Nomads United and Ferrymead Bays go into the weekend as unbeaten sides in the New World Mainland Men’s Premiership The Chatham Cup and ANZAC Day led to only one Premiership fixture last weekend when Selwyn United notched their first win of the season Teams at the bottom end of the table are struggling to gain traction and are vulnerable to big losses and the last was made worse when red cards meant they played an hour with nine players against Western Waimak United are second-bottom with only a point and their title defence and hunt for a Souther League qualifier spot is currently not looking promising but must have felt they had turned the corner when they were leading Ferrymead Bays Reserves 1-0 as their last game went into stoppage time Connor Page rescued a point for Ferrymead to keep UC Football in bottom spot Cashmere Technical Reserves are coming off a 4-1 win last round while Nomads United Reserves should be well-rested after a bye last weekend and are looking to continue their 100% winning start to the campaign as both teams have shown they can score goals with Nomads United Reserves scoring 11 in three rounds while Cashmere Technical Reserves are into double figures already too Conor Clarke (26) is in his second season with Halswell United after moving from FC Twenty 11 at the end of 2023 He has shot to the lead in the Premiership’s Golden Boot Clarke also scored for Halswell United in last weekend’s 6-2 Chatham Cup loss to Burwood Clarke’s leadership qualities have helped Halswell to the top of the table He’ll play an important part in his side’s Premiership campaign this year Nomads United Reserves and Cashmere Technical Reserves will share a high-scoring draw with a late equaliser to create some drama I’m picking Halswell to beat Waimak United 5-0and expect Conor Clarke to bag some goals and to increase his goal tally I predict another big win for Christchurch United U-20s and think they’ll beat UC Football 6-0 My upset tip this week is for Western to beat Ferrymead Bays Reserves 2-1 I’m picking a 1-1 draw between Burwood and Selwyn United Reserves Nick Nath is a Canterbury-based writer for Friends of Football A widely-admired former club and regional football administrator Here’s NZ Football’s 12-minute highlights reel from last.. The New Zealand men’s U-20 team will play a two-match series against Chile in June.. Football Ferns midfielder Katie Kitching has been named Player of the Year for her English.. Which teams will go into the men’s A-League finals play-offs with the strongest form Auckland FC have confirmed their home leg of the men’s A-League semi-finals will be played.. A 22-player squad has been named to represent New Zealand at the six-nation FIFA Youth.. Defending champions Auckland United are ready for strong competition at the OFC Women’s Champions League.. May 3-9: OFC U-16 Men’s Championship – qualifying, Tonga (click here for details) May 5-18 (NZT): Auckland United at OFC Women’s Champions League, Tahiti (click here for details) May 16-18: Grand final, women’s A-League (click here for details) Monday May 19 (2.30am NZT): New Zealand U-16 men v Switzerland, FIFA Youth Series, Zurich (click here for details) Tuesday May 20 (2.30am NZT): New Zealand U-16 men v Guatemala, FIFA Youth Series, Zurich (click here for details) May 26-June 3: FIFA international window (women) May 30-June 1: Grand final, men’s A-League (click here for details) May 31-June 1: Second rounds of Chatham Cup June 2-10: FIFA international window (men) Thursday June 5 (7.30am NZT): Chile U-20 v New Zealand U-20, men’s international, Complejo Deportivo Quilín, Santiago (click here for details) Sunday June 8 (7.30am NZT): Chile U-20 v New Zealand U-20, men’s international, Complejo Deportivo Quilín, Santiago (click here for details) Sunday June 8 (11am NZT): All Whites v Côte d’Ivoire, BMO Field, Toronto, Canada (click here for details) Wednesday June 11 (9am NZT): All Whites v Ukraine, BMO Field, Toronto, Canada (click here for details) June 15-July 13: FIFA Club World Cup, United States (click here for details) Monday June 16 (6am NZT): Auckland City v Bayern Munich, FIFA Club World Cup, TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio (click here for details) Saturday June 20 (6am NZT): Auckland City v Benfica, FIFA Club World Cup, Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando, Florida (click here for details) Wednesday June 24 (7am NZT): Auckland City v Boca Juniors, FIFA Club World Cup, Geodis Park, Nashville, Tennessee (click here for details) June 23-July 1: FIFA international window (women) July 5-6: Quarter-finals of Kate Sheppard Cup August 1-14: OFC U-16 Women’s Championship, Samoa (click here for details) August 15-30: OFC U-16 Men’s Championship, Solomon Islands (click here for details) August 16-17: Semi-finals of Kate Sheppard Cup September 2-9: FIFA international window (men) September 17-24: University of Auckland at FISU Men’s Football World Cup September 20-24: OFC Futsal Men’s Cup September 21-October 4: OFC U-19 Women’s Championship September 27-October 19: FIFA U-20 Men’s World Cup September 27-28: Season starts for men’s and women’s National Leagues October 7-15: FIFA international window (men) Wednesday October 15 (k/o TBC): Norway v All Whites, international friendly, Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo, Norway (click here for details) October 17-November 8: FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, Morocco (click here for details) October 20-28: FIFA international window (women) November 4-28 (NZT): FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup, Qatar (click here for details) November 10-18: FIFA international window (men) November 17-22: OFC Futsal Men’s Champions League November 21-December 7: FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup, Philippines (click here for details) 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup Oceania qualifiers December 13-14: Grand finals of men’s and women’s National Leagues June 12-July 20 (NZT): FIFA Men’s World Cup © 2025 Friends of Football Site designed by Hurricane Press Ltd using - WordPress Theme by Kadence WP As neighbouring archrivals and 2024 grand final combatants Halswell Hornets and Hornby Panthers gear up for a massive CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership season opener 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 first grand final in its sixth season The 1984 grand final would be the first of four consecutive deciders Halswell played against Hornby as the clubs ruled the CRL roost through the middle part of the eighties Kevin Woodham-coached Hornby topped the table with a 13-3 record in ’84 and reached their third straight grand final Hornby notched back-to-back titles via a 22-12 victory who had to negotiate the representative commitments of Barry Edkins Wayne Wallace and 1984 CRL Sportsman of the Year Adrian Shelford through the season The westside clubs again took out the top two spots on the Massetti Cup ladder in 1985 and produced one of the most dramatic grand finals in CRL history Hornby’s Lance Setu is rounded up in the 1985 grand final loss to Halswell Edkins levelled up a seesawing decider at 16-all with a penalty goal two minutes from fulltime but Phil Bancroft snatched Halswell’s maiden championship with an unforgettable 47-metre field goal as the siren sounded Halswell rallied from a patchy regular season in 1986 – winning only half of their 16 regular-season games – to reach the grand final from fourth who lost just two games under the coaching of Frank Endacott headed the ladder again and regained CRL supremacy with a convincing 20-5 win in the decider but a hat-trick to back-rower Graham Larson – just the second player and the first forward to achieve the feat in a grand final – clinched the club’s third title in four years Hornby’s 1986 hat-trick hero Graham Larson after knocking Hornby off top spot in the 1987 regular season gave its archrivals a harrowing dose of déjà vu in the following season’s grand final breaking a 14-all deadlock with a field goal from close range four minutes from fulltime in another instant classic Phil Bancroft kicked the winning field goal in Halswell’s 1985 and ’87 grand final triumphs Phil Prescott-coached Halswell would successfully defend their title in 1988 with a grand final defeat of Marist-Western Suburbs while Hornby returned to the premiership penthouse in 1990 with a grand final win over Addington under captain-coach Wayne Wallace The clubs met in another four grand finals during the 1990s: Hornby went back-to-back with an 18-8 win in the ’91 decider; Halswell turned the tables in ’93 with a tense 8-6 victory; the Panthers got the job done 22-12 in the ’96 grand final; and the Hornets romped to a 30-12 success in ’99 The new millennium has seen four more westside derbies on CRL Grand Final Day with the Panthers prevailing 28-18 in the 2001 decider – with Wallace as coach – and breaking Hornets hearts with consecutive extra-time triumphs in 2012 (19-18) and ’13 (22-20) ‘Westside Story’s’ next chapter The clubs’ first showdown of 2025 represents an opportunity for Halswell to atone for some agonising results at the hands of Hornby in recent seasons After going down to the Panthers in all three regular-season matches and the preliminary final in 2023 the Hornets grabbed a Magic Round win at Ngā Puna Wai in early-2024 But they surrendered the Thacker Shield via a 20-14 home loss to the Panthers went down 26-12 at Leslie Park and were edged 20-18 in their first grand final appearance in a decade after rallying spectacularly from 20 points down at halftime CRL 2025 CLUB SEASON SET FOR BLOCKBUSTER START .fb-comments,.fb-comments span,.fb-comments span iframe[style]{min-width:100%!important;width:100%!important} Metro’s Route 7 Halswell to Queenspark customers will be able to turn up to their stop and go with the frequency of the service being increased The service will run every 10 minutes from 5.30am to 6.30pm on weekdays and every 15 minutes outside of those hours The shift in frequency is thanks to funding from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) and through our 2024-34 Long-Term Plan "Customers have been asking us to increase the frequency of buses on this route so we’re pleased that we’re now able to do this thanks to funding from the NZTA so these extra services will help distribute some of the demand," Chair Craig Pauling said Route 7 carries around 4,000 customers per day which equates to around 1 million customers per year Five additional electric buses will be added to the route to service the frequency increase "This change means that customers can arrive at their stop at any time and know that the next bus isn’t too far away," Chair Pauling said Councillor Joe Davies said he was pleased that we are able to improve services for residents who have been asking for this in the eastern suburbs "This frequency increase will improve public transport access for people in the east of Christchurch." Customers travelling back and forth from Halswell may experience some delays travelling down Halswell Road as a result of these upgrades Chair Craig Pauling and Councillor Joe Davies "We want to thank customers for their patience as our partners work to deliver these upgrades We’re excited to have these additional elements on offer once the project is complete in October 2026," Public Transport acting general manager Sonia Pollard said "We recognise the frequency change is part of what customers have been asking for on this route – we will continue to bid for funding so other changes can also become a reality," she added NZTA is currently funding 51 per cent of the net cost of the frequency increase on a trial basis until June 2027 the rest is funded through rates and fares "We expect running a better service will be popular and well used and that this will strengthen our case for further and more permanent investment," Sonia said.  Print Back to top you can use front-mounted bike racks on all Greater Christchurch buses during daylight hours Council has set its private revenue ratio targets for public transport services for the current funding period I was a visitor to Halswell Quarry parkrun today visiting from Taupo for the Christchurch half marathon tomorrow What a great opportunity to tick off another parkrun so today Halswell Quarry was the chosen one This was my 52nd different Parkrun location (thank goodness) because weeeeew there were some steep inclines and just as steep declines For anyone else planning on visiting and using public transport It was a 3km walk though so we only just caught the end of the first timers briefing as we scrambled up towards the start line 21 people achieved new personal best times today including Ewan Baron who was the first finisher home and Travis Brown who finished in third position Gemma Aveyard who was the first female home Junior runner Mason Raffan ran his 10th parkrun today which is a junior milestone © parkrun Global Limited (Company number: 09411750) No part of this site may be reproduced in whole or in part in any manner without the permission of the copyright owner You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image The work which aims to address the issues with the previous resurfacing work on Halswell Junction Rd will begin at the end of the month The issues included vibrations experienced by residents as a result of the recent resurfacing works and traffic noise caused by the larger size of the chip used for last year’s pre-seal repairs Christchurch City Council manager city streets maintenance Steve Guy said the programme of work is the final phase of maintenance resurfacing as well as remedial work on recently completed sections to create a more level and smoother surface "We’ve scheduled this remedial work to occur at the same time as the final phase of the work to help minimise the period of disruption to residents and road users,” said Guy "Both programmes of work will take place between 27 March and 9 April with traffic able to flow as usual before 9am and then restricted to one-way northbound only from 9am to 7pm." Guy said the road has not held up in several areas following the resurfacing works completed in early 2025 "We accept this has been very unpleasant for residents," Guy said "We’re committed to delivering a surface that meets our quality standards and - with the use of asphalt rather than chipseal - is as smooth as possible "This will eliminate the road surface as a contributing factor to any pre-existing vibrations," Guy says The final phase of work will see a waterproof seal applied at the Wigram Rd and Whincops Rd roundabout and the Hamill Rd and Alvaston Drive roundabout to improve durability and reduce the risk of potholes Work will progress north along Halswell Junction Rd in stages from south of Nicholls Rd to the Southern Motorway Detours will be in place for southbound traffic "We understand this work is disruptive for residents and traffic and we appreciate everyone’s continued patience as we get this resurfacing work completed," Guy says He said the maintenance resurfacing on Halswell Junction Rd is a separate project to the Halswell Junction Rd extension which is located north of the motorway and is expected to open in mid-2025 Halswell United get the chance to take over at the top of the New World Men’s Mainland Premiership over Easter and Christchurch United U-20s’ Round 4 game against Selwyn United Reserves has shifted to April 26 having surprised last time out with a 1-0 win against Cashmere Technical Reserves thanks to a Nishan Biswa winner in the 77th minute It also looks like Halswell will be without captain and leading goalscorer Conor Clarke He’s a notable absentee in the first team squad listed on the club’s social media Clarke’s back-to-back hat-tricks have fired Halswell up the table Last weekend’s games saw Nomads United go top with a late win against Western FC Twenty 11 kick-started their season with a win against UC Football who now sit at the foot of the ladder The mid-table clash between Western and FC Twenty 11 should be entertaining and is capable of being a high-scoring affair Western led Nomands United 2-1 last week before finally succumbing 4-3 conceding from the penalty spot nine minutes into stoppage time and Western get their chance to redeem themselves against FC Twenty 11 who lost their first two games of the season before clicking into gear last week Halswell United and FC Twenty 11 will all land three points this weekend Cashmere Technical Reserves and FC Twenty 11 All won except for Tech Reserves.) This story was first published on April 17 In addition to Maria Amos providing us with a joyful run report we also have Roderick visiting all the way from London giving a great perspective on our inaugural event I happened to be visiting Christchurch from London and spotted that Halswell Quarry was due to start and thought that it would make a good parkrun for my 501st I could tell from the description that it would be tougher than all those in my first 500 My Garmin recorded 163meters up and 199meters down Given that the finish is slightly higher than the start I'm happy to average those two and suggest that there is about 180meters up and down over the two laps I've done 386 different parkruns and I can confirm that everyone is different Some though are more different than others and Halswell Quarry is one of those a bit crowded but that was to be expected given the large field 450 finishers were recorded and perhaps a few more may have started After the 500m we turned the corner and started on the ascent of the quarry I also enjoyed that bit - but I enjoyed walking rather than running From the top I found most of the descent runnable and also the bit around the Japanese Garden but it should cope well with lower numbers in future weeks And then it was onto lap two - even more enjoyable since we were more spread out by then The finish has that final uphill bit - but I didn't really notice it due to the relief of being almost at the finish It isn't a record for a New Zealand inaugural Ōrākei Bay parkrun in Auckland had its inaugural earlier this year with 615 participants I ran there last Saturday and there were 220 finishers I would not have liked to have been there with over 600 runners covering both sides of the pedestrian walkway Of today's participants 68 were doing their very first parkrun Well done to every single one of them - but I have to highlight the Fords Tayla (W11-14) twenty seconds later as 6th female and Keryn (W45-49) a few minutes behind I wonder whose idea this was and whether they will all be back next week finished just behind Tayla so might be part of the fuller picture 128 of the day's finishers had run one of the four nearest Christchurch parkruns last week It is interesting to compare the times last week to this week of those 128 runners It turns out that on average they were 20% slower on the Halswell course someone who had finished in 25minutes on a flat course last week would have taken 30minutes at Halswell this week Some of that would be due to congestion (it took me 24seconds to get to the start line and from then I had quite a bit of congestion on the first lap) But most of the difference will be the contours and course surfaces The bigger difference seemed to be with Foster A small number of people ran Halswell faster than their parkrun last week but there may have been many reasons for doing a slow parkrun last week A special mention to Jenny Agnew - she ran closest to the same time last week and this - 31:10 at Foster then 31:07 at Halswell I'm jointly the most experienced parkrunner in the results - with Andrew Capel each of us having now done 501 parkruns Andrew already had an official "500" shirt - I've yet to order mine We had both done our 500th run last week in Auckland - Andrew at Sherwood Pines me at the afore mentioned Ōrākei Bay parkrun Karen Leadley was doing her 200th parkrun and thank you for adding your name to the board so that we could call out your name in the briefing - we like to celebrate everyone's achievements Four parkrunners finished their 25th parkruns at Halswell on Saturday - Shin Aiura "25" is the first official milestone for most parkrunners so you are now entitled to acquire yourself a "25" parkrun shirt Nathan Heaver was fastest round the course in 21:06 and must have been delayed in his second lap by the number still completing their first so should be odds on for a PB (personal best) next week if he returns Best age grade (this takes into account gender and age) was Brigitte Masse (W55-59) with 70.22% 16 of the finishers were in the M10 or W10 age categories Six were in the M70-74 or W70-74 categories 39 individuals have been given volunteer credits for today's run It has to be said that parkrun couldn't happen without these volunteers but I'll note in passing that nine of these also got a volunteer credit for a Christchurch parkrun last week Please consider if you can help out one Saturday instead of running My conscience is clear - next Saturday I'll be back in the UK and timekeeping at my local Stockley Country parkrun Please drop by if you are ever visiting the UK We only have 40 meters of climb…though that doesn't stop some people from complaining The Thacker Shield goes on the line for the second weekend in a row unbeaten Greymouth Greyhounds make their first trip over Arthur’s Pass in 2025 and the eastside clubs square off in Round 3 of the CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership Defending champs Hornby Panthers have made an undefeated start in their bid for a second straight title winning away at Halswell in Round 1 and hanging onto the Thacker Shield last weekend with a hard-fought home win over Eastern Eagles The prize is up for grabs again at Leslie Park on Saturday as Riccarton Knights – who overwhelmed the Eagles in their opening game – regroup from a road-trip loss to Greymouth Greyhounds The Knights had the wood on the Panthers in 2024 winning two of their three clashes – including a resounding 38-10 win in the sole encounter at Leslie Park The Greyhounds are sailing alongside the Panthers at the top of the Massetti Cup standings after home wins over Linwood Keas and the Knights but they confront another challenge this week in the form of their first away game of 2025 at Halswell Domain The Hornets will be hellbent on chalking up their first win of the season after consecutive losses in blockbusters against the Panthers and Keas The Hornets won all three matches against the Greyhounds in 2024 – including a 36-20 result at home – but the Greyhounds went close in the last encounter there’s a highly anticipated meeting between neighbouring clubs Linwood and Eastern at Linwood Park The Eagles are striving to open their account for 2025 and will be buoyed by their gallant efforts at Leslie Park last week while the Keas have their tails up after gaining 2024 prelim final revenge on the Hornets Last season the rivalry was fought on a knife’s edge: the Keas won 16-14 at Linwood Park in Round 1 the teams drew 24-all at Wainoni mid-season and the Eagles pulled off a 16-10 victory at home late in the campaign The corresponding CRL ISC Sports Canterbury Cup clashes all kick off at the same venues at 1pm including the showdown between Linwood – the only team with two wins from two outings – and defending champs Eastern Papanui Tigers head to Leslie Park to take on Hornby there’s a top-of-the-table encounter between Eastern Eagles and Shirley Hawks at Wainoni Park unbeaten Celebration Lions host Addington Magpies at Cuthberts Green winless outfits Halswell Hornets and Northern Bulldogs lock horns at Halswell Domain and Riccarton Knights head to Coronation Park searching for their first victory against Burnham Chevaliers CRL ROUND 2 CLUB WRAP: GREYHOUNDS AND PANTHERS GO 2-0, KEAS ON THE BOARD Metro’s Route 7 Halswell-Queenspark service is set to become even more convenient The Route 7 Halswell-Queenspark service will run every 10 minutes from 5.30am to 6.30pm on weekdays and every 15 minutes outside of those hours Public transport general manager Stewart Gibbon said the improvement to the core route will be a great benefit to regular users “The improvement is beginning as a two-year trial We aim to secure permanent funding for the service and we will continue working with the central government on this We will also be connecting with communities along the route to ensure that we all make the most of this opportunity,” he said The frequency change is being undertaken in tandem with other improvements delivered by partners Christchurch City Council and NZTA which include: “The increased frequency will help while improvements along State Highway 75 Halswell Road are underway and will also be of great benefit to customers once the work is completed,” Stewart said together with the increased bus frequency will make bus travel much more appealing for the many residents living in the city’s increasingly popular southwest suburbs,” said Ian Duncan Acting-Director Regional Relationships Canterbury for NZTA “We’re pleased to collaborate with our partners to enhance our public transport network and offer an improved travel experience for our bus users,” Christchurch City Council transport operations manager Stephen Wright said Route 7 is already one of Metro’s most popular services connecting the Southwest of the city to the Northeast via the central city The route covers several communities including Halswell It’s a convenient way to get to Ngā Puna Wai the Palms and upcoming developments such as the Parakiore Recreation and Sports Centre in the city Print Back to top Our Long-Term Plan sets out our service priorities work programmes and resource requirements such as expenditure and funding for a… A mob of deer are on the loose in a residential Christchurch suburb Locals have taken to social media reporting at least three deer are causing havoc in the Halswell area One resident shared an image of one of the deer galloping down the middle of a road with the caption; “Has someone lost a deer?” Another said; “We’ve just come home to a broken fence I’m a little gutted I wasn’t home to see it.” “I was driving down Kennedys Bush Rd when I saw them jump out of someone’s back yard.. Got the fright of my life,” another replied A police spokesperson said they had received a couple of reports of deer being seen in the Halswell area this afternoon “One of those related to a car hitting a deer “Animal Control has been advised at this stage who will call police for further assistance if they require it.” The herd of three deer were captured on security footage galloping through a person’s driveway 'The team have nailed it – it’s a strategy that everyone can understand.' 