Can one brutal loss to Manawatu derail Taranaki's whole season?
Finally, 4 October is nearly here and I'm buzzing!! 🐂🔥 Smashed Auckland and put 55 on Southland at Stadium Taranaki, that side turns up at home, no question. Only that gut-punch loss to Manawatu in between, which honestly still stings tbh. Wellington day, Stadium Taranaki, gonna be ROCKING 🎉
13 posts
-
✓That Manawatu game still gives me the icks 😅 one point, away, should've closed it out, ah well, nowt to do. But yeah JackFan, when this team turns up they TURNS up 🔥 putting 55 on Southland and going through Auckland like a hot knife at Stadium Taranaki, that's proper footy. Problem is Hawke's Bay away first, 27 September, and that's where the real answer lives, anyone can be heroes at home 🏟️ the Wellington game only means something if we're not limping in off a loss up north. You just know the boys will front though, backing them all day 🐂💪On the terraces since I was a kid.
-
Home form's carrying them obviously, but the TAB line for Hawke's Bay away will tell you plenty, if they're laying points on the road after that Manawatu wobble I'd be wary. Worth NZ$20 on the away side giving small odds that day only if the line moved back toward them by Friday. Wellington at Stadium Taranaki is where the value's at, reckon they'll be favourites there and rightly so 🔥Value over a big price 💸
-
This team's got a split personality, someone should check if they've got two different squads sharing one kit 😂 Home they look like they could eat the ABs, away they trip over the doormat at Manawatu. TBH I'm just gonna sit in my beanbag on 27 September like it's the boxing day test, one eye open, snacks ready, emotionally prepared for either a parade or a group therapy session 🤣🍿Only serious one here — barely.
-
seen worse than losing by a penny down Palmy, and turning up at home was never this mob's problem 😉 real test is the twelfth man travelling, hawke's bay won't roll over like southland did. ah well, we'll seeSeen it all, lads.
-
Funny how the only bloke who actually puts money down is the one hedging 🤡 meanwhile Metric's already writing off Napier before kickoff. Wellington at Stadium Taranaki on the 4th, that's the real ask 😏It's a lottery, not sport.
-
I watched plenty of split-personality sides back in the day, Metric's right that it's the road form that sorts pretenders from contenders, Hawke's Bay away will tell you more than 55 on Southland ever did. My two bob says if they front up in Napier, Wellington on the 4th looks after itself. Seen worse than a two-point slip in Palmy, mind 😄Been here longer than some have followed.
-
Nice to see Model_Head suddenly an expert on away trips when he hedged the Manawatu game himself 😂 Putting 55 on Southland at home tells you nothing, every contender does that. Napier's the whole test, Hawke's Bay won't gift you anything like Southland did. Got NZ$20 on the boys to cover in Napier, easy money if they show up 🤡Here to argue, not to nod along.
-
Underdog's got it about right, Napier will tell us more than the Southland romp ever could — back in my day every good Taranaki side still had to go earn it up the road. My only caveat is that this mob look like a different animal at Stadium Taranaki, so I'd back them in the Wellington game even if they drop Hawke's Bay. Seen worse September wobbles than a two-point job down Palmy 😉Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
-
Everyone's crowning them off two home games 😏 Manawatu turned up away and got the job done, can Taranaki do the same in Napier, or was that 25:27 the answer already? 🤡Here to argue, not to nod along.
-
Underdog and OldSchool are spot on, the Southland romp told us nothing we didn't already know. Back in the day I used to drive up from Tauranga for the old NPC nights, and the good Taranaki sides were always the ones that could nick a scrappy one away when the ref was blowing everything and the crowd was on your back. Manawatu did exactly that to them, one bounce goes their way and suddenly everyone's calling it a crisis, seen worse panics than that 😄 My caveat is the Wellington game on the 4th. Everyone's talking Napier like it's the whole season, but I remember sides that won the big away trip and then put their feet up at home the next week. Two honest performances back to back, that's what separates a real run from a nice September. They've got the forwards for it, let's see if the heads turn up too.
-
RobbedAgain asking if the Manawatu score was the answer already, sure thing, mate, one dropped goal away from the narrative flipping completely 😏 Here's my live observation though: that Southland game wasn't just a win, it was Taranaki piling on points with the crowd roaring them on at Stadium Taranaki. Compare that to the Manawatu trip where they led late and still let it slip 25:27. Same side, wildly different composure depending on the postcode. So Napier tells us everything. Scrappy away nights are where title runs get made or buried. I've got a quiet few NZ$ on the Bay giving them a proper scare, and if Taranaki nick that one ugly, THEN I'll start believing. The 4th of October against my lot in New Plymouth will be sweet either way 😂It's a lottery, not sport.
-
Ha, Amy's right, one dropped goal and the whole story flips 😄 seen it all before. Back in my day Taranaki sides that looked world-beaters at home went to Napier and got chewed up. Expectations are a cruel mistress; two fine home wins don't guarantee much at McLean Park. Let's see what 27 September brings before anyone starts planning the parade.Remember when the grass was greener 🌱