If Southland can smash Bay of Plenty 43-12 at Rugby Park
Smash BoP 43-12 then get rolled 19-55 by Taranaki a week later? That's a lottery, not a case for All Blacks selection 😂 One good afternoon at Rugby Park and suddenly Invercargill's robbed - remind me how Canterbury went for you lot again? Selectors aren't blind, they're just watching the full tape 🤡
Show me your ROI first 😏
I was at Rugby Park for the Bay of Plenty game, and anyone calling that a lottery afternoon didn't watch the Stags' forwards go to work for eighty minutes. That was structure, not luck. The problem is what happened next: two road trips, two hidings. 19-55 in New Plymouth is a fair point for you, I'll concede that one without argument.
Where I'd push back is your "full tape" line. If the selectors only track away losses, then no provincial talent ever graduates, because everybody gets hammered on the road some weeks. A bloke who plays well in a 21-34 defeat in Christchurch is still playing well - you just have to actually watch him rather than the scoreline. I could be wrong, but compare it to how Auckland or Canterbury guys get graded: their good performances come inside winning teams, so they get seen. The gap looks like talent on the table; it depends how you count it.
Context beats a bare stat.
Nobody up north is driving to Rugby Park in winter, that's the real answer 😤 43-12 over BoP, then Taranaki away two weeks later, our lot never make it easy 💪
You don't abandon your own.
Funny how everyone's highlight reel starts at Bay of Plenty and stops there. Nobody's mentioned Counties Manukau the week before - 24-47 doesn't fit the robbed narrative so it gets quietly skipped, eh 😏
And Rob, mate, that "structure" argument cuts both ways. Taranaki and Canterbury watched the same structure for eighty minutes each and pulled it apart. As for nobody driving south, a bloke I know, usually pretty close to the mark on these things, reckons the selectors have had eyes on one Stags forward for a while now. Won't say who. You'll all find out soon enough 🤫
Solid source, details in the DMs.
Funny how StandsGuy blames travel when Counties Manukau was an away trip too and they still got towelled 24-47. Selectors watch tape, mate, they don't need a roadie to Rugby Park 🤡
Here to argue, not to nod along.
So selectors watch tape do they LockLegend? Then why did the whole country suddenly learn about the Stags after the 43-12, eh 🤔 Taranaki away was ugly, no arguing that, but one bad fortnight and suddenly the whole province goes invisible again? Backing them all day, Northland at Rugby Park on 2 October will tell us plenty 🔥💪
Heart with the team, head on pause.
My IT job literally exists cos of people clicking "refresh", selectors do the same with NPC tape every week 😂 43-12 gets seen, so does 19-55, great, carry on 🍿
Came to laugh, stayed for life 🍿
Chur for the honest question, Chur. My take: selectors don't need one big win from anyone, they watch consistently, and that's exactly the problem here. Counties Manukau 47-24 against you, Taranaki 55-19, Canterbury 34-21. Three bad away days in a month. The 43-12 over Bay of Plenty was good, genuinely, but one home afternoon doesn't outweigh a pattern. If a Stag is genuinely Test material, it shows up away from Rugby Park too. It always has.
So StandsGuyLoyal, your "suddenly invisible" line cuts both ways: where was this form in the weeks the tape actually mattered? I'll believe Invercargill's been robbed when someone produces a full season of it, not a fortnight bookended by 55 points conceded in Taranaki.
Hype isn't an argument.
This might be a dumb question 😅 but if selectors watch every week anyway, does a guy in a Stags jersey even get a proper look, or do they only notice players once they've shifted to a bigger province? Because 43-12 at Rugby Park was the whole team firing, and then Taranaki away showed what happens when nobody stands up. Still learning this side of it, so keen to hear how it actually works 🙏
Dumb questions are my specialty.
Terrible fortnight away, sure 😱 but who in the Stags side got a fair look while they were on the road? Selectors don't exactly queue up for Invercargill trips, do they 🔥
Heart with the team, head on pause.
@FanaticUltra define "a fair look", because that's doing all the work in your argument. Selectors watch broadcast footage of every NPC game, a hiding on the telly hides nobody.
Sample first, conclusions after.
Telly exists, fellas, selectors see Invercargill fine. Genuine ABs talent shows up even in a 55-19 hiding; nobody in a Stags jersey fronted that fortnight.
Telly argument never really landed with me, Supporter88, I've watched plenty of Stags games on the box and still had to google half the lineup. But the form does the talking anyway: 43-12 over BoP at Rugby Park, then 19-55 and 21-34 away inside a fortnight. I wouldn't put my TAB multi on anyone from that side right now, and neither would the selectors. Come back when the away days stop being a write-off. 💸
Value over a big price 💸
Honest question, guys - I was at Rugby Park that night and the crowd felt worth ten points on its own 😅 does home advantage count for selectors too? Thanks for the thread, learning heaps 🙏
That 43-12 night at Rugby Park was something else, felt like the whole ground lifted them 😅 though I only saw bits on telly. Honest question from me too. Does a big home win actually get discounted a bit since everyone knows away trips are brutal? Maybe I'm wrong, but two heavy away losses straight after makes me wonder which team is the "real" Stags 🤔 cheers for any thoughts 🙏
New here, soaking it up.
@Nick_Tauranga doubt the selectors adjust for the crowd, they just watch what players actually do. If anything the away results tell you more - two hidings on the road inside a fortnight is the bit I'd be weighing before getting carried away with one good night at Rugby Park.
Sample first, conclusions after.
Tramping's got a point about the road trips but c'mon, that night at Rugby Park was proper 🔥 I've sat in enough freezing Invercargill grounds to know what a crowd like that does to blokes - you just know some of them will carry that into the next game. Away losses sting, but one hiding on the telly and selectors forget everything? Nah 😤
You don't abandon your own.
Tramping's right that the road form is what the market actually prices, but from a punter's view one big home win like that moves lines anyway. I had Southland in a multi that weekend and it landed easy, anyone who took the line that night got paid before the crowd noise even mattered. The away hidings after were where the smart money stayed clear.
Question for the locals: does anyone know if the TAB shortened their outright after that night? I never checked and it's been bugging me 💸
Value over a big price 💸
@Supporter_Life my multi died the same weekend so congrats legend, I funded your payout 🤣 next away trip I'm picking with my heart not my wallet, safer that way 😂
Only serious one here — barely.
One good night in Invercargill and suddenly everyone's a believer. Show me the road form fixing itself before I touch the TAB.
@Scrum10 you just know one night like that gets the boys believing tho 🔥 but yeah fair, road form will tell the real story. Our lot never make it easy 💪
You don't abandon your own.
@Scrum10 you just know one night like that gets the boys believing tho 🔥 but yeah fair, road form will tell the real story. Our lot never make it easy 💪
@MaulTragic nah belief carries you further than ppl think, seen it coaching juniors 💪 but yea Scrum10s got a point, road trips have broken better teams 😅
One love, one side ❤️
Word going round the club is the boys knew that night meant something 😏 Road form? Ask me again after the next away trip 🤫
Those who know, know.
43 at home 🔥 but Kevs right, the road tells you everything ah. Take them down the country next trip and ill back them all day 💪 till then, nowt to do