Long wait nearly over for Martinborough

So long it’s been since Martinborough last won Wairarapa-Bush rugby’s premier senior club competition, half of the current crop of players weren’t even born.

Could the 26-year hiatus be about to end?

Injuries to two key players will undoubtedly make the task all the more tougher, but what’s certain is that the class of 2017 has the goods to finally get this proud club’s name etched back on the trophy.

Standing in their way is Gladstone, a side that has already twice beaten them this season. Martinborough head coach James Bruce has huge respect for his former club, but is backing his boys to step up on Saturday and win the one encounter that really matters.

He recalls as a college kid watching – and even training – with the 1991 team ahead of their grand final against Marist. Successful that year they couldn’t repeat the feat two years later against Pioneer. It ended a stellar run for the South Wairarapa club which had dominated the competition for much of the 1980s.

The mantra this season has been “RTM” – (Always) Return to Marty. While a catch-cry for the present, it also represents the past as Martinborough looks to once again become a heavyweight of Wairarapa-Bush club rugby.

The fact that around half of today’s team weren’t alive back then is not lost on Bruce, and adds to the “excitement” that he is feeling ahead of Saturday’s big game.

“A lot of the boys live and work on farms and probably won’t realise how the town is being painted green and black all over the place,” Bruce says.

In some respects, the not knowing might help to suppress the nerves. Come Saturday some of them might be a little edgy, but this is a side that has everything to play for, and nothing to lose.

A relatively young team, Bruce says it has been a work in progress for the last couple of seasons. They have made huge strides this year, he says.

“I think that we have learnt a lot more this season than other teams . . . because we have lost a lot more. And you learn a lot more from losing.”

Losing won’t be an option when they square off with the top qualifiers on Saturday, but there will be times in the match when they’ll have to “dig deep, really deep”, as was the case against Greytown in last weekend’s semi-final.

“The boys tackled their hearts out. They (Greytown) threw everything at us, and we kept them out.”

Expect more of the same against Gladstone. It will be brutal upfront, and without prop and captain Daniel George and lock Hugh Graham, Martinborough will need to be courageous but also disciplined.

Blokes like, lock Toby Rowlands and hooker Kody Thompson, aka The Sheriff, will need to be “massive” and lead by example.

If Martinborough can match Gladstone in the forwards, they could have the edge in the backs with class players likes Armyn Sanders, Tim Priest and Tipi Haira.

Bruce has had plenty of grand finals’ experience, playing in four and winning two – 2001 and 2007. All were when wearing a Gladstone jersey. But he grew up in Martinborough and was always going to return. Winning the Tui Cup this Saturday will be his ultimate RTM.