Harbour final

of thundering runs and was sure on defence.

All the Shore forwards were uncompromising against a feisty Northcote pack. Converted flanker Donald Coleman made a good fist of hooker, nailing most of his throw-ins and offering a fourth loose-forward presence.

Hunter Rice had a solid game at fullback. He was unflinching under the high ball, and his positional play has improved markedly over the season.

Star first-five Oscar Koller, so dominant in his last match against Takapuna, had a quiet match by his standards after coming back from a hamstring injury. He was rested from goal-kicking duties.

Captain Alex Woonton, in a post-match chat to his team, summed up what had been achieved: “Don’t take it for granted – we are playing the final at home in our 150th year. That does not come around often.

“Enjoy tonight, but next week we have got a lot of work to do.”

It was a great day for Shore at home, with three of its teams beating Northcote sides to progress in finals footie. In curtain-raisers to the premiers match, the under-21 side won 30-29 to progress to the semi-finals of the competition this weekend. Shore’s premier reserves were too strong for Northcote. Shore led 15-0 at half-time, and after a second-half arm wrestle, prevailed 22-7 to set up a final at Onewa Domain against Takapuna on Saturday.

Takapuna beat Massey 35-31 in the other premier-grade semi-final played at Moire Park.

Expressive play… Shore fullback Hunter Rice (top right) tries a tongue-in-cheek step on his opposite, while (right) James Fiebig, who had a huge match, tries some footwork of his own

Turning Off The Tap

It seems to us the banks are turning off the tap for borrowers with their latest rate rises, irrespective of no further Official Cas Rate rate hikes in the foreseeable future. Credit has become scarce for business, commercial property, property development and agri sectors as these loans use about three times the banks’ capital compared to a residential loan – hence the banks have essentially become residential mortgage shops!

Floating rates are now @8.64% (vs six-month term deposits @5.65%) and one-year fixed is now 7.19% easing to 6.19% out to 5 years. Mind you, this latest hike is more about the rise in longer term global government bonds rates due to continued inflation pressures and the need to borrow more as tax takes are declining (US 10 year bond is now @ 4%+)these higher bond rates feed through into higher “swap” rates (where banks hedge their fixed-rate exposures) and then on to fixed mortgage rates... it’s not looking good for borrowers or the economy in the next several months as we don’t see any imminent rate cuts.

Speak to us if you need any mortgage/debt advice – we can invariably help.