Canterbury three-peat at NPC

A weekend of firsts.

Canterbury Cobras reeled in their third consecutive Championship on the weekend to commemorate a weekend of firsts. Day one saw the Otago Riot participate in their first ever Senior Championship on the back of their appearance at the March 2012 Under 20 NPC in Canterbury. The inclusion of a fifth team is the first addition to the programme since 2004 when the Waikato Thunder joined the competition adding to the traditional involvement of Canterbury, Wellington and Auckland.

The draw saw each team involved in four games rather than three and the introduction of 22 minute halves to ensure playing time remained at three hours per team for the weekend. AFL New Zealand has targeted the introduction of Northland into next year’s championship that will have a new date moving away from the Labor Day weekend and to December 7^th and 8^th 2013.

Day two saw the first rain day in recent memory at an NPC fixture and players were presented with an opportunity to compete in a variety of conditions after a sunny and windy Saturday. The games were contested fiercely with the first game of the day a great contest with Wellington defeating arch rivals Auckland by a solitary point.

This set up a great finish for the tournament with the winner of the Canterbury and Wellington game destined for a championship victory. The first half was a very level contest and finally as the game progressed Canterbury put on two consecutive goals with seven minutes remaining in the match. Wellington battled hard to retrieve the deficit but the Cobras showed enough class in all conditions to take a deserved victory and their third consecutive title.

The last game of the itinerary saw Waikato Thunder and newly introduced Otago Riot battle for both provinces first NPC win. A spirited contest supported well by the spectating teams saw Jim Lucy’s Thunder finally achieve their long awaited victory.

Results – Saturday 20/10/2012

 Scores – Game 1

Best

Auckland: Horne, Roughan, S McKenzie, A Crighton

Waikato: Cooper

 Scores – Game 2

Best

Wellington: Wosniak, Kealy, Morgan

Otago: Miller

Scores – Game 3

Best

Canterbury: Howard, Andrews, Carden

Auckland: A Crighton

Scores – Game 4

Best

Wellington: Kusel, Poole, Schrivers and Wozniak

Waikato: Fergusson

Scores – Game 5

Best

Canterbury: Howard, Howison

Otago: Miller, Bailey

Sunday 21/10/2012

Scores – Game 6

Best

Wellington: Morgan, Cox

Auckland: Horne, M Gregson

Scores – Game 7

Best

Canterbury: Andrews, Howison, Howard

Waikato: Caldwell

Scores – Game 8

Best

Auckland: Gabriel, A Sucu, Moyle

Otago: Toomer

Scores – Game 9

Best

Canterbury: Howison, Howard, Carden

Wellington: Kusel

Scores – Game 10

Best

Waikato: Kneebone, Brown, Fergusson

Otago: Kay

Final Positions

Tournament Best and Fairest: Steve Howard (Canterbury)

Tournament Leading Goal kicker: James McKenzie 9 (Auckland)

League Best and Fairest winners:

Canterbury: Andrew Howison

Wellington: James Kusel

Auckland: Michael Boyce

Waikato: Aaron Fergusson

Otago: Ben Miller