Lions captain Du'Plessis Kirifi and teammates. Photo: Photosport.NZwww.photosport.NZ© Photosport Ltd 2021
Comment - Sam Doyle passed the other weekend. He only played 30 games for Wellington, back between 1994 and '97, back when the NPC was three divisions and if you came last, you went down. Sam had been sick for a long time, he was only 52.
I remember Sam as a fullback who seemed to carve up whenever he got the ball on Athletic Park. I remember his proudly mouthguard-less smile visible from the top of the Millard Stand. I remember the coloured card the $2 tickets were printed on and running on the field after each game to pat the players on the back.
But most of all, I remember the Wellington team that Sam was on not being great.
They weren't bad. Far from it, Athletic Park in the 1990s was actually a daunting proposition for teams not called Auckland. It was their away form that killed them and turned them into the cowardly Lions.
They once came home from a Shield challenge in 1995 with their tails between their legs, shipping 66 points at Lancaster Park after having the Evening Post publish a planned victory parade route down Lambton Quay on the Monday.
The joke was that the three certainties in life were death, taxes and Wellington finishing sixth in the NPC first division. People forget that the phrase 'You Can't Beat Wellington On A Good Day' started out as an ironic and maudlin song describing the city's rugby team, complete with references to Aro Valley house parties and the local inevitability of dating a girl who works for some interchangeable government department.
Sam was a hit when he debuted, scoring a double against Taranaki (who did a far better job of their big Shield challenge a year after Wellington's disaster). While he made the Hurricanes and NZ Māori he had the misfortune of his career running alongside Christian Cullen, which meant he would never seriously got considered for the All Blacks. In each of his seasons with Wellington, the Lions resided in their natural habitat of the first division mid table.
He was gone by the time Wellington got good. First in 1999, when they made the final seemingly out of nowhere and almost won the Shield too. Then, in 2000, the glory - after years of mediocrity Wellington somehow possessed not only Cullen but Jonah Lomu as well. They went down to Christchurch and swept away the loser tag in easily the greatest provincial final ever played.
⚫️ Then & Now.
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Then, and in a way only a Wellingtonian can understand, it felt like the whole thing was just a way of making the next two decades even more unbearable than constantly finishing sixth.
There was supposed to be a dynasty, instead it's been eight finals and eight losses. The fact that the NPC is such a shell of its former self, with most teams playing in front of crowds that would look more at home on the sidelines of a Colts game, just makes it even harder to take.
Gone are the days of the Millard Stand roaring so loud when Sam got the ball that the rust from the upper deck would dislodge and land on the spectators below. The vast sea of Sky Stadium yellow that's greeted the team this year must be disheartening for the older guys like Julian Savea and TJ Perenara, who have been around long enough to remember when the NPC hadn't quite been chucked on the scrapheap by the governing body and the fans themselves.
But it hasn't stopped them making the final, yet again. A big part of every Wellington fan left standing is excited, but an even bigger one is already resigned to losing. That's no slight on the team - they have been incredible after starting the season out with a couple of speed bumps. The youthful promise of the likes of Ruben Love, Peter Lakai and Riley Higgins has been nurtured by the aforementioned former All Blacks, with everyone in between making this one of the most beautifully balanced and promising sides ever.
It's just that ... it's Wellington. And the final is against Canterbury in Christchurch, the scene of so much heartache ever since that beautiful day 22 years ago. Anyone other than them and there and things would feel a lot more positive. Don't get your hopes up, at least then you won't be disappointed.
NZ Māori fullback Sam Doyle in action during the 1993 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. Pictured in Wellington, 29 May 1993. Photo: Photosport
It's funny that back in Sam's day I honestly believed that Wellington were a genuine chance every year, only to see them land exactly where they belonged in the also-ran category.
Now, when they're truly excellent, I can't bring myself to even though they're literally in the final. Being a Wellington sports fan is a curse, it's the same mindset that makes locals take a jacket with them even when the sun is shining over Oriental Bay.
I miss the days of Sam Doyle and Athletic Park, like every tragic bloke my age that believes rugby truly reached its zenith during the 1990s. It's hard to see them ever coming back, as the provincial game faces a desolate future unless something truly massive happens in the next few years. If the same Wellington effort that dismembered Auckland in their semifinal is on show against Canterbury on Saturday night, then maybe we'll get the bask in the special glory that can only come with an NPC title win and draw a direct line to the good old days.
Just an emphasis on the word 'maybe'. Wellingtonians never get ahead of ourselves.
