Though Canterbury beat Waikato 10-7 in the regular season, the hosts will start as warm favourites to win a second Premiership title since 2021 after a record destruction of 2023 champions Auckland.
Canterbury 36 Counties Manukau 31
Canterbury has made the Farah Palmer Cup Premiership final for the eighth consecutive year with a heart-stopping 36-31 victory over Counties Manukau.
With two minutes remaining in Pukekohe, Canterbury’s perennial reign as finalists appeared dead in the water when 31-24 down.
Instead, fullback Winnie Palamo scored twice to engineer a miracle. Laura Bayfield sparked the resurgence when she gathered an awkward kick inside her 22. Canterbury rapidly built phases before winger Emma Whinney busted too halfway. Whinney linked with Terauoriwa Gapper who in turn found exceptional lock Stacey Niao. Niao was caught but able to offload to Palamo who dotted down out wide. The conversion attempt by Abigail Paton was unsuccessful, but wait, there was more.
Reserve Alex Williamson exploded into a hole at the restart. Sariyah Paitai intervened with a desperate tackle but Countries was scrambling. How fullback Jaymie Kolose stopped Canterbury prop Philomena Petaia is a mystery but the Heat was haemorrhaging and Palamo was unmarked three slick passes later. Paton improbably nailed the sideline conversion.
When Canterbury shifted to space, heavier Counties always looked vulnerable. The visitors were two tries ahead after ten minutes and despite some power thrusts by the Heat, worthy of their dozen-point lead at the interval.
First five-eighth Terauoriwa Gapper was probing and polished. Centre Fia Laikong carried vigorously while Niao and Bayfield could have been mistaken as outside backs.
Counties made a handful of replacements at halftime with the ‘bomb squad’ taking immediate effect. Starting prop Leilani Perese powered over after 55 seconds piggybacking some tenacious industry from her substitutions.
Replacement loose forward Anita Faimasui-Brown was rampant; Vineta Teutau wasn’t far behind.
Behind 24-19, Counties lost Ariana Marino-Tauhinu to the sin bin for a high tackle in the 55th minute.
An intercept by Kolose ensured the Heat maintained momentum. When Gapper followed Marino-Tauhinu to the bin for cynical play - Canterbury appeared to be imploding.
Counties claimed the lead for the first time when winger Shyanne Thompson scored her second try. It came after a determined surge by Faimasui-Brown and a long pass by Hazel Tubic, who added a sideline conversion.
Kilisitina Vea became the second Canterbury player sin-binned as the Heat hammered away inside the Canterbury 22.
Kolose caught a dropout, spun through three defenders, and muscled the hosts to within 10m of the line. A thunderous charge by Perese followed before Harono Te Iringa clattered over.
Canterbury’s courage and composure towards the end was another legendary moment in their recently peerless legacy.
Canterbury: 36 (Fia Laikong, Riko Yoshida, Winnie Palamo 3, Stacey Niao; Abigail Paton 3 con) Counties Manukau: 31 (Misaki Suzuki, Shyanne Thompson 2, Leilani Perese, Harono Te Iringa tries; Hazel Tubic 3 con) HT: 24-12
Waikato 69 Auckland 12
Waikato walloped Auckland by a record score of 65-17 a month ago. Waikato was even better in avenging their 2023 semi-final loss to the Storm cracking a half-century by halftime.
Waikato bullied the significantly younger Auckland from the outset with prop Veisinia Fakalelu dummying, sprinting, and scoring after six minutes.
First-five Kaea Nepia collected a Waikato semi-final record haul of 22 points. The best of her two tries was a 55m break in the opening quarter.
The Waikato forwards went to work with ruthlessness, urgency, and precision. Hooker Grace Houpapa-Barrett has scored ten tries in 2024, an imposing presence. Blindside Mia Anderson played a blinder and Fakalelu might be attracting wider interest with her blockbusting form.
In midfield, Chelsea Semple and Rina Parone enjoyed a combined 35 touches and offered ample punch and variety.
Daynahh Nanvivell, Eloise Blackwell, Elizabeth Moimoi and Braxton Sorenson-McGee were among the Storm’s best in 2024.
Waikato: 69 (Veisinia Fakalelu, Mia Anderson 2, Kaea Nepia 2, Grace Houpapa-Barrett 2, Reese Anderson 2, Emma-Lee Heta, Lela Ieremia; Nepia 7 con) Auckland: 12 (Danii Mafoe, Simina Lokotui tries; Braxton Sorenson-McGee con) HT: 50-7