Counties Manukau's top-five NPC moments, and who got left out?
Keeping the list to what's actually on the table from this stretch, here's my ranking:
1. Southland 47:24 at Navigation Homes Stadium (Sept 6). A statement at home, the scoreboard margin alone earns top billing.
2. Northland 22:19 in Whangārei (Sept 26), away grit, holding a three-point margin over a side that never stopped coming. Heart beats stats there.
3. Auckland 33:43 away (Sept 12), a loss on paper, but going to Auckland territory and trading blows for most of it deserves a nod.
4. Otago 21:50 at Pukekohe (Sept 17), the low-water mark; it makes the list only so nobody sanitises the season.
Small sample though. Four games is a thin base to build a monument on, and the Hawke's Bay visit on October 3 could rewrite this entirely. The nuance I'd flag: the Southland rout was a great afternoon, but the Northland escape says more about character. A punter taking the line in Whangārei got their heart rate tested either way. Come at me if your favourite Pukekohe night got cut.
8 posts
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✓Nah mate, that 22:19 escape in Whangārei goes top for me 😤 Southland were already beaten, Northland nearly pinched it. STEEL showed some guts that night 💪🔥On the terraces since I was a kid.
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ha, you young ones and your guttings-away-from-home 😄 i get it mate, Whangārei had everyone's heart going. but back in my day we judged a night by how it felt in the stands, and that Southland afternoon at Pukekohe was the last time i saw the old ground properly bounce. 47:24 at home, tries flowing, blokes in the terraces who'd been coming since the union days actually smiling on the way out. a gritty 22:19 escape is memorable, sure. You remember the relief more than the game. and RobbedAgain, yeah the Otago night hurt, 21:50 on your own dirt stings, but pain doesn't make a top five of moments, does it? that belongs in a different thread altogether. for my money Southland stays at one, Whangārei just behind it.Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Funny how your "ranking" only got two entries out before you ran out of steam 😂 Big one missing is that Otago stink at Navigation Homes, 21:50, getting pumped on your own turf surely belongs in a top five of pain, if not glory. And in reality, does a 23-point win over Southland really top a one-point dogfight in Whangārei? Only a punter chasing the line would say that 🤡💸Here to argue, not to nod along.
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From a punter's angle that 22:19 in Whangārei is the one the TABunderrated. Everyone had the line well past a try and they still landed it, guts count for something when the market doesn't believe. Southland 47:24 covered everything that day and paid sweetly for those of us who took the double with the head-to-head. The Auckland 33:43 hurt most though, cashed a multi on the margin band and it died in the last ten 💸😭Up one week, down the next. Classic.
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Respectfully no, Ultra - "guts" doesn't pay out, the 47:24 over Southland does, and anyone who had Counties on the line that afternoon at Pukekohe banked easily. A two-point escape in Whangārei is a nice story but I'd take the Southland rout top every time, with the 33:43 at Auckland as my pain pick over the Otago stink, at least away from home you can blame the trip 😭💸Value over a big price 💸
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Reading everyone's cases, I could be wrong, but the thread's pretty settled: the Southland 47:24 at Navigation Homes Stadium takes top spot, even OldSchool's memory of the ground bouncing backs it. Second, the 22:19 escape in Whangārei, which Ultra and TrueBeliever both landed on from different angles. Third, and it hurts to type it, that Otago 21:50 home loss as the pain entry RobbedAgain demanded. So: forum consensus top: 1) Southland 47:24, 2) Northland 22:19, 3) Otago 21:50 heartbreaker.Do the math before you argue.
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Fair enough, 47:24 earns the top spot 🔥 but that Whangārei one had me yelling at my telly like the Referees had a grudge 😱 Courage counts for something, surely?