Canterbury v Wellington
7pm Saturday, October 22
Orangetheory Stadium, Christchurch
Head coach Marty Bourke has tweaked Canterbury's starting forward pack for Saturday's NPC final against Wellington.
Zach Gallagher moves in to pair with Dominic Gardiner in the run-on pack, with Luke Romano shifted to the bench in what will likely be his swansong in the red-and-black jersey after 14 seasons.
"I don’t really want to say the word," said 36-year-old Romano. "I love being part of this team, it feels like I’ve been here forever, but in my first season 14 years ago, we took on Wellington in the final and it feels pretty fitting to be in this position again."
Veteran Owen Franks reclaims the starting tighthead prop role, moving Oli Jager to the interchange.
Corey Kellow is also promoted to the loose-forward trio alongside Tom Christie and captain Billy Harmon. The backline remains unchanged.
Mitchell Drummond returns to the bench, reforming the one two-punch with Willi Heinz at halfback, while the rest of the backline that beat Bay of Plenty in last weekend's semi-final remains the same.
Canterbury: 1-Tamaiti Williams, 2-Brodie McAlister, 3-Owen Franks, 4-Zach Gallagher, 5-Dominic Gardiner, 6-Corey Kellow, 7-Tom Christie, 8-Billy Harmon (C), 9-Willi Heinz, 10-Fergus Burke, 11-George Bridge, 12-Rameka Poihipi, 13-Dallas McLeod, 14-Manasa Mataele, 15-Chay Fihaki
Reserves: 16-George Bell, 17-Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18-Oli Jager, 19-Luke Romano, 20-Reed Prinsep, 21-Mitchell Drummond, 22-Isaiah Punivai, 23-Ngatungane Punavai
Lions head coach Leo Crowley has named an unchanged line-up to face Canterbury in Saturday's NPC decider.
Riding a nine-game winning streak and fresh off a 54-19 semi-final demolition of Auckland, the Lions have plenty of momentum heading into the final, where they hope to walk away with their first title in 22 years.
The Lions have dropped just two games all season, including a 43-10 defeat to their opponents this weekend.
"The boys are really looking forward to it," said Crowley. "We've prepared well, and know the stakes are high.
"The rewards of a good performance on Saturday will remain with the team for a long time."
Wellington: 1-Xavier Numia, 2-Asafo Aumua, 3-Pekahou Cowan, 4-James Blackwell, 5-Dominic Bird, 6-Caleb Delany, 7-Du'Plessis Kirifi (c), 8-Peter Lakai, 9-TJ Perenara, 10-Jackson Garden-Bachop, 11-Pepesana Patafilo, 12-Riley Higgins, 13-Billy Proctor, 14-Julian Savea, 15-Ruben Love
Reserves: 16-James O'Reilly, 17-PJ Sheck, 18-Tietie Tuimauga, 19-Taine Plumtree, 20-Keelan Whitman, 21-Richard Judd, 22-Aidan Morgan, 23-Connor Garden-Bachop
Join us at 7pm Saturday for live updates of the NPC final between Canterbury and Wellington
