Northland's first shot at a final, Canterbury's $5 kids' tickets: the NPC semifinal weekend

Four quarterfinals produced 240 points and three hat-tricks' worth of attacking rugby, and left the NPC with a semifinal weekend of two very different stories: Northland chasing a first top-tier final in Whangārei, and Canterbury trying to turn a perfect home record into a home final.

How the four got here

Northland beat Tasman 26-21 after trailing 14-0. Taranaki beat North Harbour 50-31 with six second-half tries and a hat-trick to Bradley Slater. Otago beat Hawke's Bay 50-14, with Cameron Millar making his 50th appearance for the union. Canterbury beat Waikato 62-26, 43-7 up at half-time, with Brodie McAlister scoring three.

Friday night: Northland v Otago, Semenoff Stadium, 7.10pm

Northland finished third on the table and have never played a Premiership final; Otago finished second and have won the last four meetings between the two. Paul Williams referees, and it is live on Sky Sport and TVNZ+. A full Semenoff Stadium on a Friday night in October is not something Whangārei gets to see often.

Sunday: Canterbury v Taranaki, One NZ Stadium, 3.35pm

Canterbury go in as favourites, but Taranaki beat them 40-26 in round five, and they have lost George Bell and Jamie Hannah to the All Blacks since the quarterfinal, after Chay Fihaki went earlier. The union has priced the game for families: kids $5, adults from $10, a family pass $45.

Canterbury's awards night: from grassroots to the grandstand

Canterbury Rugby held its awards at One NZ Stadium this week, and the list reads like a map of the game in the province. St Andrew's College First XV were Team of the Year, Rolleston College's Horoeka Haemata programme was Rugby School of the Year, Southbridge was Club of the Year, Jack Hyde of Glenmark-Cheviot Coach of the Year, and Jodi Uluakiafua of Burnside Volunteer of the Year.

Among the representative sides, Katie Pain (Under-18 Girls Red) and Lilyana Cullen (Under-18 Girls Black) were players of the year, Louis Treacy took the Dennis Young Under-19 award, Will Hadley the Under-20, Tyson Belworthy the Waitaha Māori and Phoenix Abbott the Canterbury B. Maisy Allen, who scored in the Farah Palmer Cup final, was the women's player of the year and players' player, with Paris Lokotui the most promising. In the NPC side, Max Fale was rookie of the year, Dominic Gardner players' player, Chay Fihaki the supporters' choice, and Daniel Lienert-Brown was recognised for 100 games.

Two semifinals, two home crowds, and in Whangārei a chance at something the union has never had. Enjoy the weekend.