Three years unbeaten.
And a winning streak of 42 games.
The Dunedin premier colts sure have reigned supreme.
They have been like the All Blacks at Eden Park — unbeatable.
Makos coach Paul Higgins has not experienced a loss during his three-year tenure.
He attributes the extraordinary success to the environment.
"We’ve got a good group of people right across the club," he said.
"And we try to make it an all-round rugby experience with that mix of on-field success.
"We are lucky enough to get quite a few boys out of some of the good first XVs from throughout the country.
"We want them to improve and progress their football, but we also put a big emphasis on building those friendships and relationships off the field.
"A lot of our players are students and they’ll come in at the start of the year and don’t know anyone, and by the end of it they have built those life-long friendships."
The Makos won their last four games of the 2021 campaign and have been undefeated in the past three seasons.
It is quite a feat when you consider colts teams have a lot of turnover as players move on or up the grades.
"I think this year we had about 16 players who were first-years, so it was supposed to be a bit of a rebuild year this year but we managed to keep things going and get the job done."
They beat rival Kaikorai 23-14 in the final at Tahuna Park earlier this month.
Hearts go out to Kaikorai, who have lost five of the last six finals to Dunedin.
Higgins, who played premier rugby for Dunedin in the late 1990s and early 2000s, said prop Taitelea Tasi-Cordtz had stood out during the campaign.
The tighthead is a strong ball carrier who always makes a positive impact on the game.
Halfback Henry Scott is an intelligent footballer with a good service game. He scored the opening try during the final as well.
And captain Seb Macdonald is a hard-working openside whose experience was influential during the season.
