A clear head and a body busting to play [Nelson Mail]

Shane Christie has represented his country at sevens and played for the Maori All Blacks.

He's also worn the Crusaders' famous No 7 jersey. But even the tearaway Tasman Makos flanker admits that Friday's game is looming as the biggest match of his rugby career. That's when he leads his team against Hawke's Bay in the ITM Cup championship final at Trafalgar Park.

Christie is thankfully back to full fitness after being forced out of last Saturday's semifinal against Southland with concussion.

Like most full-on loosies, the Makos' skipper is not a willing spectator and said that missing the Blenheim semifinal was "the pits". Now he's just concentrating on preparing for the defining moment of Tasman's season and the chance to secure promotion to next year's premiership.

In fact Christie's itching for game time. He didn't start in Tasman's ninth round clash with Taranaki and was forced out of the Manawatu game at halftime following his head knock. So after also missing the semifinal, he can't wait for some action.

"I've actually had a few weeks off, so I'm feeling really fresh and looking forward to it," said Christie.

He was part of Gordon Tietjens' squad that won the IRB world series sevens title in 2011 and last year was selected, along with his Tasman team-mate Quentin MacDonald, in the Maori All Blacks team for their three-match tour to the UK. Friday, though, has entirely different significance.

"It's the biggest game [I'll have played in], just because I'm passionate about the team and the jersey, so it means a lot to get a good result," he said.

"It's much the same for a lot of the boys, even some of them who have played bigger games and bigger occasions. But there's a lot of work been done over the past few years and everyone's got right behind us, so it means that much more."

Despite having to watch Tasman's 49-28 semifinal win over Southland from the sideline, Christie said he always felt confident that Tasman would get the job done.

And despite some anxious moments, which saw Southland at one stage reduce Tasman's lead to just 30-21 early in the second half, he's hoping that the Makos' special brand of firepower will again get them past a dangerous-looking Hawke's Bay side.

 

He said the main focus now was on clearing the players' heads and keeping them calm as the excitement continues to mount.

"This season we've prepared pretty well. We just need to keep the anxiety away because it gets pretty exciting - we don't want to play the game Wednesday or Thursday."

Christie was adamant that the Tasman side, which he said had now developed into "a half-decent professional team", thoroughly deserved to be hosting the championship final after a record-breaking season.

"It's been successful, but it's been hard work though. This year we've really knuckled down and we knew if we did the hard work, the results were always going to come.

"Having worked as hard as we have, the rest was going to follow."

Tasman have already beaten Hawke's Bay 18-9 in Nelson this year, although Christie was reading nothing into previous results. He said the team would prepare as thoroughly as they normally do, analyse the opposition's strengths and weaknesses and accord Hawke's Bay due respect.

"We just have to do the little things accurate and right," he said.

"We're just focusing on ourselves and not worrying about what they might bring. If we play to our potential, we've got the ability to take on anyone.

"It's finals week, the pressure's on and we just have to handle it."