Southland keep folding away from home despite Bay of Plenty thrashing
Funny how quick some of you were to crown them after that Bay of Plenty game. 43-12 at Rugby Park and suddenly Southland's the real deal? And in reality they'd just shipped 47 to Counties Manukau a week earlier and got edged for 55 by Taranaki the week after that. The Stags fold the moment they leave Invercargill, simple as that.
I put NZ$20 on Taranaki -10 before the Taranaki trip and never even sweated it. Anyone on the TAB who's backed Southland away this month deserves to lose their money honestly 😂 Now Northland come to Rugby Park on 2 October and the true believers are already talking them up at home. Sure thing, mate. One decent home win against Bay of Plenty doesn't buy credibility after three away hidings in a month 🤡 I'm just asking, where's the actual evidence they can travel? Because I'm not seeing any.
Here to argue, not to nod along.
Nobody crowned them after Bay of Plenty, LockLegend - most of us just noted a 31-point win. Agree the away defence is a shambles though. Northland on 2 October settles it.
Hype isn't an argument.
Hate to say it but Queenstown51's right tbh, defence away from Invercargill has been scary. Northland at Rugby Park though? You just know our lot turn up at home 🔥💪
You don't abandon your own.
Funny thing is the home/away split is starker than anyone's said yet. I keep a table each round and Southland's three away trips this month read 24-47, 19-55, 21-34. That's 136 points conceded in three weeks on the road, against 43-12 at Rugby Park in between. Same squad, same coaching staff, wildly different outcomes depending on the postcode. I could be wrong, but I'd guess the set piece travels better than the tackling rhythm does; defence is a repetition thing and something clearly drops off when they leave Invercargill.
So while I lean toward LockLegend on the substance, Queenstown51's got a point that nobody actually crowned them - one good home win against a leaky Bay of Plenty doesn't reset a month. The Northland game on 2 October will tell us plenty, though it's at home, which rather flatters the sample. If they genuinely want to answer the folding-away question, that's a Canterbury or Taranaki away day next season, no way around it.
Context beats a bare stat.
Seen this movie before, fellas. Back in the day Southland used to make Invercargill a fortress teams dreaded, plainclothes farmers in the stand would tell you Ranfurly-era sides feared that trip south. Now? Word going round the pubs is the boys travel like tourists, sightseeing while the line breaks happen 😏
RobFirstFive's table tells the story, 136 shipped on the road while Rugby Park sits pretty. And any punter who took Southland away from home on the TAB this month already knows how that ended. Northland on 2 October at home? They'll turn up. Away again after that... well. Those who know, know 🤫
Solid source, details in the DMs.
RobFirstFive's spreadsheet says it all, 136 points in three weeks away 😂 Anyone backing Southland away on the TAB deserves the empty wallet. 🤡💸
Show me your ROI first 😏
Word going round the Southland camp is those road trips took more out of the boys than anyone's admitting 🤫 travel knocks, flat legs, the works. And watch the Taranaki game back if you think 55 was just bad luck, sides away don't fold that badly for no reason. Northland at Rugby Park on the 2nd? Different story at home, those who know, know.
Solid source, details in the DMs.
Word going round the Southland camp is those road trips took more out of the boys than anyone's admitting 🤫 travel knocks, flat legs, the works. And watch the Taranaki game back if you think 55 was just bad luck, sides a…
@JackSidestep I was at that Taranaki game, they'd chucked it by the 30th mate. Legs don't explain a heads-gone performance like that 💸
Value over a big price 💸
Travel knocks as an excuse feels thin to me? Every team in the comp does road trips, yet Southland are the ones leaking 55 in New Plymouth while others manage. Maybe I'm wrong, but if a trip south really was that dreaded back in the Ranfurly days, surely the boys can handle a bus up north without folding 😅
That Northland game on the 2nd will tell us plenty I reckon. If they turn up flat at home too, then the Bay of Plenty result really was a one-off. Anyone actually going along to Rugby Park for it? 🏉
New here, soaking it up.
Don't laugh guys but this is my first season following the NPC properly, so I'm still learning 😅 Nick makes a fair point about travel though, everyone does road trips, yet 55 in New Plymouth felt like the wheels fell off. Either way I'm keen to see what happens against Northland at Rugby Park on the 2nd, home crowd might wake them up?
Don't laugh guys but this is my first season following the NPC properly, so I'm still learning 😅 Nick makes a fair point about travel though, everyone does road trips, yet 55 in New Plymouth felt like the wheels fell off…
@JohnInvercargill84 no laughing here mate, welcome to the pain 😅 55 away, then they'll rock up at Rugby Park like a different team. Heads gone, simple as 🔥
You don't abandon your own.
Nah Nick, travel knocks are real, but 55 in New Plymouth is a heads-gone issue more than legs 💪 You just know when a side's chucked it walking back to the sheds at halftime. Seen it coaching the juniors too - flat legs lose games, flat heads lose them by 30. Southland at Rugby Park tho?Backing them all day 🙌
Define "travel knocks" first, is it fatigue or disruption? Because those have different fixes, and Southland's away record suggests neither is being addressed.
Sample first, conclusions after.
I was at that game too and Paul's right, they quit before the half. But RotoruaLoyal has a point buried in there: if "travel knocks" is just jetlag from a bus to Invercargill, plenty of sides manage worse trips every week. Someone's got receipts on Southland actually doing anything different away, or is everyone just comfortable with the excuse?
Heads gone away from home is a mental thing tbh, no bus ride explains quitting at 30 mins 💀 mindset coach needed more than anything 🤬
One love, one side ❤️