180m – NZ’s most vertically challenging parkrun The 2025 Canterbury Rugby League senior club season is upon us – a fraction earlier than usual – and three absorbing clashes mark the start of the CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership This Saturday’s opening round is headlined by a massive westside derby between Halswell Hornets and Hornby Panthers at Halswell Domain which doubles as a grand final rematch after the clubs’ epic showdown at Ngā Puna Wai seven months ago The archrivals produced one of the great grand finals of recent times with the Hornets’ revival from 20-0 falling just short as the Panthers held on for a 20-18 triumph to send coach Jed Lawrie and retiring club legends Corey Lawrie and James Baxendale out with the Pat Smith Trophy FAST-STARTING PANTHERS HOLD OFF HORNETS RALLY TO CLINCH PREMIERSHIP Corey Lawrie takes the coaching reins from brother Jed for Hornby’s CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership defence The Hornets have even more motivation to get one back on their neighbours after the Panthers lifted the Thacker Shield on Halswell’s Club Day midway through last season Greymouth Greyhounds kick off their second campaign in Canterbury Rugby League’s top tier with a Wingham Park showdown against perennial heavyweights Linwood Keas The Greyhounds enjoyed a memorable debut season in the CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership despite finishing at the foot of the ladder are smarting from missing the grand final for the first time in a decade – upset by the Hornets in the preliminary final after claiming the Massetti Cup the Keas overwhelmed the Greyhounds 52-14 in the Ngā Puna Wai Magic Round 36-4 at Papanui Domain and 40-0 at Linwood Park Eastern Eagles host Riccarton Knights at Wainoni Park in another intriguing Round 1 encounter It was Eastern’s agonising last-minute loss to the Hornets in the final round in 2024 that catapulted Riccarton into the playoffs consigning the Eagles to a fifth-place finish The clubs produced three tight matches last season: the Knights won 24-14 in Magic Round and 22-20 at Wainoni Park before the Eagles turned the tables 22-18 at Crosbie Park Local coaching stalwart Brent Ringdahl – who has steered Papanui (1998) Riccarton (2002 and 2004) and Hornby (2006) to premierships – takes over at the Knights in 2025 Northern Bulldogs’ difficult decision earlier this month to postpone their return to the CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership and CRL ISC Sports Canterbury Cup sees both grades move ahead in 2025 as six-team competitions The reworked draw, available here consists of 13 rounds – two complete round-robins and three additional games per team – and will culminate in CRL Grand Final on Sunday The opening round of the 2025 CRL ISC Sports Canterbury Cup mirrors the top-grade fixtures all kicking off at 1pm at the same grounds the defending CRL ISC Sports Canterbury Cup champions who signed an MoU with the Knights to become their premier reserves affiliate in 2025 EAGLES HOLD ON FOR CANTERBURY CUP TRIUMPH The rebuilding Bulldogs will instead defend the Division One title they won in 2024 getting their campaign underway at Murphy Park against Celebration Lions at 1pm on Saturday Halswell Hornets host Addington Magpies at Halswell Domain and Burnham Chevaliers welcome Shirley Hawks to Coronation Park a Wainoni Park triple-header gets underway at 11am courtesy of an Eastern Eagles-Riccarton Knights Division One clash VIEW ALL CANTERBURY RUGBY LEAGUE DRAWS, RESULTS AND STANDINGS HERE ⛅️The day’s double digit weather forecast might have been nowhere to be seen at 8am on Saturday 19 October but what this week’s parkrun event lacked in temperatures That’s because the new weekly event at this trail mecca is putting the heart into Halswell Despite the draw of birthday celebrations elsewhere (we're looking at you Pegasus parkrun ) Halswell Quarry parkrun still had a seriously cool 153 walkers and runners make their way around the two-lap course - New Zealand’s steepest parkrun While there were the speedsters - we’re looking at you Steve Harris with your mind blowing 22:43 finishing time ⏱ - there were plenty of walkers challenging themselves to make the journey how cool is it to be able to regularly walk or run the same course you can aim to get around the course faster each week 34 of these superstar walkers and runners hit a PB (personal best)! The quarry course’s average completion time is a comfortable 37:46 so far and this week saw walkers and runners of all age groups head up into the hills We even had some special youngsters supporting the event in volunteering roles.. Athletic clubs from as far north as Auckland and as far south as Fiordland were represented along with some local running clubs - Sumner Running Club New Brighton Athletic Club and a fair whack of them from Halswell Run This passion for all things parkrun shows no signs of abating This was the second week in a row the record has been broken with a total of 1,898 people walking or running at a parkrun in Christchurch That’s 300 more than the previous record… which was only set last week thank you to all this week’s volunteers: Andrew Yip It’s only through the ongoing support of our volunteer community that we can continue offering such an epic event and your incredible energy on the course is what makes parkrun so special - Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi he toa takitini – my strength is not as an individual Halswell Hornets have earned their first grand final berth since 2014 – and for the first time in 10 years the Pat Smith Trophy Challenge will not feature Linwood Keas – after an unforgettable CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership preliminary final on Saturday The third-placed Hornets overcame an early 12-point deficit at Linwood Park and withstood a late rally from the home side to close out a 26-18 victory winning their way through to a showdown with neighbouring archrivals Hornby Panthers on CRL Happy Hire Grand Final Day next Sunday The Keas – champions in seven of the past eight seasons – raced to a 12-0 lead through tries to Matthew Logopati and Sakiusa Lomanikaya but the Hornets fought back to level before halftime as Antonio Lemalu and Ken Tofilau crossed Halswell hit the front of the first time 10 minutes after the break with a try Dylan Geddis and went eight points clear as centre Nick Evans powered over Linwood set up a grandstand finish with Pui’ai Patu-Vaega’au’s try trimming the gap to just two but Evans sealed a historic win – and ended the Keas’ record-breaking grand final streak – when he notched his second try in the dying stages who interrupted Linwood’s run of premierships in 2021 but lost deciders in 2016-19 and 2022-23 The ledger currently stands 7-4 in Hornby’s favour Eastern Eagles will receive a CRL ISC Sport Canterbury Cup grand final rematch with their major semi conquerors after overwhelming Papanui Tigers 28-12 in the Premier Reserves preliminary final The Eagles got off to a flyer at Wainoni Park with a Tyrone Stowers try in the opening stage while Jenyn Kahu scored either side of halftime to put the hosts well in control Eastern built a 28-0 lead before Papanui responded with two late tries CRL Division One’s standout teams of 2024 will contest the grand final after Northern Bulldogs and Ashburton Barbarians both carved out emphatic semi-final wins on Saturday The Bulldogs outlasted Papanui Tigers 30-10 at Murphy Park with Matthew Clough and Nathaniel Tirikatene both scoring doubles Nathan Robinson racked up 22 points as the Barbarians blazed to a 60-20 victory over Woolston Rams at Robilliard Park Sydenham Swans and Hornby Panthers will square off in the 2024 CRL Bartercard Women’s Premiership grand final following dominant semi-final performances defeated Burnham Chevaliers 44-14 at Macfarlane Park with Theresa MacPherson scoring an early double and the prolific Kaylee Tavendale chalking up 20 points from two tries and six goals overcame two-time defending champs Linwood Keas 26-10 The visitors scored the only three tries of the first half – two of them going to Iokapeta Fetu – and took an unassailable lead in the second stanza with three more tries in a 10-minute burst All four grades’ deciders will unfold on CRL Happy Hire Grand Final Day at Ngā Puna Wai next Sunday CRL WHITHEAD PLUMBING & GAS MEN’S PREMIERSHIP – FINALS WEEK 2 RESULTS Preliminary final: Halswell Hornets 26 defeated Linwood Keas 18 at Linwood Park CRL ISC SPORT CANTERBURY CUP PREMIER RESERVES – FINALS WEEK 2 RESULTS Preliminary final: Eastern Eagles 28 defeated Papanui Tigers 12 at Wainoni Park Image credit: Abraham Atherton Photography CRL Happy Hire Grand Final Day spots are on the line across all four senior grades this weekend including a CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership blockbuster between Linwood Keas and Halswell Hornets searching for their 10th consecutive premiership grand final appearance went down 18-12 in a gripping major semi at Linwood Park last Saturday after a scoreless second half But the defending champs get another bite at the cherry at home with a prelim against the Hornets at 2.45pm this Saturday for the right to take on Hornby Panthers on CRL Happy Hire Grand Final Day (Sunday Halswell held off Riccarton 14-8 in an elimination semi thriller to take a step towards a grand final berth that has eluded the club since winning its last title in 2014 The Hornets have fallen one game short of the decider in each of the past three seasons losing to the Panthers in three straight preliminary finals Both Linwood-Halswell encounters so far in 2024 have been tight affairs The Keas prevailed 24-16 at Linwood Park in Round 5 on the back of Danny Latu’s second-half double while they edged the Hornets 18-16 at Halswell Domain in Round 10 after surviving a late rally by the home side CRL 2024: FINALS WEEK 1 WRAP Halswell’s premier team is hoping to join their CRL ISC Sport Canterbury Cup team on CRL Happy Hire Grand Final Day with the Hornets awaiting the winner of Saturday’s (1pm) preliminary final between Eastern Eagles and Papanui Tigers at Wainoni Park The Eagles – pacesetters in the premier reserves competition for most of the season – are striving to bounce back from last week’s 14-12 defeat to the Hornets while the surging Tigers upset Hornby Panthers 30-28 on the road in their elimination semi The Eagles won all three regular-season encounters but their most recent – just four weeks ago – was a 32-30 barnburner at Wainoni Park Northern Bulldogs are aiming to parlay their regular-season dominance in the CRL Division One competition into a grand final spot when they host Papanui Tigers in the first knockout semi-final on Saturday (1pm) The Bulldogs finished four points clear of the field with just one loss Second-placed Ashburton Barbarians welcome third-placed Woolston Rams to Robilliard Park in the other knockout semi at 2pm The Rams carved out a convincing win in Ashburton back in April but the Barbarians turned the tables at Woolston Park just four weeks ago Sydenham Swans and Linwood Keas face tough knockout semi-finals as they chase a third straight CRL Bartercard Women’s Premiership grand final showdown The table-topping Swans take on fourth-placed Burnham Chevaliers at Ngā Puna Wai while two-time defending champs the Keas host third-placed Hornby Panthers at Linwood Park The Panthers have made a huge impression after joining the CRL Bartercard Women’s Premiership in 2024 including a win and a draw in their two matches against the Swans Their only regular-season clash with the Keas resulted in a nail-biting 24-20 loss at Leslie Park Hornby Panthers have sent their departing trio of club legends – coach Jed Lawrie and evergreens Corey Lawrie (if  he indeed  hangs up the boots) and James Baxendale – out in fitting style taking out the Pat Smith Trophy with nerve-shattering 20-18 CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership grand final victory over a gallant Halswell Hornets outfit The bumper CRL Happy Hire Grand Final Day crowd was treated to yet another title-deciding classic with the Hornets staging a magnificent fightback after the Panthers stormed to a 20-0 halftime lead both appearing in their 13th grand finals