Lawrie and 250-game great James Baxendale, this week’s Flashback Friday goes back 65 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…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: CANTERBURY TROUNCE AUCKLAND IN 1993 CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
It’s that time of the year again, when our Flashback Friday segment celebrates Canterbury’s greatest-ever victory – the unforgettable thrashing of Auckland at the Addington Showgrounds in the 1993 provincial championship final. This time around we’ve got a special addition, courtesy of the recent uploading of the match by Point of Difference Rugby League Podcast.…
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