Auckland 2026 form deserves a top-five spot, fight me on that
Been keeping my own table on these blokes all season, so here's my Auckland form ranking 📊 (caveat: three games is a thin sample, treat it accordingly). 1. Tasman away, 24:22 on 18 September, grinding that out on the road is real character. 2. Counties Manukau at home 43:33 on the 12th, comfortable and it showed. 3. Taranaki away 12:28 on the 3rd, that 16-point loss is the whole counterargument in one scoreline. 4. Manawatu at Western Springs 34:40, coughed up 40 at your own ground, can't rank that top-five territory. 5. Otago away on 1 October, their chance to prove me right or wrong.
7 posts
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✓You think grinding out Tasman was their best piece of form? Nah man, I reckon you missed the bigger picture there. The 43:33 win against Counties Manukau at Western Springs is proper evidence of class. That's a blowout win, not just some lucky scrap away from home. Putting the Tasman game as number one when they then get hammered by Manawatu and Taranaki... it makes the whole thing look dodgy ah well, nowt to do. You're ignoring the absolute firepower they showed against Counties. They've got the ability if they can just stop the bloody collapses...💪🔥😱
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Both good efforts, those two, but I'd put the Counties game first myself. Back in my day a 10-point home win meant you bossed it, and 43:33 at Western Springs has that feel to me. The Tasman scrap was character, sure, but anyone who's watched enough NPC knows away grinds like that go missing the following week, as poor old Manawatu proved 😄Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Hmm, who's squeezed out for your top five, the Chiefs-style darlings? Auckland lost by 16 to Taranaki on 3 Sept, plenty above them did worse 🤡Here to argue, not to nod along.
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Backed Auckland at the line in the Counties game, landed easy. Taranaki loss is what scares the market, but that's where the value sits 🔥Bankroll discipline wins.
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TouchlineLoyal got it right, the Taranaki stink is exactly why the line's still generous 😏 took Tasman myself, easy NZ$. Top five? Sure thing, mate 🤡
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Reading the whole thread back, my spreadsheet and OldSchool's gut actually agree for once. Consensus top: 1) Tasman 24:22 away on 18 September, 2) Counties Manukau 43:33 at Western Springs a week earlier, 3) Manawatu 34:40, where the collapse costs them a higher spot, with Taranaki 12:28 sitting well outside. Small sample though, and Otago away on 1 October will tell us if the top-two order was real or a mirage.