were instrumental to the Panthers’ triumph while fullback Sincere Harraway repeated his 2021 feat in carrying off the Mel Cooke Trophy as player of the match in a premiership triumph Josh Everett earned a place in CRL grand final folklore with a second-half hat-trick that catapulted the Hornets to within an ace of victory The ferocity in both sides’ defences during the opening exchanges was palpable but Jordan Kamana made an early break through the middle on halfway for Hornby and Baxendale threaded a grubber through for Seamus Stack to score a few plays later The Panthers raced to a 8-0 lead in the ninth minute after winger Christian Fetu snaffled an intercept and ran 40 metres to score Tyrone Hill’s conversion attempt again hung just wide of the uprights Hornby halfback Muipu Nati’s afternoon ended early courtesy of a brutal collision but the Panthers went further ahead when centre Zinzaan Martin muscled his way over in the 24th minute Hill added the extras from wide out for 14-0 The Hornets supporters found their voice following a magnificent 40/20 from Jacob Nyman but they seemingly watched their premiership dream evaporate seconds later as Martin grabbed another intercept Martin turned a pass under for the quicksilver Stack who outlasted the Halswell defence to finish off an unforgettable 80-metre try the Hornets came out firing to start the second half on the back of a sensational break from veteran three-quarter Nick Evans Josh Everett punched through near the posts for his team’s belated first try on the ensuing play who had been retrenched to the centres after a couple of injuries in the Hornets’ outside-back contingent went in again in the 49th minute with some clever footwork out wide Nyman’s second conversion cut the deficit to eight points discipline and completion rate that characterised their first-half performance eluding them the Panthers found themselves clinging to a 20-18 advantage with 15 minutes remaining Everett powered through after bouncing out of multiple tackles completing a remarkable grand final treble But despite memories of the agonising last-gasp losses to Linwood in the 2022-23 grand finals no doubt seeping in Hornby held its nerve to close out the match with gritty defence and percentage play with the ball in hand Featuring in their eighth decider in nine years the Panthers can revel in just their second triumph during that period – but a Canterbury Rugby League record-extending 17th grand final success the mastermind of a wonderful era for Hornby steps away from the coaching duties – potentially to be succeeded by his older brother – with a richly deserved premiership medal 2024 CRL WHITEHEAD PLUMBING & GAS MEN’S PREMIERSHIP GRAND FINAL Zinzaan Martin tries; Tyrone Hill 2 goals) defeated Halswell Hornets 18 (Josh Everett 3 tries; Jacob Nyman 3 goals) at Ngā Puna Wai Qualifying for the club’s first Pat Smith Trophy Challenge in a decade – on top of their Canterbury Cup side also reaching the decider – and ending Linwood Keas’ quest for a 10th straight grand final it’s already been a watershed season for Halswell Hornets After getting past the bogey of three consecutive preliminary final exits Hornets coach Ray Hubbard reveals the mood around the club is a mixture of elation and relief ahead of Sunday’s CRL Happy Hire Grand Final Day showdown with Hornby Panthers at Ngā Puna Wai it’s been somewhat of a journey running third two years in a row as assistant coach with Walt Wilson then obviously running third last year [as head coach] so we’re certainly pleased to have made it through,” Hubbard says It’s been a process but we’ve been working really hard on our club culture and club unity building up that connection to the club that we play for both playing on Grand Final Day speaks volumes to the work that’s been done across all facets of the club.” While there may be a risk of resting on the laurels of their momentous 26-18 victory over the Keas – premiers in seven of the past eight seasons – at Linwood Park last weekend Hubbard was determined to let his team revel in the achievement in the immediate aftermath Harnessing that enthusiasm shapes as a key part of Halswell’s grand final build-up after the game we were pretty chuffed and excited to get the result and I think it was really important to allow the boys to soak it in and really enjoy the victory and the prospect of playing in a grand final,” the former Canterbury Bulls star asserts “For a lot of them it’s their first time in a GF so you don’t want to smother that or take that away from them though I was sending the boys stuff through Sunday and Monday to keep them engaged we’ll train as a club but we’ll certainly be dialling in to make sure we make the most of the occasion ahead.” HORNETS END KEAS’ REIGN IN PRELIMINARY FINAL STUNNER The Hornets got off to a 3-0 flyer in April including a 28-16 victory over the Panthers at Ngā Puna Wai but were pegged back in an incredibly even CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership competition They lost four of their next five matches mid-season while a 26-12 loss at Hornby in the penultimate round threatened their place in the finals a last-minute Nick Evans try at home against Eastern Eagles snatched a 24-20 win – and third spot on the ladder – in their last regular season game A tense 14-8 elimination semi defeat of Riccarton Knights and the aforementioned upset of the Keas followed presenting the Hornets with an opportunity to secure their first championship since beating Celebration Lions in the 2014 decider through the middle of the year we had some really challenging games … where we were probably on the worse side of the results without actually playing too bad,” Hubbard explains “But we certainly identified areas where we were letting ourselves down in and in the third round we got up for a big win against Riccarton on an important day Then we went out to Leslie Park for [Hornby’s] Club Day and probably didn’t turn up the way we should but the last three games – Eastern in the final round and the two semi-finals – we started to show a bit more determination and grit “Our senior players and leaders really stood up so I think that result out at Hornby might have been a catalyst for a few guys to take some ownership “I still feel like we’ve got plenty under the hood Obviously we want to be peaking for the weekend and if we can improve on what we’ve been doing But I still feel there’s plenty of improvement in us as a team – and that’s exciting “It’s about the boys concentrating and being focused on doing the little things well everything will come off the back of that.” Hornby boast a few psychological edges: wins over Halswell in the 2021-23 preliminary finals as well as the two most recent derbies this season plus a vast advantage in terms of grand final experience The Panthers are lining up in their eighth grand final in nine years – but Hubbard is unfazed by that discrepancy between the archrival clubs what it feels like and what it looks like on Grand Final Day and I think that’s something will excite our guys – going their for the first time “Maybe that comes for Hornby a little bit of pressure to get it right But for us in terms of looking at Hornby as opposition we got one over them at the start of the year and they played pretty well in the next couple but we don’t want to spend too much time focusing on them – we want to get our preparation right and make sure we get to Sunday looking and feeling our best It’s going to be a blockbuster and we’ll just be concerned with what we have to get right who’s played in lots of grand finals – you talk about Linwood-Hornby for the past several years well he’s been a big part of that and he’s really brought an edge to our side that kicks the door down it brings them to life when they’re following through.” Hubbard pinpoints former Panthers forward Tongotongo Antonio Lemalu and veteran skipper Phil Nati as crucial to the Hornets matching the Panthers and laying a platform for the likes of their wizard in the No.1 jersey to weave his magic “They set the tone with their physicality and their presence they just give so much confidence to the players around them,” the coach says of the engine-room trio “But probably the standout has been Ken Tofilau at fullback He’s just such a competitor and he declared to the boys before the game [against Linwood] which was fantastic for an individual to stick their hand up and say they want to be that person “I know it means a lot to these guys – I don’t know if they’re playing their final season of football but certainly as a playing group if we go on [to win] there will be some different faces around the joint So to see Ken really step into that space of leadership he scored an amazing individual try and then played a hand in three tries in the second half Tofilau was part of the Hornets’ 2014 grand final triumph as a teenager before being snapped up by Newcastle Knights and winning a NSW Cup grand final in 2015 He then had a Queensland Cup stint with Central Queensland Capras “What they bring to the table is that experience and fearlessness which has been outstanding,” Hubbard enthuses “But it’s been such a team effort – it’s important to note that we’ve been hit by injuries at time and had to call upon our depth in our reserve grade squad “Every player that’s come up has done a good job us so it really makes a difference to what we look like and feel like as a club That’s reflected by us having two teams in the grand final.” Hubbard is a Papanui junior who starred for the Bartercard Cup-winning Canterbury Bulls in 2000 scoring over 200 points in the historic success the overlap in that competition and the local premiership prevented him from playing for Papanui in that year’s grand final – won by Halswell After a decade with Queensland Cup side Burleigh Bears he went to northern NSW and fell into the head coach role with Cugden Hornets after starting as strength and conditioning coach Falling a game short of a grand final in three straight seasons with Cudgen the parallels for Hubbard in his current tenure with Halswell extend beyond the clubs’ shared name When Hubbard returned to New Zealand and attended the funeral of the Bulls’ 2000 title-winning coach Gerard Stokes Halswell legend Jeff Whittaker talked him into becoming involved with the club “I’m just so lucky to be part of it and be back in the Canterbury Rugby League community – rugby league people are just special whether it’s people you played with or against reconnecting with it has been so special for me,” says Hubbard who works fulltime for New Zealand Rugby League as a National Game Development Officer “After coming back not wanting to be involved in the game it’s pretty much become my whole life – as it has been since I was 16 or 17 years old It would make me really proud to honour the club by getting that one more victory.” Hubbard’s rugby league journey comes full circle this weekend recalling his first year playing the game as a youngster for Marist-Western Suburbs in 1988 – the same year that club featured in a grand final against Halswell seeing streamers and balloons lining the road and I’m thinking I’m sure we’re going to get plenty of parochial supporters The fixture itself I think is going to be a real throwback and we’ll see a lot of things that will remind people of perhaps what it was like in the ’80s and ’90s.” As Halswell Hornets prepare to take on ladder-leading 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 1995 decider Linwood built an imposing 15-0 lead through tries to Maurice Emslie and Tony Sweetman along with three goals and field goal to five-eighth Richard Horlor Halswell’s dicey prospects of a fight-back had been dealt a savage blow when captain Glenn Grut was sent off for a high tackle before winger Kelly Wood was despatched to the sin-bin Coach Phil Prescott injected Walter Wilson at fullback – and the switch paid immediate dividends The club great put the 11-man Hornets on the board by setting up and finishing off their first try with hooker Andrew Brown earning a stint in the sin-bin before Paul Ogle crossed for Halswell to cut the deficit to just five points Horlor pushed the scoreline back out to 19-10 with a try but Linwood missed a couple of subsequent opportunities and Justin Wallace dotted down to bring Halswell back to within three points and set up a grandstand finish Canterbury Country Cardinals Lion Red Cup star Glenn Coughlan clinched an incredible victory when he sliced through with two minutes remaining grabbing a 20-19 result and Halswell’s first title since 1988 Halswell five-eighth Glenn Coughlan’s last-gasp try snatched a 20-19 win over Linwood in the 1995 decider Future Canterbury Bulls  and premiership-winning Halswell coach Darrell Coad came off the bench for the Hornets while the Linwood side included the late Teni Tuli Coughlan later took out the ’95 Canterbury Player of the Year award Teenaged Papanui centre Kori Norton won the AG Bailey Cup as the competition’s top try-scorer while