Jason Pine: Rob Penney won't call this redemption, but that's exactly what it was

You forget how much Crusaders fans love the Crusaders until you watch them play live in Christchurch. That place was absolutely jumping last night

Crusaders fans may not turn up every week - but my goodness, when they do - they enhance the home advantage significantly.

I said yesterday the man in the no. 10 jersey could be the most influential player on the par. I was right about the jersey, I just had the wrong team.

Rivez Reihana was superb for the Crusaders last night. On the biggest night of his life, he played the best game of his life, and outshone his opposite to be named man of the match.

The media were granted access to the Crusaders' changing sheds after the game and as you can imagine, it was pretty raucous in there. The tunes were pumping, the drinks were flowing and the celebrations were loud and getting louder.

After I came out, the first person I saw was Damian McKenzie.

He was just sitting outside the Chiefs shed, which is right next door to the Crusaders one - listening to the celebrations and staring into the distance.

Losing one Super Final must be difficult - losing three in a row is another thing entirely. This one will sting those players for some time yet.

I was right in front of the Crusaders' coaches box and when the final whistle went, there were scenes of high jubilation. Dan Perrin was banging on the glass, James Marshall and Brad Mooar were high-fiving - and standing at the back was Rob Penney.

This much-maligned coach from last year, the man who came under the most pressure after 2024 - more pressure, probably, than any Crusaders coach in the nearly 30 years of the competition - saw hundreds of fans in the south stand turned around to look up at that box and gave him a standing ovation.

He looked down, grinned, gave the crowd a round of applause in return - and just mouthed: "Thank you"

His redemption was complete. Now, he might not see it that way - in fact I know he won't.

He's taken every opportunity to say he had nothing to prove, nothing to redeem - but the players told the story.

David Havili and Will Jordan both said afterwards they did it for their coach

Last year hurt this proud team very deeply, and their very proud coach probably most of all.

Every time I looked down onto the celebrations happening on the field afterwards, my eyes were drawn back to Rob Penney

Quietly, but happily enjoying the moment with his family, his team, and its fans.

The storylines of last night might have been the continuation of the Crusaders' unbeaten finals record, the farewell to Addington, the coming of age of Rivez Reihana, the continued brilliance of Will Jordan, the unbelievable engine of Fletcher Newell, the tirelessness of Ethan Blackadder or the continued leadership and mana of Codie Taylor and David Havili.

But the story of last night for me was Rob Penney. He won't call it redemption, but that's exactly what it was.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from newstalkzb.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
All over the twenty two here go to the Crusaders
and here goes Tony Taylor.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Tony Taylor, Tony Taylor.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Touch the doors.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Well he got it double at the final at twenty
twenty three and Tony Taylor out of nothing but twenty
meters untouched.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
Crusaders at their first lines are open on the final.
Oh eight hundred and eighty ten eighty nine two ninety
two for your text, as I say, a few postmatch
interviews to play for you are Scott Barrett in just
a moment. But you forget how much Crusaders fans love
the Crusaders until you watch them play live in christ Church.
That place was absolutely jumping last night. Crusaders fans may

(00:58):
not turn up every week, but my goodness, when they do,
they enhance the home advantage significantly. I said yesterday the
man in the ten jersey could be the most influential
player on the park. I was right about the jersey.
I just had the wrong team. Reverez Raehanna superb for
the Crusaders last night on the biggest night of his

(01:19):
rugby life. He played the best game of his life,
outshone his opposite to be named Man of the match. Now,
the media were granted access to the Crusaders changing sheds
after the game, and as you can imagine, it was
pretty raucous in there. The tunes were pumping, the drinks
were flowing, and the celebrations were loud and getting louder.
After I came out, the first person I saw was

(01:41):
Damien McKenzie. He was just sitting outside the Chiefs changing shed,
which is right next door to the Crusaders one, listening
to the celebrations and just staring off into the distance.
Losing one super final must be hard. Losing three in
a row another thing. Entirely. This is going to sting
those players for some time yet. And I was right

(02:05):
in front of the Crusader coach's box last night, and
when that final whistle went there were scenes of high jubilation.
Dan Perrin was banging on the glass just about broke it,
James Marshall brad More high fiving, and standing at the
back was Rob Penny, this much maligned coach from last year,
the man who came under the most pressure after twenty

(02:28):
twenty four, more pressure probably than any Crusader's coach in
the nearly thirty years of the competition. Hundreds of fans
in that south stand turned around to look up into
that box, and they gave Rob Penny a standing ovation,
and he looked down and smiled, gave the crowd a
round of applause in return, and just mouthed a simple phrase,

(02:50):
thank you. His redemption was complete.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Now.

Speaker 3 (02:53):
He might not see it in that way. In fact,
I know that he will not. He's taken every opportunity
to say he had nothing to prove, nothing to redeem.
But the players told a very different story. Heavily and
Will Jordan both said afterwards they did it for their coach.
Last year hurt this proud team very very deeply, and

(03:15):
they're very proud coach. Probably most of all, every time
I looked down onto the field after the game, when
the celebrations were taking place, my eyes kept on getting
drawn back to Rob Penny, quietly but happily enjoying the
moment with his family, with his team, with its fans.
The storylines last night might have been the continuation of
the Crusader's unbeaten finals record, the farewell to Addington, the

(03:38):
coming of Age of Rivers, Rayharnah, the continued brilliance of
Will Jordan, the unbelievable engine of Fletcher Nuwell, the tirelessness
of Ethan Blackett, of the continued leadership and mona of
Cody Taylor and David Harvilly. But the story, the real
story last night for me was Rob Penny. He won't
call it redemption, but that's exactly exactly what it was.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
For more from Weekends with Jason Fine. Listen live to
news Talks at B Weekends from midday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio