Friday Flashback
FLASHBACK FRIDAY: ADDINGTON’S LAST PREMIERSHIP
Flashback Friday is shining the spotlight on Canterbury Rugby League’s oldest club – and its last premiership triumph. Canterbury’s oldest club, Addington was established in 1913 and had won five titles – including a famous grand final win in 1982 under the coaching of Frank Endacott – coming into the 1989 season. Their ’89 campaign…
Read MoreFlashback Friday: Warriors’ miracle win in Christchurch
As Ōtautahi Christchurch prepares for a historic showdown at One New Zealand Stadium (Te Kaha) – the Round 16 NRL clash between the One NZ Warriors and North Queensland Cowboys – Flashback Friday relives another iconic venue in the city’s last taste of top-level rugby league, which featured one of the greatest finishes in premiership…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: HORNBY AND HALSWELL DUEL IN FOUR STRAIGHT GRAND FINALS
As neighbouring archrivals and 2024 grand final combatants Halswell Hornets and Hornby Panthers gear up for a vital CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership Round 9 encounter at Halswell Domain, Flashback Friday revisits the period that created one of Canterbury Rugby League’s great club rivalries. Halswell gained premier status in 1979 and reached its…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: EASTERN SUBURBS INTERRUPTS PAPANUI DYNASTY
As Eastern Eagles prepare to avenge their Round 1 loss to Papanui Tigers in this weekend’s CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership clash, Flashback Friday recalls one of the great grand final performances from Eastern Suburbs – the only blip in eight years of overwhelming Papanui dominance. Papanui won four straight grand finals from…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: HORNBY-HEAVY FRONT-ROW POWERS KIWIS TO TEST TRIUMPH
With Suncorp Stadium the centre of the rugby league universe this weekend for NRL Magic Round, Flashback Friday recalls one of the Kiwis’ greatest – and a heavily Hornby-influenced – victories at the iconic Brisbane venue. The Kiwis approached the 1987 season in a state of flux. Graham Lowe’s influential reign as national coach, which…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: HALSWELL SNATCH EPIC ’95 GRAND FINAL
As Halswell Hornets prepare to take on defending premiers Linwood Keas in a CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership blockbuster tomorrow, Flashback Friday is celebrating a truly epic grand final between the clubs – when a shorthanded Hornets side staged an extraordinary comeback to snatch a last-minute 20-19 triumph over the Keas in the…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: WARRIORS AND CANTERBURY PLAY TO PACKED SHOW GROUNDS
Ahead of the One New Zealand Warriors’ first trial match of 2026 against Manly at McLean Park in Napier our first Flashback Friday of the year relives a landmark Christchurch encounter between the Canterbury provincial team and the fledgling Auckland Warriors. A record 12,811-strong crowd packed out the Addington Show Grounds as Warriors-mania gripped New…
Read MoreFLASHBACK FRIDAY: BROADHURST FAREWELLS TEST ARENA IN ICONIC LANG PARK UPSET
In honour of Canterbury Rugby League great Mark Broadhurst’s 70th birthday earlier this week, Flashback Friday goes back 42 years to his last Test appearance – which doubles as one of New Zealand’s greatest-ever victories. Papanui and Marist-Western Suburbs hardman Broadhurst carried on the fine tradition of teak-tough Canterbury prop-forwards, playing 17 Tests for New…
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: 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…
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