Hornby hooker Neil Kerepa was the top point-scorer with 104 Craig McLintock celebrates the Hornets’ 1995 grand final win Glenn Coughlan tries; Coughlan 2 goals) defeated Linwood 19 (Maurice Emslie Richard Horlor tries; Horlor 3 goals; Horlor field goal) Sources: Lion Red Annual 1995 (compiled by Bernie Wood) Hard Yards – Rugby League in Canterbury 1912-2012 (by John Coffey) Main image: Halswell captain Glenn Grut – already showered and dressed after being sent off – holds up the Pat Smith Challenge Trophy after his shorthanded side went on to win the 1995 grand final without him Eastern Eagles have outlasted Halswell Hornets in the CRL ISC Sports Canterbury Cup grand final 14-6 The Eagles scored the only two tries of the second half to subdue the minor premiership-winning Hornets reversing the clubs’ major semi-final result from a fortnight earlier A frantic opening period featured missed opportunities punishing defence and an electric atmosphere created by passionate fanbases on both Ngā Puna field 2 embankments Centre Solomon Leatherby belatedly opened the scoring for the Eagles with a 32nd-minute try but Hornets prop Alex Levien hit back almost immediately for a 6-all halftime scoreboard Eastern took the ascendancy with unconverted tries to Tyrone Stowers and Alesana Taefu before the hour mark The Eagles maintained that eight-point buffer until fulltime spending most the final quarter camped on their own line but repelling repeated waves of desperate Hornets attack Alesana Taefu; Shannon Sweeney goal) defeated Halswell Hornets 6 (Alex Levien try; Josh Levien goal) at Ngā Puna Wai There have been 3766 new residential building consents approved between September 2023 and September 2024 a 6.7 per cent increase on the 3531 dwellings consented for the previous 12-month period Multi-unit dwellings like apartments make up about 50 per cent of the consents Oakridge Homes has bought up land in Halswell and Belfast over the past six months with about 100 standalone homes planned on the newly acquired sections The developer is relatively new to the market but it has grown to become one of the largest offering house-and-land packages in Canterbury Director James Parker said the land purchases are about meeting buyer demand and building the three-to-four-bedroom family homes his company specialises in “We’re looking to maintain our position so we need to increase our land purchases to meet customer requirements We’re seeing a pick up in the number of people buying and forecasting that there will be more,” he said Oakridge is building about 50 homes in the Milns Green subdivision near Halswell Domain with the exact number dependent on final plans The homes will have an asking price of $800,000 to $850,000 About 50 homes are also being built on land purchased in the Spring Grove subdivision in Belfast with an asking price of $750,000 to $800,000 Parker sees lower interest rates as a key driver for customers’ increased confidence in the housing market “There’s been a lot of negative press over the past two years There’s a lot of people who might have said ‘it’s not the right time for them’ who are now adding to the pent-up demand for homes.” Developer giant Williams Corporation has been buying more land in the central city and inner suburbs since January “We still see central Christchurch as an undervalued market and an excellent place for first-time buyers and investors because the infrastructure around the city is amazing,” said general manager Kathryn Marshall there will be 30 townhouses available in Bath St and 24 in Allen St with a price range of $373,000 to $499,000 26 townhouses will be built in the central city ranging from $391,000 to $525,000 with four standalone homes being built further out on the road in Waltham These will range from $439,000 to $479,000 “We’re seeing a real confidence developing with lower interest rates and the coalition Government saying they will tackle the cost of living,” said Marshall Co-founders Matthew Horncastle and Blair Chappell have been selling personal and business assets including a $6 million home in Merivale Marshall says the company is refocusing its building efforts in the more lucrative central city The asset sell-off has been justified as an attempt to craft a more relatable brand for customers Positive market trends extend to the Selwyn District with building consents increasing from a year-on-year 43 per cent decrease in March to a year-on-year 7 per cent decrease in September Builders like Today Homes have been buying sections on a larger scale for the first time in recent years in Lincoln and Rolleston subdivisions Sunday’s Canterbury rugby league premiership grand final against Halswell Hornets at Ngā Puna Wai will be the 44-year-old hooker’s last match as he retires from playing duties and head coach Jed Lawrie – Corey’s younger brother – is stepping down after nine years at the helm who has also played for the Warriors and English club Doncaster said the team wouldn’t be focusing on any of that come Sunday with the Panthers looking to overturn the results of the last two grand finals “I think the last few years we got caught up with emotions worrying about someone’s last game or this or that,” he said “It takes away from what we’re trying to do “This year we’re just trying to do it for ourselves really not trying to focus on any one individual.” Lawrie said he’d be interested in the vacant head coach role – looking to follow in his brother’s footsteps “Someone’s got to step in so I’ll throw my name forward and even if there’s a better person I can put in the aid and help them out a bit “It’d be great if there was a real good coach and then I can just be in the system Jed Lawrie said it would mean a lot to finish on a high and bring the Pat Smith Trophy back to Hornby “We’ve come up short a few times but obviously we put in all this hard work from the moment we hit pre-season in December for this opportunity so bringing it home is going to be special if we can do it.” Head coach Ray Hubbard said it was special for the club to be back in the grand final Our season’s been centred around a slogan of “better than yesterday” which is attached to the outcomes of the past and ways that we can improve to get different outcomes “So we come into a weekend just knowing that if we can be near our best and look to improve on that Halswell captain Phil Nati was in the losing Lions side but did claim the 2011 title with the Hornets in his first stint at the club He was trying to impart some of that experience on his teammates who had never played at this stage before “(I’ve) had a couple of teammates ask what should they do or what should they expect and I couldn’t help myself but throw the same old cliché that you’ll hear in most sports finals ‘it’s pretty much just like any other game’,” Nati said “With all the excitement and the occasion and the noise from family and friends and supporters you’ve just got to be able to find the balance and ability to block it out and literally just approach it like it’s another game.” The grand final on Sunday is another chapter in the memorable rivalry between Hornby and Halswell The 1984 grand final would be the first of four consecutive deciders as the two clubs ruled the roost through the mid-80s Hornby notched back-to-back titles with the 22-12 victory The 1985 season produced one of the most dramatic grand finals in CRL history But the mercurial Phil Bancroft snatched the Kevin Williams coached Halswell’s maiden championship with an unforgettable 47-metre field goal as the siren sounded Halswell rallied from a patchy regular season in 1986 to reach the grand final from fourth but fell to Hornby 20-5 who lost just two games under the coaching of Frank Endacott it was that man Bancroft who again who stole the show The new millennium has seen three-more westside derbies on CRL Grand Final Day with the Panthers prevailing 28-18 in the 2001 decider – with Wallace as coach – and breaking Hornets hearts with consecutive extra-time triumphs in 2012 (19-18) and 2012 (22-20) Wild deer were on the loose in the Halswell area but it's not clear who will pay for damage the animals caused to residents' property Locals are questioning how they’re going to pay for damage to their cars and houses after wild deer ran rampant in Christchurch’s Halswell on Sunday When one of the animals rammed a hole in his roof Halswell resident Sam Palmer took to social media … but seriously if anyone knows the farmer or the farm it came from I’d like to see if I have liability insurance?” he said Christchurch City Council said the animals were not tagged and therefore outside their jurisdiction “The council does not manage wild animals,” said a council spokesperson It’s been two days since the incident and Palmer still doesn’t know who’s going to pay for the damage the deer caused “I don’t think I’ll go for insurance because the excess will be more than it costs to fix… I don’t think Mother Nature has insurance either,” he said “They’ve put up the title as ‘deerly loved’,” he said At least three deer were spotted on Sunday with photos showing damage to a vehicle and houses A police spokesperson said they had received a couple of reports of deer being seen in the Halswell area Sunday afternoon One resident shared an image online of one of the deer galloping down the middle of a road There’s been no reported sightings of the deer since 5pm on Sunday Sign up to The Daily H a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday Deer have been on the loose in a Christchurch suburb with one reportedly hitting a car and another causing damage to a house A police spokesperson said there had been several reports of deer being seen in the Halswell area since 1pm on Sunday One such sighting related to a car being damaged "One of those related to a car hitting a deer There had not been any further sightings of deer since 5.30pm Christchurch City Council said animal management staff had received a call about the deer The deer were last seen by officers two hours ago Halswell resident Sam Palmer said one of the deer had caused damage to his house and I noticed some damage to the eaves of our house Palmer said he thought the damage might have been caused by vandalism until he saw a video of the deer on his street "I put two and two together and that explained the smell and the hairs on the window." So it had hit the window and gone upwards through the eaves of our house." "If you know a builder that's not too deer A team of hunters heads out every five weeks to a hill country farm to harvest deer meat for Tai Rawhiti's food banks which have been under pressure after devastating weather hit the region this year… Video horses in Wairoa are going to auction for $20 to $100 a pop Could there really be a black panther or a puma living in Canterbury Christchurch osteopath Mark Orr was mountain biking on the Perseverance track near Hanmer Springs when he told Checkp… Video For more than 50 years the presence of wild puma-like cats in the South Island has been a keenly debated topic Two sightings of "monstrous" cats earlier this month in North Canterbury have again… Audio Rumours of a South Island black panther have resurfaced after a sighting on Friday night New Zealand RSS Follow RNZ News Security camera footage captured three deer as they wandered outside a house in Halswell this afternoon. "I heard some noise in the driveway and went outside to check. There were three big deer in my driveway and I rushed back inside scared," witness Manvi Tandon told 1News. "They ran away hearing the door sound and rushed towards an empty section area and jumped." Photographs also showed a deer behind a fence, and another running down a street. Police said it had received "several reports" of deer being seen in the area. "One of those related to a car hitting a deer," a spokesperson said. "However, the deer ran off into bushes." The driver was "OK" following the incident, but their vehicle was "a bit damaged". CCTV footage shows the deer wandering the streets of Halswell around 1pm. (Source: Supplied) Runaway deer have been spotted running amok in suburban Christchurch today. A deer seen behind a fence in Halswell, Christchurch. (Source: Supplied) Owner prosecuted after dog starves to death SPCA inspectors found evidence suggesting Mike had been tethered to the same spot "for an extended period" Crime and Justice Three in hospital after Christchurch house fire Emergency services were called to Warrington Street in Mairehau at around 8.05am New Zealand Stowaway weka catches ride across Southern Alps The native bird caught a ride after a couple left their car door open at their campsite Christchurch's Court Theatre makes grand return to the CBD It's been 14 years since the theatre lost its home in the Arts Centre to the earthquake Chch students discover resilience helps young people deal with the challenges of life State of emergency lifted for Christchurch Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger said there were still a "couple of issues in Banks Peninsula that we need to keep an eye on" Watch question time live as Parliament resumes after recess 24 mins ago Bystanders prevent attempted abduction of Auckland primary student 36 mins ago Homicide investigation after man dies in Auckland's Manurewa 43 mins ago Vandals in 4WDs mow down, destroy 38 pōhutukawa trees in Napier 1:14pm DOC apologises after non-toxic pellets spark warning at Nelson sandflats 1:08pm Ex-NZ police head Mike Bush appointed to overhaul Victoria force 14 mins ago 1Two men's shared name brings years of trouble and a hefty bill to one Kiwi motorcyclist killed in 11-bike British Supersport crash Photos: Lorde among stars at 2025 Met Gala Erica Stanford concedes use of personal email 'untidy' Govt halts all current pay equity claims, makes it harder to lodge new ones Photos: Lorde among stars at 2025 Met Gala A$AP Rocky and Rihanna also revealed they are expecting their third child. Two arrested over alleged plot targeting Lady Gaga concert in RioBrazilian police said they thwarted an alleged bomb attack planned for Lady Gaga's concert on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro. Lady Gaga rocks Copacabana Beach with free concert for over 2 million fansSun, May 4 Lorde announces new album name, dateThu, May 1 Kim Kardashian to testify in Paris trial over 2016 armed robberyMon, Apr 28 Chubby Checker, Outkast, Cyndi Lauper join Rock & Roll Hall of FameMon, Apr 28 Kim Kardashian to testify in Paris trial over 2016 armed robberyMon Runaway deer have been spotted running amok in suburban Christchurch today Security camera footage captured three deer as they wandered outside a house in Halswell this afternoon "I heard some noise in the driveway and went outside to check There were three big deer in my driveway and I rushed back inside scared," witness Manvi Tandon told 1News Photographs also showed a deer behind a fence Police said it had received "several reports" of deer being seen in the area "One of those related to a car hitting a deer," a spokesperson said The driver was "OK" following the incident but their vehicle was "a bit damaged" A Southland man whose dog was found starved to death has been sentenced to community work was found dead in his kennel by Invercargill City Council Animal Control officers in June 2023 SPCA inspectors executed a search warrant and found evidence which suggested Mike had been tethered to the same spot "for an extended period" with a rusty chain He was prosecuted for failing to seek veterinary care for the severely malnourished dog The ground Mike was restricted to was described as "worn down" "His body was in extremely poor condition and pelvis were clearly visible," SPCA said A post-mortem confirmed the dog had the lowest possible body condition score which suggested Mike had been starved over several weeks His stomach and intestines were "almost entirely empty" The offender admitted he had not checked on the dog for "about a week" The man claimed he had not contacted a vet or the SPCA because he could not afford to do so He was sentenced to 200 hours of community service at the Invercargill District Court after pleading guilty to charges relating to the treatment of Mike He was also ordered to pay reparations of $233.88 for veterinary costs and $500 towards legal costs He was disqualified from owning dogs for a period of five years SPCA chief executive Todd Westwood said Mike's death was the result of neglect that could have been avoided This case is a clear reminder that if an animal is unwell It’s a basic responsibility of pet ownership,” he said He said prolonged tethering was "unacceptable and heartbreaking", which was why the SPCA advocated for new regulations that would be released later this year "The prolonged tethering of dogs is an issue that our inspectors deal with daily While it is difficult to gather accurate numbers it is safe to say this issue impacts the lives of thousands of dogs in New Zealand." Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard said in April that the new regulations would give animal welfare inspectors the tools to intervene quickly when dogs are suffering harm from being tied up for long periods Hoggard said he had "been hearing a lot from members of the public" who want to see action taken" on the issue of dog chaining "Most dog owners in New Zealand treat their animals well and these regulations will have little to no impact upon them," he said "I’m confident these regulations will result in better outcomes for those dogs "We have a few steps to follow to get these proposals ready to become law but it is my expectation that these will be finalised by the end of the year That will be followed by a short period with a focus on education so that all dog owners understand their obligations and to allow those who need to make changes time to adapt." The changes agreed on through Cabinet included: A law change was first proposed and consulted on two years ago Nearly 30,000 people signed a petition to Parliament on the issue in 2021 A weka who travelled from the West Coast to Christchurch over the Alps has been returned home after his roadie adventure The endemic bird caught a ride after a couple left their car door open at their campsite in Buller Gorge while packing up from their Easter getaway The gear was split between campers Kim Ranger and her partner Ian's two vehicles hidden in dog blankets in Ian's ute despite multiple stops He got home to Christchurch and hopped out and didn’t notice the weka," Kim said I opened the back door of the Ranger to get something there it was in the rear passenger footwell what on earth do you do with a weka in Christchurch?”  Kim said they contacted the after-hours vet SPCA and DOC but were told to care for the bird until morning Apart from setting off the car alarm at 7am and covering the inside of the ute with poo Kim said the weka didn't seem distressed after her last name and given its temporary home Ranger was collected by DOC and checked over at the South Island Wildlife Hospital where — apart from being slightly dehydrated — was in good health and was released back to the area from where it hitched a ride DOC Biodiversity supervisor Craig Alexander said the episode was a reminder for people to check their vehicles for any wildlife when camping “There are no wild weka in Christchurch so we wouldn’t want to see them accidentally introduced here.”  we also had someone accidentally bring two wētā over from the West Coast in their wetsuits,” said Alexander If you find a native animal has snuck a ride somewhere it shouldn't be; contact DOC on 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468) for advice on what to do next Christchurch’s Court Theatre has made its grand return to the city more than a decade after losing its home due to damage caused caused by the February 2011 earthquake A new location was found in Addington following the quake people queued to get a look at its brand new forever home The first reactions as people walked through the doors were all very positive I’m really excited to see lots of shows here,” one theatregoer said It’s such a moment for the city," another added The state of the art facility on Gloucester St houses two theatres – one large auditorium that seats 377 stopped by with his family to give it a once-over "We thought we'd pop down and see the new opening and I’m quite interested in architecture and was quite excited to see the building," his father said Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger described the project as a turning point for the city “Its return to the CBD is more than symbolic – it’s a celebration of what we can achieve when we work together," he said the theatre is expected to grow significantly It currently produces 20 shows annually with a combined audience of 120,000 Court Theatre executive director Gretchen La Roche said the new building "represents a transformative moment for the city’s arts scene” Artistic director Alison Walls called it symbolic and stirring “It feels beautifully fitting we open our new home with this deeply personal national story." Twelve Year 10 students from Christchurch’s Hornby High School have just finished a two-week wilderness adventure as part of Project K The Graeme Dingle Foundation runs the 14-month programme which is designed to help young people deal with the challenges of life 1News were there as the group returned on mountain bikes They were given a rousing guard of honour by fellow students and showered in love and hugs by their families Tania Mulholland greeted her son Toby McLeish with a tight hug "It's been a really long two weeks without him," she said getting them to achieve things that they've never done before so I think it’s great," she said Kayla said she has learnt "to never give up and to keep trying" Felt like I just wanted to go home but I just pushed through The teens trekked through native bush and arduous terrain near Otira One student said the tasks brought out the best in each of them "You'll feel scared and lonely and down and you just need to push through because you can do this," they said The students were nominated by their teachers to take part Hornby High School principal Ian Murray said those who were chosen had the "best opportunity to grow resilience and character to help them through the challenges that some of them may have been facing at the time" Their final task was to deliver a speech about what they’ve learnt I pushed myself beyond my limits and realised I had more to me than I thought," Kayla told the audience The Graeme Dingle Foundation's general manager for the Canterbury region said they've seen students flourish after going through the programme “We've seen them from students that have got their shoulders down and their heads down chin up and just beaming that they've overcome some amazing obstacles," she said The Graeme Dingle Foundation supports 27,000 young people to undertake a similar journey of discovery each year The state of emergency put in place in response to flooding has been lifted for Christchurch but remains in place for Banks Peninsula Mayor Phil Mauger said things in Christchurch had settled down but that there were still a couple of issues in Banks Peninsula the council "need to keep an eye on" "It’s good to have access to powers under the State of Emergency if they’re required and some land instability that needs to be monitored," he said "Although we are transitioning into a recovery period we are still keeping a close eye on the stormwater basins to ensure we keep any disruption to a minimum." Lifting the state of emergency for the Banks Peninsula ward would be assessed next week which reconnected Banks Peninsula with the rest of the region but some smaller roads across the peninsula remained closed Most roads across Christchurch were now open Lower Styx Rd from number 980 to the lagoon These roads were impacted by the managed release of water from stormwater basins which continued to drain slowly The landslip at Lighthouse Rd in Akaroa continues to be regularly monitored with no changes in the past 24 hours A temporary pump installed has now stopped wastewater entering Akaroa Harbour but residents were asked to continue to limit demand on the wastewater system Vandals in four-wheel drives have mown down 38 pōhutukawa trees on Napier’s Marine Parade The damage was done overnight on Saturday after the vandals first removed new vehicle barriers in front of the trees She said the council was concerned at the behaviour and said an early estimate to replace the damage came to $20,000 "These trees were planted for our community by the Rotary Club as a gift over the past five years," Wise said "There are lots of community groups who work alongside us to make sure Napier has places and spaces that are beautiful and welcoming and Rotary is a key partner in projects like this one "It is heartbreaking to see community resources time and energy treated in this way," she said "The damage was done by people in 4WD vehicles after removing the vehicle barriers and driving over the trees Our parks' team is looking closely at the cost to replace them and at how to ensure the trees are kept safe." recently erected along Marine Parade to keep vehicles off the beach but there was no evidence to suggest the vandalism was related to that to be installed from the National Aquarium of NZ to the Pump Track were to prevent vehicles from tearing up the grass and destroying trees fishermen profiled in a Hawke’s Bay Today article last week said it was a case of blocking their access to prevent "idiots" "It’s not going to stop the idiots doing the damage," one noted Napier City Council has reported the incident to police Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air The Department of Conservation has apologised to Nelson City Council and members of the public after non-toxic pellets left behind following a drone trial sparked concern among residents who believed them to be poisonous The incident unfolded following