Wellington have shipped 160 points in three straight losses and
Sat through the Northland game at Hnry on the 19th and I still can't get my head around shipping 52 at home. Luck? Three straight weeks of it - 42 to Tasman, then 66 in Christchurch, then that? I could be wrong, but when the same holes open up every match that's a defence problem, and Waikato turning up on 27 September won't fix itself.
Context beats a bare stat.
66 in chch 😱 no excuse for that. Defence shambles, someone needs to own it before Waikato arrive 🔥 backing them all day but sheesh
Heart with the team, head on pause.
Calling it a defence shambles is the easy bit, but three weeks running the same holes get opened suggests coaching answers nobody's owning up to. 160 points in three games isn't a tackle-count blip; Waikato on the 27th will expose them again unless someone actually fronted up instead of talking about it. I'll believe the fix when I see it.
Sample first, conclusions after.
Tramping's got it right IMO. Three weeks of the same story means someone's watching video and fixing nothing. Look at the pattern: Tasman ran them off the park, Canterbury made it 66, then Northland put 52 on them AT Hnry. That's form falling off a cliff, and form doesn't lie the way one bad outing can.
From a punter's seat this is the classic line tell. Wellington were getting respect in the market early season and the number's been sliding against them all month. I left the 27th alone, no way I'm backing a defensive set that's leaked 160 in three straight when Waikato turn up with pace out wide. If they don't front up physically this week, put the house on the overs and thank me later 😭💸
Took Wellington -4.5 against Northland expecting at least a scrappy home show, and that didn't even survive the first half. Punters like me don't get burned three weekends straight by bad luck, the market prices leaks fast, and when the TAB keeps moving the line against you at home, that's the coaching staff getting called out in real time. Waikato will target the same gaps on the 27th. 🔥
Value over a big price 💸
Interesting how "defence problem" has become the accepted answer without anyone defining what actually broke. Jackal, the TAB moving the line tells you what the market thinks, not why 52 went on at Hnry. Those are different claims and everyone in this thread keeps sliding between them.
RobFirstFive, you were actually there, was it missed tackles, or was Northland just winning the collision and playing at a tempo nobody matched? Because 66 in Christchurch might be a hiding, 28:52 at home might be a broken structure, and 28:42 in Blenheim might just be a better side on the day. Same result, three different causes possibly. Receipts please before we all agree the coach should fall on his sword. If Waikato run the same plays through the same channels on the 27th and nothing changes, then fair, I'll concede. Until then "same holes, three weeks" is a vibe, not an analysis.
Supporter88 asking the right questions IMO. Word going round the cubbies is a few boys got pointed fingers at after the 66 down in Christchurch, and it weren't just the defenders 😏 Whether the message landed by the time Waikato roll in on the 27th... you'll all find out soon enough 🤫
Solid source, details in the DMs.