Josh Goodhue on how the Ranfurly Shield has rallied the Northland region

It’s been a whirlwind month for Northland since their 36-12 crushing of Canterbury in Christchurch on August 19 to win the Ranfurly Shield for the first time since 1979.

The Log o’ Wood has been everywhere from Whangarei to Cape Reinga. It was successfully defended on August 30 against Tasman 20-10 at a sold-out Semenoff Stadium and again on September 12 against Waikato 34-17.

Josh Goodhue, 31, has played 71 matches for the Taniwha. The rugged lock from Kawakawa in the Bay of Islands is one of three brothers, with Jack (All Black) and Cameron the others, to have played for Northland. Dad Bernard is a life member of Northland rugby and, with another brother Axel, they’re stalwarts of the Kawakawa rugby club.

Goodhue played 47 games for the Blues in Super Rugby Pacific between 2017 and 2022 and has appeared 39 times for Black Rams Tokyo. He described Northland’s first Ranfurly Shield defence in 17,520 days as the highlight of his career.

“The Tasman game was huge. I’ve never played for Northland at a sold-out Semenoff. To see that was the biggest buzz,” Goodhue told RugbyPass.

“We did a haka beforehand. My heart was racing. The emotions were through the roof. It took us the entire first half to calm down.

“We were expecting Tasman to take us on out wider. Instead they took a more direct approach, and it turned into an arm wrestle. I’m proud of the way the boys composed themselves and got the job done.”

The Northland haka Ng? Taniwha was composed by Whiria Meltzer, who played 11 games for the Taniwha between 2013 and 2014. Meltzer, who went to Maori college
Te Rangi Aniwaniwa in Kaitaia and is a kapa haka practitioner, composes haka for schools and, in 2017, wrote He Toa Takitini
(The Strength of Many), which the Blues performed before their 22-16 win against the British and Irish Lions at Eden Park.

Northland’s haka represents familiar themes like strength, resilience, and tribal connections across the Northland region, a region that has basked in Ranfurly Shield glory.

“There have been so many highlights sharing the Shield with the community. It’s been a great boost for esteem and local business,” Goodhue said.

“There was one day the whole team went on a road trip from 7 to 7. We visited Kerikeri High School where Sam Nock and the Rush brothers had studied. We took it to Kaitaia and Kaikohe.

“Smaller groups have been visiting different areas like Hokianga, Dargaville, hospitals, and pubs. It’s amazing to see how much it means and how much it inspires.

Northland were inspired in their thrashing of Canterbury, a first victory against the NPC champions since 1999, and a first in Christchurch since 1987.

“It was one of those nights where all the stars aligned. They came off an intense game with a short turnaround. Rob Rush celebrated his 50th game for us. If you know anything about him, he means a lot to this team. It was a main priority to do well for him, and on the night he was a beast,” Goodhue said.

“The game plan worked perfectly. Our past mindset was to win the basics, play the percentages. This time we wanted to surprise them and really change up the momentum with things they weren’t expecting. Sam Nock and Rivez Reihana executed some kicks and trick plays with real class. Our coach Ryan Martin is a bit of a wizard when it comes to set piece moves.”

Northland, with key starters Heremaia Murray, Allan Craig, Lachlan Hooper, Marcel Renata, Nock, and Reihana on the bench, conceded their highest ever score against North Harbour, thrashed 57-42. Was there a danger Northland was waning?

“It was a pretty emotional couple of weeks. We lacked intensity and lost the collisions badly in that game,” Goodhue conceded.

“We were up for Waikato. We won the collisions and were accurate around set-piece. It was special to mark Sam Nock’s 100th game with a win. He’s an absolute legend of this province and a major leader in our team.”

Goodhue came off the bench for the Waikato match in which Nock scored a try and star Aussie-recruit Lachlan Hooper scored twice.

Northland’s win was their first against Waikato since a 38-28 win in 2021 on the occasion of Rene Ranger’s 100th match. Wing Liam Coombes-Fabling scored three tries for Waikato.

Northland hadn’t beaten Waikato in four previous Ranfurly Shield challenges in 1951, 1998, 2000 and 2013.

Last Saturday, Goodhue was rested for Northland’s 52-28 thrashing of woeful Wellington. Northland demoted six frontliners to the bench and inflicted a union-record tenth consecutive loss on the Lions. Northland hooker James Mullan was a second-half brute with two tries. Fullback James Ramm, who scored against Waikato, scored two tries, made four line breaks, and charged for 175 metres.

If top-of-the-table Northland (6-2, 32 points) defeat 13th-placed Counties (2-6, 12 points) on Saturday, they’ll keep the Ranfurly Shield for the summer.

Since 1976, Counties have led Northland 24-20 in NPC matches.