a drone-based experiment conducted last week at the Wakapuaka sandflats located northeast of Nelson DOC terrestrial biodiversity director Hilary Aikman said the trial was part of an ongoing study to test the effectiveness of aerial detection methods "They used non-toxic pellets for this research dyed blue to make them easier to see," she said a drone was used to photograph the area where the pellets lay leading to a member of the public walking their dog reporting them to Nelson City Council on Monday The council issued a warning shortly before 3pm yesterday that green or blue poisonous pellets which were "highly toxic" to animals and humans had been located in the area "There is no indication of how they got there and the matter has been reported to the police," said community services group manager Andrew White in a statement to 1News last night once DOC had clarified the origin and nature of the pellets the council said this morning that the issue had been resolved "The area is safe for recreational users and dog walkers." Aikman said DOC would like to apologise to Nelson City Council and members of the public "We acknowledge the non-toxic pellets should have been removed on the day of the trial and we made an error in judgement by leaving them there." The team would remove any pellets remaining in the area today Former police commissioner Mike Bush has been tasked with leading one Australian state's troubled force out of the mire after months of internal woes Bush has been named Victoria's next chief commissioner and will take over on June 27 Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan said her government had "picked the right man for the job," pointing to his job performance across the ditch "Mike Bush will bring new leadership to Victoria Police," she told reporters "He made the community safer in New Zealand and he'll make the community safer in Victoria." Opposition police spokesperson in Victoria said the new commissioner must not be set up to fail and be able to carry out the job without political interference and the powers required to do the job effectively," Southwick said Bush retired from the New Zealand police force in 2020 after six years in the top job Victoria Police was thrust into leadership turmoil in February with a no-confidence vote from officers costing chief commissioner Shane Patton his job The state government installed Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent as acting chief while it searched for a replacement Nugent was viewed as a frontrunner for the vacant role but pulled out after admitting he didn't have the drive to commit to a five-year term The force has not appointed a top cop from outside Victoria Police since former NSW police assistant commissioner Christine Nixon in 2001 Nixon described Bush as a calm and considered leader "He'll be very focused on working with the Victorian community members of Victoria Police and the government to .. push things to the future," she told ABC Radio Melbourne Bush joined the New Zealand police in 1978 spending his career on the frontline and the criminal investigation branch Bush oversaw the police response to the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings led the force during the Covid-19 pandemic and the Whakaari volcano eruption he became a private investigator and ran his own international consulting firm Bush made headlines in 2022 when he unsuccessfully applied to become the head of the Metropolitan Police in the UK and it was uncovered he had a drink-driving conviction He was a 23-year-old detective constable at the time and disqualified from driving for six months Shane William Pritchard has been charged with crimes he didn’t commit and chased for debts he doesn’t owe That’s because the Dunedin man is not the only Shane William Pritchard in town While the duo’s shared name and age has sometimes been a handy loophole for one Shane for the other it has caused problems for 36 years It’s been years of fearing every knock on the door Years of wondering if he’ll be hand-cuffed and taken to jail to be honest,” says Shane William Pritchard a scout and a member of the Air Training Corp remembers getting quite a shock when her friend called one evening She'd been acting as a referee for a gun licence for Shane whose friend informed her that the police had a long list of offences against Shane’s name Not long after that the police turned up to where Shane was working at the local tannery to arrest him “You're scrambling in your head to think of ways that you can prove it's not you.” Another Shane William Pritchard had been born in Otago They were separated by just two weeks and about 50 miles – one growing up in Mosgiel the other in Milton – but also by the lives they’d been leading To watch the full video story go to TVNZ+ Shane from Milton had huge problems focusing at school He was raised in foster care and then boys’ homes I just wanted to look cool and get in trouble,” he tells Fair Go Milton Shane was used to run-ins with police he got pulled over in his car and asked about his driving licence one’s got a licence and the other hasn’t.’ And I’m like ‘obviously it must be the one with a licence’.” he went to his bank to draw out an ACC payment and was asked which bank account was his He says that at that point he was trying to figure out what was going on “I thought it was just an error.” But he took advantage of the situation and withdrew a large sum of cash Mosgiel Shane became aware of the withdrawal when a scheduled car payment was declined and when Milton Shane turned up at the bank to withdraw more money Identity fraud was considered but Milton Shane was legitimately expecting an ACC payment so the withdrawal appeared to be a genuine mistake and the police couldn’t take any action 'Anything I could get away with Mosgiel Shane thought the bank incident would have alerted police to the problem But his nemesis had cottoned on to the advantages of having a second identity to use Milton Shane acquired a suite of furniture on hire-purchase Milton-Shane clocked up more driving offences Mosgiel Shane thought about changing his name but realised he’d have to provide his previous name in the process the courts and debt collectors such as Baycorp should be able to distinguish between himself and Milton Shane The police first addressed the issue in the 1990s after Mosgiel Shane went to the media He was given a letter to carry with him should he be apprehended He and his parents felt his situation wasn’t being taken seriously Mosgiel Shane went to the media a second time in the mid-2000s the police gave their word that a record in their system would stop the misidentification from happening again This does appear to have worked as far as police action goes But while Mosgiel Shane was given the same reassurance by the Ministry of Justice he continued to receive demands from the courts for unpaid fines He’d also get stopped and questioned whenever he left the country for work trips or holidays It took a huge toll on Mosgiel Shane’s mental health not realising the constant stress it placed on his life John Pritchard says that at times his son felt his life wasn’t worth living worrying about what he was going to do to himself and that really ate me up.” he and his son were in tears as Shane admitted he was at breaking point He described going for days at a time unable to eat or sleep wondering what might happen next "Am I going to be in a position where they've got me in handcuffs or I've got debt collectors coming to the door?" ...You're spiralling into this black hole." He started taking anti-anxiety medication which helped And events regarding Milton Shane seemed to settle Milton Shane was charged for fishing without a licence in Twizel and failing to comply with fisheries officers But a court registrar incorrectly entered the birth date of Mosgiel Shane in the system both Shanes were being chased to pay the $1530 fine It was Mosgiel Shane who spotted the error and rang the court He also sent a statement from his manager saying he’d not been fishing in Twizel that day The reply he got was to say he’d been given the wrong form and that they wouldn’t accept his proof They just wanted to know how I was going to pay the fine.” The first Milton Shane knew about this was when Fair Go told him Mosgiel Shane had been chased for the fine He was told to pay up or face the consequences feeling he shouldn’t have to pay good money to correct someone else’s mistake But it cost Mosgiel Shane over $5000 in legal fees and took months of back and forth between him “Why should anybody have to pay their own money to right somebody else's wrongs and prove who they are I’m sick and tired of proving who I am all the time.” He wanted the Ministry of Justice to take responsibility and reimburse him for his legal costs saying court staff such as the registrar in this case have immunity if they make mistakes such as the one made here and if I make a mistake and it's affecting my client that it's going to cost them money to rectify a mistake that I've made.” he deserves a million apologies from those guys,” she says Milton Shane told Fair Go he still gets in trouble but wants the other Shane to know he doesn’t use his birth date anymore And he had a message for him: “We’ve got to get it sorted for you so you can have a good life with you and your family because I’m trying to get my life together with my son and my grandson” He offers to meet to see if they can sort it out together but I’m not interested in meeting him,.” says Mosgiel Shane He says he doesn’t hold any grudges and accepts Milton Shane’s apology And he believes the only way for that to happen is for the courts and the Ministry of Justice to give him a guarantee that mix-ups won’t occur in the future Fair Go asked the Ministry of Justice to appear in person to apologise and provide reassurance to Shane of its plans to guard against these mistakes The Ministry declined our request to be on camera saying any comment on an individual case would compromise the independence of the courts as the Ministry operates separately But it did send a written apology directly to Mosgiel Shane It also admitted mistakes can occur in clerical records but said instructions were clear and the importance of getting things right had been emphasised to staff Mosgiel Shane isn’t totally convinced that’s the end of it “All I want is for the Ministry of Justice and the courts to do their job I'd like to live without this hanging over me all the time his criminal check has come back showing a clean slate The government is making it harder to make a claim for pay equity that will cut costs There have been massive pay equity claims in recent years for nurses and resthome workers Workplace Minister Brooke van Velden announced the moves to raise the threshold for proving work has been historically undervalued to support a claim on Tuesday saying changes back in 2020 had created problems "Claims have been able to progress without strong evidence of undervaluation and there have been very broad claims where it is difficult to tell whether differences in pay are due to sex-based discrimination or other factors." Claims were concentrated in the public sector with costs to the Crown of all settlements so far totalling $1.78 billion a year "The changes I am proposing will significantly reduce costs to the Crown," she said "The changes will discontinue current pay equity claims." Van Velden told Midday Report she believes in pay equity but the current thresholds were "a bit too loose" Asked how she ensure women were not hurt by this the minister said "I'm a woman and I support women who work" "I also support removing gender based discriminations from our workforces but what I don't support are muddied laws and unclear laws," she said "So these changes are better for all women who are working where we can genuinely say hand on heart that what they are finding with their claims is genuine gender based discrimination." Van Velden told reporters at Parliament any current claims would be stopped and need to restart under the new threshold to show "genuine" gender discrimination and make sure the comparators were right She gave a figure of 33 current claims that would be stopped as the legislation was put through under urgency "You have librarians who've been comparing themselves to transport engineers We have admin and clerical staff at Health New Zealand comparing themselves to mechanical engineers." Social workers had compared themselves to air traffic controllers "We don't believe we have that setting right." Any comparison would now be between female employees and male employees at the same employer "But you cannot go fishing for discrimination across the New Zealand workforce." All current settled claims would continue but the government was drawing "a line in the sand" "We're not stopping claims." The nurse's union has this year had at least 10 pay equity claims in play The PSA union has said pay equity claims and settlements had resulted in significant improvements in pay and working conditions for many workers The union said the changes would make it "impossible for people in female-dominated professions to be paid fairly" "Women across the country will pay the price for this," PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said "The government's changes today are a dark day for New Zealand women as the government says it will repeal the pay equity law and extinguish 33 existing claims in a constitutional overreach "The PSA is exploring all possible avenues to oppose these unconstitutional amendments and stop this attack on women We will not be deterred in our fight to achieve pay equity for all." "This is a blatant and shameful attack on women," New Zealand Nurses organisation chief executive Paul Goulter said "Women in workforces predominantly performed by female employees have been underpaid and undervalued for generations That is what pay equity claims seek to rectify," he said "This move by the government will widen the pay gap between men and women." The union had at least 10 pay current pay claims across Aged Care These cover many nurses and support workers The E tū union also called the changes an attack on women and a green light to pay them less for work of equal value The government was pulling the rug out from under a 13-year-long fight in aged care "These changes are not about evidence — they are about saving money by keeping women underpaid," national secretary Rachel Mackintosh said in a statement A number of unions have called a snap rally at Parliament at 1pm today in light of the announcement the Council of Trade Unions and representatives of other unions say they will be "protesting the government's attack on women and the destruction of progress on pay equity..." rnz.co.nz Lady Gaga gave a free concert Saturday night in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach for the biggest show of her career (...) Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd kicked off the show at around 22.10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary Cries of joy rose from the tightly-packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand Concert organisers said 2.1 million people attended the show switching between an array of dresses including one with the colours of the Brazilian flag Some fans – many of them young – arrived on the beach at the crack of dawn to secure a good spot “Today is the best day of my life,” said Manoela Dobes a 27-year-old designer who was wearing a dress plastered with a photograph from when she met Lady Gaga in the United States in 2019 Madonna also turned Copacabana Beach into a massive dance floor last year The large-scale performances are part of an effort led by City Hall to boost economic activity after Carnival and New Years’ Eve festivities and the upcoming month-long Saint John’s Day celebrations in June “It brings activity to the city during what was previously considered the low season – filling hotels and increasing spending in bars generating jobs and income for the population,” said Osmar Lima the city’s secretary of economic development in a statement released by Rio City Hall’s tourism department last month Rio’s City Hall said in a recent report that around 1.6 million people were expected to attend Lady Gaga's concert and that the show should inject at least 600 million reais (NZ$178.3 million) into Rio’s economy Similar concerts are scheduled to take place every year in May at least until 2028 Lady Gaga arrived in Rio in the early hours of Tuesday The city has been alive with Gaga-mania since as it geared up to welcome the pop star for her first show in the country since 2012 Rio’s metro employees danced to Lady Gaga’s 2008 hit song LoveGame and gave instructions for today in a video A free exhibition celebrating her career sold out While the vast majority of attendees were from Rio the event also attracted Brazilians from across the country and international visitors More than 500,000 tourists poured into the city in the days leading up to the show according to data from the local bus station and Tom Jobim airport Rio’s City Hall said in a statement yesterday made a cross-continent trip from Colombia to Brazil to attend the show “I’ve been a 100% fan of Lady Gaga my whole life,” said Serrano who was wearing a T-shirt featuring Lady Gaga’s outlandish costumes over the years the mega-star represents “total freedom of expression – being who one wants without shame” Rio officials have a history of organising huge concerts on Copacabana Beach Madonna’s show drew an estimated 1.6 million fans last year while 4 million people flooded onto the beach for a 1994 New Year’s Eve show by Rod Stewart in 1994 that was the biggest free rock concert in history sixteen sound towers were spread along the beach Rio state’s security plan included the presence of 3300 military and 1500 police officers Among those present were Lady Gaga admirers who remember their disappointment in 2017 when the artist cancelled a performance scheduled in Rio at the last minute due to health issues “She's the best artist in the world,” the 25-year-old said I love you” in Portuguese rose from the crowd behind him whose real name is Ella Yelich O'Connor which also displayed what appears to be the album cover art — an X-ray of a pelvis "100% written in blood," the website read The new album's announcement came a week after she released her latest single What Was That The song's music video was filmed at a mysterious pop-up event in New York City's Washington Square Park that was initially shut down by police. The event ended up going ahead after all, and fans who stayed got to hear the new song for the first time. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lorde (@lorde) It was the first sign of a follow-up to Lorde's previous album Her other albums were 2013's Pure Heroine and 2017's Melodrama she collaborated with British singer Charli XCX on a remix of Girl so confusing — on a re-release of the Grammy award-winning Brat Kim Kardashian thought she was going to be raped and killed when criminals broke into her bedroom in central Paris tied her up and stole more than US$6 million in jewellery 10 people will go on trial in Paris over the robbery abduction and kidnapping of the media personality and the concierge of the residence where she was staying during Paris Fashion Week the night of October 2 Kardashian’s lawyers said she will testify in person at the trial starting Monday and scheduled to run through May 23 "Ms Kardashian is reserving her testimony for the court and jury and does not wish to elaborate further at this time," they said "She has great respect and admiration for the French justice system and has been treated with great respect by the French authorities "She wishes the trial to proceed in an orderly fashion in accordance with French law and with respect for all parties to the case." In interviews and on her family’s reality TV show Kardashian has described being terrified as robbers pointed a gun at her In a 2020 appearance on David Letterman’s Netflix show she tearfully recalled thinking: "This is the time I’m going to get raped Twelve people were originally expected in the defendants’ box and another is seriously ill and can't be tried five of the 10 defendants were present at the scene of the robbery The French press has dubbed them The Granddad Robbers because the main defendants are elderly and have careers as bank robbers with long criminal records Kardashian told investigators she was taken to a bathroom next to her bedroom and placed in the bathtub Her attackers fled on bicycles or on foot and she managed to free herself by removing the tape from her hands and mouth She had also removed the tape from her feet and rushed to her stylist’s room She called her sister Kourtney to tell her about the theft Kardashian told investigators that she had not been injured adding that she wanted to leave France as soon as possible to be reunited with her children According to her testimony and that of the concierge at least one of the suspects had a handgun The gangsters stole many pieces of jewellery estimated to be worth more than US$6 million (NZ$10 million) Only one piece of jewellery — a diamond cross on platinum that was lost during the suspects' escape — has been recovered Two of the accused have partially confessed to the crime is one of two suspected robbers who allegedly entered the apartment his genetic profile was found on the tape used to gag Kardashian who was waiting for him in a parked car at a nearby train station The second robber said he tied up the concierge with cables but did not go up to Kardashian’s apartment said he acted as a lookout in the ground-floor reception area He said he was unarmed and did not personally threaten Kardashian but admitted he shared responsibility for the crime Abbas was arrested in January 2017 and spent 21 months in prison before being released under judicial supervision he co-authored a French-language book titled I Sequestered Kim Kardashian is the second alleged robber suspected of entering the flat although he was filmed by CCTV cameras and numerous telephone contacts with the other co-defendants show his involvement The other defendants are suspected of providing information about Kardashian’s presence in the apartment Others are accused of playing a role in the resale of the jewellery in Antwerp Joe Cocker and Bad Company will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — in a class that also includes pop star Cyndi Lauper the rock duo the White Stripes and grunge masters Soundgarden the first female rap act to achieve gold and platinum status and the late singer-songwriter Warren Zevon will get the Musical Influence Award pianist Nicky Hopkins and bassist Carol Kaye will each get the Musical Excellence Award who sang at Woodstock and was best known for his cover of The Beatles’ With a Little Help From My Friends a member of Elvis Costello & The Attractions who argued that Cocker is "about as rock and roll as it gets" Soundgarden — with the late Chris Cornell as singer — get into the Hall on their third nomination They follow two other grunge acts in the Hall — Nirvana and Pearl Jam Bad Company get in having become radio fixtures with such arena-rock staples as Feel Like Makin’ Love Can’t Get Enough and Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy The Ahmet Ertegun Award — given to nonperforming industry professionals who had a major influence on music — will go to Lenny Waronker Some nominees that didn't get in this year included Mariah Carey and subsequent Let’s Twist Again are considered among the most popular songs in the history of rock 'n' roll The 83-year-old has expressed frustration that he hadn't been granted entry before including telling the AP in 2014: "I don’t want to get in there when I’m 85 years old so you better do it quick while I’m still smiling." Lauper rose to fame in the 1980s with hits such as Time After Time and Girls Just Want To Have Fun and went on to win a Tony Award for Kinky Boots have six Grammys and a reputation for pushing the boundaries of hip-hop The White Stripes — made up of Jack White and Meg White — were indie darlings in the early 2000s with such songs as Seven Nation Army Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before they’re eligible for induction The induction ceremony will take place in Los Angeles this fall Nominees were voted on by more than 1200 artists historians and music industry professionals The selection criteria include "an artist’s impact on other musicians the scope and longevity of their career and body of work as well as their innovation and excellence in style and technique" Dave Matthews Band and singer-guitarist Peter Frampton were inducted Cashmere Technical will look to add the Reta Fitzpatrick Cup to their league titles when they meet Haswell United at English Park on Wednesday evening having won the Women’s South Island League and the Mainlaind Premier League The side are also the current holders of the Reta Fitzpatrick Cup When they met in the Mainland Premier League Halswell have reached the final of the Reta Fitzpatrick Cup without conceding a goal and get the opportunity to win the competition which began 50 years ago — of which Main photo: Cashmere Technical … playing for a place in the final. Photo credit: Jim Watts Photography / @jimwattsphoto Mainland Football will live stream the match on their YouTube channel (see link below) Game to be played on Wednesday September 11 The Reta Fitzpatrick Cup is Mainland Football’s premier women’s knockout competition named after one of women’s football’s pioneers in Canterbury She was team manager for Rangers (a founding club of Coastal Spirit) from 1976 to 1992 Fitzpatrick served as an administrator at Rangers and the Canterbury Women’s Football Association Canterbury’s women’s knockout competition began in 1974 but was renamed after Fitzpatrick in 2005 This story was first published on September 11