Gear: Tired of being a runner-up
Wellington will be looking to bury a few ghosts when they travel to Christchurch for their Air New Zealand Cup final with Canterbury this weekend.
The Lions have lost the past three finals they have contested since the competition was revamped in 2006, going down to Waikato (37-31), Auckland (23-14) and Canterbury (7-6).
Wing Hosea Gear was on the wrong end of the scoreline last year and in 2007 after missing the 2006 final through injury, and admitted he was getting tired of being a runner-up.
But with only five of last year's starting line-up in the run-on XV for this weekend's repeat encounter, Gear is optimistic the outcome will be different this time round - especially as both teams are without their All Blacks stars and younger squad members will come into play.
"They bring a lot of enthusiasm which is probably what we've been missing in the past," Gear reasoned.
"Also having the All Blacks away this year we've had to do without them for the semis and final and we've had to build a bit of momentum with the team we've got."
Wellington have certainly done that, winning their last six matches, including a hard-fought semi-final win against Southland.
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