For coach Pita Alatini, one of the lasting memories of 2013 was seeing the players hand the Gallaher Shield over to club stalwart and life member Trevor King after the Final.

It was just one of many cherished memories from the season which he was at the helm for.

Ala said success had been a long time coming.

“It had been a process that Wayne Pivac and Paul Feeney had built over the previous three years. Then when Nev and I took over, we managed to add depth to our squad with a good mix of youth and experienced players.

“We had a strong management group, Easty as manager, Hovey as assistant manager, Will, Cat and Jess as physios and Specky our trainer; it was a magic team.”

Not surprisingly Ala recalls the semi-final, “because of the quality players on both sides”, and the Final as his favourite matches from 2013, but he is a bit less decisive when talking about key players.

“To be honest, the whole squad had key moments at some point of the season; the team was so well balanced it is actually hard to pinpoint key players.

“However, having Super Rugby players like Tom McCartney, Malakai Fekitoa and Sam Prattley available for most of the season along with our leaders, Kirky, Dee Dubs, Mote, Beefy, Ollie and Dwayne. That freed up our flair with players like Sammy, Caleb, Wormy, Aula and Dessy.”

Memories of the Final begin well before the whistle blew to start the match.

“We started with breaky at the club and then were cheered on by our club supporters when we hopped in the bus.

“It was amazing to see our club supporters in our colours filling the stand and cheering us on the whole game.”

Ala said a generous gift of two big magnum champagne bottles from the Varsity coaches meant memories of the celebrations are a bit of a blur, but key moments are clear as day.

“I loved that on arrival we had our supporters lined up waiting for us; that was special. And then being able to hand the Gallaher Shield to the late Trevor King and all our old boys and our families was a moment I will cherish forever.”

Article added: Thursday 22 June 2023