Wellington's late charge into the top four has been one of the highlights of the 2004/2005 season, with the Cougars putting a horror start to the season behind them to finish third on aggregate behind the Northern Cannons. Adelaide's season has been the reverse, with a positive first thirteen being marred by a slump in form for the latter half of the season.

Wellington Cougars Adelaide Attitude
1 Anthony Minichiello 1 Henry Paul
2 Timana Tahu 2 Wendell Sailor
3 John Sitizein 3 Gary Coleman
4 Clinton Toopi 4 Lote Tuqiri
5 Lesley Vainikolo 5 Rupeni Caucau
6 Danny Orr 6 Matt Giteau
7 Sean Long 7 Elton Flatley ©
8 Ryan O'Hara 8 Matt Parsons
9 Simeon Rice 9 Richard Swain
10 Paul Rauhihi 10 Lars Ojanssen
11 Tony Puletua 11 Stephen Kearney
12 Jamie Peacock 12 Brashen Trell
13 Kevin Sinfield © 13 David Raimes
++Interchange
14 Jerry Seu Seu 14 Doug Howlett
15 Danny Tickle 15 Matt Geyer
16 Jake Luana 16 Courtney Brideson
17 Amos Roberts 17 Harry Prince

The game got underway courtesy of the boot of Sean Long, and the opening exchanges made it clear which side was coming prepared to play, with Wellington's monstrous forward pack putting it to Adelaide's less experienced forwards. It was no surprise, then, when they capitalised on this ascendency to score the first try of the match through Lesley Vainikolo. A poor last tackle option from Adelaide gave the Cougars field position, and it was simply a matter of throwing the ball around to allow Lesley Vainikolo to get around his man and run it closer to the posts. Kevin Sinfield converted, and it was 6-0 after seven minutes of play.

The play continued in much the same way, with Wellington making solid metres and restricting Adelaide, whilst the Attitude seemed unable to complete sets. Another woeful last tackle option in the 11th minute saw Elton Flatley go to ground with the ball only thirty out from his own line. The Cougars showed the same killer instinct that has seen them make two grand finals in the last five years, Sean Long making an incisive run from a Danny Orr short ball to score under the sticks. Sinfield again converted, and it was 12-0 after twelve. The Cougars were racing the clock.

12-0 became 18-0 only minutes later, and it was again Adelaide's poor completion that was coming back to haunt them. A set marred by passes going to ground and jarring hits from the Cougars restricted Adelaide to just three metres from five tackles. Elton Flatley's kick downfield at least released some pressure, with the Cougars having to work it out from their own ten, but even this went awry for the Attitude- who were cut to ribbons by dummy half running from the Cougars, which saw them make eighty metres on the return set. Again it was Sean Long who reaped the rewards of his side's dominance, the halfback muscling his way over from five out after running onto a bullet-like Kevin Sinfield pass. The man who set up the try also converted it, and it was 18-0 after fourteen minutes of play.

The Cougars could do no wrong, whilst everything Adelaide touched was turning to manure. When the Cougars' marker defence was found to be lacking on the right flank, Lote Tuqiri embarked on a promising twenty metre dash downfield, only to lose the ball cold when he was dragged down from behind by Amos Roberts. From the resulting set of six, the Cougars made easy metres, and Kevin Sinfield was able to power over despite the attentions of Giteau and Geyer to score out wide. He was unable to convert his own effort, but Cougars' fans must have been dialling ahead to secure tickets to next week's semi finals as their side lead 22-0 after less than eighteen minutes.

Adelaide's only chance of the first half came in the 30th minute, when an uncharacteristic error from the Cougars gave the Attitude some real field position. A well worked set was finished with a towering Elton Flatley bomb, which was contested by Timana Tahu and a flying Rupeni Caucau. When both came to ground, however, it became clear that Caucau had knocked the ball into Tahu's chest before grounding it- and the Cougars escaped with a twenty metre tap.

