Every championship winning team needs an inspiring and uncompromising leader and in 2013 Pakuranga had just that in Dave Whitecliffe-Davies.

De-Dub, as he is affectionately known, went on to be a Pakuranga centurion and NPC player and will go down as a Ranga legend.

The 2013 season was all about mindset, said De Dub, players wanted to train hard and wanted to win.

“It wasn’t just the prems – it was our other senior teams too. We had a great bunch of lads who wanted to win.”

It may well have been a great bunch of lads, but De Dub explains it was a very competitive bunch of lads as well.

“The team was super competitive. Our Auckland players wanted to train; they would work hard all day but then come to training and show why they were in the Auckland team. And the guys not in the Auckland team wanted to show the Auckland boys that they should be in the team.”

That edge wasn’t reserved just for club trainings either.

“At the Auckland early morning trainings, I remember the coaches thought the Pakuranga guys were a bit different because we went at 100%. We had a completely different mindset to the guys from other teams.”

Many of the rep players weren’t available for the round robin match against Grammar and De Dub said that was a defining moment for the squad.

“We hadn’t beaten them for a few years, and we didn’t have any of our Auckland players – when we won, I think we started to believe we could win the whole thing.”

And it’s the wider squad that De Dub says was crucial in going all the way.

“Every player wanted to be there, our team wasn’t just the 22 on the weekend, when someone couldn’t play another guy would jump in his position and perform.”

Many captains carry the burden of success in big seasons, and when the team won the Final on Eden Park De Dub recalls his feelings.

“Just relief. It was like a weight off our shoulders. It felt like if we didn’t win it that year it would have been a while until we did.”

De Dub went on to debut for Auckland later in 2013 and made the move to play for Bay of Plenty in the 2014 NPC. He finished his time playing at Pakuranga with 102 premier caps to his name.

Article added: Thursday 06 July 2023