And, for more than a moment, it seemed like Northland might repeat their heroics from late August.
Canterbury had to overcome an 11-point deficit at halftime, after Northland made a strong start to the contest in the opening 40 minutes.
But a strong second half saw Canterbury finish the better of the two sides, scoring five tries in the second half and holding Northland to just a penalty to close out the win.
“We were put under the pump in that first half. It’s a quality Northland side. They showed in that Shield game earlier in the year they’re a tough team to beat, and they showed it again today,” Canterbury midfielder Dallas McLeod told Sky Sport.
“We had to really earn that and fight for everything. Down at halftime, we had good convos, we had full trust in the team and that we could pull ourselves out of it.
“So proud of the lads. This team is so special and to be able to come back like that and finish like that is just awesome.”
As the top seed at the end of the regular season, Canterbury went into the finals with a target on their backs, but played like the competition’s best with a 62-26 quarter-final win over Waikato and a 38-28 win over Taranaki in the semi-final.
Northland weren’t far behind, finishing as the second seed and seeing off Tasman 26-21 in the quarter-final before a 38-19 win over Otago in the semi-final.
In the final, Canterbury took the lead early through No 8 Dom Gardiner, who crashed over from close range after patient build-up in the sixth minute, welcomed into the Northland 22 through a penalty.
Northland were quick to fight back and began to dictate play.
When Canterbury first five-eighths Andrew Knewstubb was sinbinned for a high shot, the visitors took advantage.
First, they took the lead through winger Heremaia Murray, who won the race to a lovely kick in behind the defence from fullback Jordan Trainor. That was converted by No 10 Rivez Reihana.
Northland then pushed that out through Trainor who powered over the line from close range.
Canterbury hit back through hooker Brodie McAlister on the half-hour mark, but Northland had the final say in the half as centre Corey Evans scored just before the break.
But, after halftime, Canterbury kicked things up a notch and Northland couldn’t go with them.
Nock’s yellow card for a cynical infringement at the breakdown gave Canterbury an opportunity to attack and they didn’t waste it.
Two tries through George Bell saw the hosts take the lead, and, while a Reihana penalty made things level again, that didn’t last long.
Canterbury scored twice more through Isaac Hutchinson and added another through Tyson Belworthy, who made their impact off the bench felt to see Canterbury home by a comfortable margin.
Canterbury 43 (George Bell 2, Isaac Hutchinson 2, Dom Gardiner, Brodie McAlister, Tyson Belworthy tries; Chay Fihaki 4 cons)
Northland 24 (Heremaia Murray, Jordan Trainor, Corey Evans tries; Rivez Reihana 3 cons, pen)
HT: 10-21