Relatively unknown hooker, Simeon Rice, contiued his sterling game for the Cougars- his third clean break from dummy half of the first stanza setting up the Cougars' fifth try of the half. Rice, as he had been doing all night, used his blinding speed to get around the markers and into space, before chipping to the right flank for a screaming Clinton Toopi. The former Kiwi international collected a difficult bounce, stepped around Henry Paul, and ran it around under the posts to ensure the conversion would be successful. 28-0 as halftime sounded.

HALFTIME: Wellington Cougars 28 leading Adelaide Attitude 0

Adelaide came out onto the field like children heading into the principal's office. Heads were hanging low and morale didn't seem great. Reports from halftime indicated that coach Anthony McElroy had been so ashamed of his side's performance that he left the stadium. On the other hand, Wellington ran out full of enthusiasm, and it showed early on.

German sensation John Sitizein was the first to score second half points, the powerful centre fooling Lote Tuqiri with an Oscar worthy dummy to stroll over virtually untouched. What few Adelaide fans had made the trip across the ditch were fast losing interest, with many already on the way to the gates as Sinfield converted to make it 34-0. From the kick-off it was 40-0, and the Attitude were looking down the barrell of the biggest defeat in ASRL finals' history. Anthony Minichiello showed why he's one of the game's finest fullbacks when he caught the ball in his in goal and then raced almost one hundred metres to score a try under the posts. It was poetry to watch, the Italian stallion dancing and weaving his way through woeful Attitude defence to collect his side's seventh try of the night. Sinfield's conversion had it at 40-0, and it looked as if the Attitude would be facing a long wait to see if they'd be given a second chance next week.

However, with such a huge lead in a qualifying final, the Cougars clocked off- and the Attitude were able to enjoy their longest period of the game without conceding a try. Another fifteen minutes elapsed before a try was scored, and in a complete change of pace, it was the Attitude who got across the whitewash after several minutes of sustained pressure. Benched winger Doug Howlett was the man of the moment, going over out wide courtesy of a superb Richard Swain long pass. Elton Flatley landed his first conversion of his finals' career to make it 40-6 with twenty remaining. A comeback was definitely not on the cards, but some respectability would be Adelaide's target.

The Attitude defence was the biggest change of the last twenty, with their men making tackles and the Cougars becoming increasingly frustrated after having such an easy run of it in the first half. The last try of the match didn't come until the 75th minute, and when it did come, it seemed unfair to the Attitude's increased defensive grit. Again it was Sean Long getting across the line, the English half capping of a superb game with his third try of the evening.

FULLTIME

Wellington Cougars 44
Anthony Minichiello
John Sitizein
Lesley Vainikolo
Clinton Toopi
Sean Long 3
Kevin Sinfield
Sinfield 6/8

defeated

Adelaide Attitude 6
Doug Howlett.
Flatley 1/1

PoM Points
Lesley Vainikolo..............3
Simeon Rice...................2
Sean Long.......................1

Match Stats
Penalty Count
Wellington Cougars- 4 : 5 -Adelaide Attitude

Possession (%)
Wellington Cougars- 58 : 41 -Adelaide Attitude

Time in Opposition Half
Wellington Cougars- 51 : 29 -Adelaide Attitude

Handling Errors
Wellington Cougars- 17 : 14 -Adelaide Attitude

Completion Rate (%)
Wellington Cougars- 63 : 64 -Adelaide Attitude

Tackles
Wellington Cougars- 210 : 244 -Adelaide Attitude

This was infact a game i was quite worried about since i hadn't beaten Adelaide all season. But the guys started the game pumped and played for close to the whole 80 minutes. The Cougars will now have a couple of days off and wait to see if they have the week off sudden death final next week.

Well we've sunk to a new low today and we can only hope the Falcons and Punks go down so we can get one last shot at the pie next week. We showed we have the flair to do it mid season and next week where going to throw everything at someone in ways we've never tried before. Are we low? Yes we are. can we turn it around? You bet your ass.

Bet you are glad that the Oilers are'nt there, Nath. ;)

Yeah, i don't want my players to injure themselves scoring try after try.