The wrap
Varsity just squeaked home as fullback Tony Ensor (the Whitebait) dragged Kaik back from the brink and nearly caused a major upset.
The Hawks nearly racked up a century over the Spannerheads before declaring.
The Eels put 60 on the Shetland Ponies and Southern pulled away late from Zingers.
Pirates caused the major upset when it tore the beloved ''Larry Salmon'' away from the Sharks with contemptuous ease.
The Sharks are a shadow of their former selves and there is talk several of their team had better things to do in Wellington - a sad day for a once-proud club.
The triumphant Highlanders
Pride was restored to the region with the courageous performance of the Highlanders in Wellington, as witnessed by the turnout at Monday's parade.
The weekend will live in my memory for a long time. As usual, there were some interesting bits, in no particular order.
Big Jake's pub, The Shepherd's Arms, running out of beer on Saturday at 6pm and not re-opening till Sunday.
Hunter Darry, my intrepid cameraman both on the pitch and in the changing rooms, waking with a winning player's tankard (Fekitoa's, apparently).
Just how good the Wellington crowd was. How good was ref Jaco Peyper's performance?
First-class, I'd say.
Shane Christie ordering a burger from ''BK'' at 5am Sunday still in playing kit and boots.
If rumours are true, the jersey never came off till Tuesday - thank God he only played half a game! Super Coach II celebrating the win by going to the movies in Wellington on Sunday.
Arran Pene and Marc Ellis flying in to run the court session at the Mornington on Monday afternoon and a great affair it was.
If rumours are true, AJ - the once-proud rooster - is now a skinned chicken!
The Weber Diaries
Brad Weber played for the All Blacks this week and had a pretty solid 17 minutes in a tough day for halfbacks.
What a dream come true for a very talented young rugby player who has worked hard.
His running game has always been exceptional with his searing pace but his passing and kicking have improved dramatically with game time which is something he never got here.
Why, you ask?
Well, if you get an undeserved reputation, it's hard to shake.
When Brad arrived in Dunedin as a 17-year-old, he already had some sort of contract with Hawkes Bay, which on advice from there, he failed to mention.
When he was named in the NZ Colts, he was labelled a Hawkes Bay player.
The coaching ''heavies'' from Otago were rightly slighted by that and decided they didn't need him.
The Otago sevens team wanted him badly but the ''heavies'' said no.
The board overruled that and he played and, if your remember, Buxton Popoali'i and Weber were the stars of the show that took Otago to a final in Queenstown.
The board reasoned that everybody is allowed to make a mistake, and rightly so.
But the reputation remained and Brad remained on the outskirts of the Otago team and, two years ago, he was third string behind Fumiaki Tanaka and Josh Renton. Wayne Smith came calling after remembering his sevens performances.
He moved to Waikato, was made captain and after a stellar year with Chiefs the rest is history.
I've known Brad since he arrived in Dunedin and you won't meet a better kid - loyal, honest, a great club man - and I think our province has not done well by him.
But the fact is the move was the best thing for his career.
Well done, mate.
More power to you.
Abramovich strikes
Roman (Lance Spence) Abramovich is getting nervous as the finals approach for his beloved Hawks.
He's firing off letters to all and sundry over Elioti Tonga having to appear before a judiciary this week over the West Taieri game two weeks ago and he is now sensing the refs are against them after some injudicious comments at the weekend.
Calm down, mate - it will be all right on the night.
Poignant moments
Chris Bell from Zingers plays his 200th game this weekend against the Onion.
It will be his 144th consecutive game - unbelievable.
When Daniel Soper set the points-scoring record of 260 for the Sharks in 1997, I vowed it would never be beaten.
But, 18 years later, Josh Casey from the Eels sits on 259 with potentially three games to go.
A truly remarkable achievement and, on that alone, he deserves his spot in the Otago squad.
Daniel Soper, all the way from Ireland, has emailed me to pass on his congrats to Josh, and he finished with ''I hope Speight's puts his name on a bottle top as well!''
This weekend
Got beaten last weekend by ''Stephen from Dunedin'' - does it get any worse?
But good on you, mate.
Up against ''Belly'' from Zingers in his 200th game so surely I'll get back on the horse.
The Eels will wallop the pitiful Sharks (12-) but I'd rather spend an hour with the Casey clan pontificating why the Eels are so good!
Kaik (12-) will just beat Pirates at the Yardarm but it will be close.
The Hawks (12-) beat the Magpies at the Bog to win the Gallaway and go into the semis as top qualifier.
Varsity (13+) will continue the trend over the Spannerheads at the Toolbox and run up a cricket score.
Zingers (12-) get it done in this special game for the ''Grace Mills'' over the Prancing Ponies at the equestrian centre.
The big whisper
The four new owners of the Highlanders will be unveiled soon.
One from Christchurch, Auckland and Sydney with the managing partner from Dunedin - more soon.
Oh and by the way, Val Doonican died last week.
A tragedy in the music world, so ''the Jarvie and his passengers were never seen again''.
• Paul Dwyer
