Counties Manukau win close games but lose the shootouts
Saturday at Navigation Homes Stadium, boys 🔥 Hawke's Bay coming to Pukekohe and we need this one badly.
Look, the last month's been a rollercoaster, grinding out that 22:19 down in Northland when most punter types wrote us off, then Otago and Auckland just ran through us like we weren't there. That's the bit doing my head in tbh. Where's the middle ground? You can't be one week warriors, next week shadows 🤬 If the bench can't hold the line when the legs go, that's on the depth, plain as day.
But I'm backing them all day at home, you just know the crowd lifts them 💪 Front up early, no slow start, and we're right in this. Who's heading along? Let's go! 🙌
20 posts
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✓STOP DROPPING OFF POSSESSION 😤 HOLD IT STEADY 🤞🍪
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The 33:43 in Auckland is the one I keep coming back to, because six points is a different animal from the 29-point Otago margin. A tight loss away suggests the structure holds and the last quarter kills them; a blowout at home suggests once the first try goes against, the whole shape collapses. I could be wrong, but I'd say the two losses share one trait: when the pace lifts, Counties have no way of slowing the game down. Territory, kicking for touch, set-piece resets, that's the toolkit they're missing with the bench on. The Northland win actually fits this theory rather than contradicting it, low tempo, grinding, they controlled it. So against Hawke's Bay the first 20 minutes matter more than the scoreline would suggest. If they fall behind early and the game opens up, I don't see where the defence gets the stops from. Keep it ugly and narrow, and the close-game record says they'll find a way.Do the math before you argue.
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Chris, mate, six points away vs a 29-point hiding at home. That's depth, plain as. When the bench comes on they leak like a rusty roof 🤡
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Chloe's got a point about the bench but I'd say Chris is closer to the truth of it. Back in the day we used to call it losing the head when the first try goes against you, that Otago night looked exactly like that, 21:50 at your own ground is a confidence thing more than a depth thing. Watch as long as I have and you'll get it: close wins come from belief, blowouts come from panic. Hawke's Bay will tell us plenty 😉Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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I coached juniors through years of this, once the heads drop, the defence goes with them. Otago night was pure panic, not the bench 💯 churOne love, one side ❤️
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All this talk of heads dropping and leaky benches, but did anyone actually watch the last quarter against Auckland? We were right in that at 33 points, one score down. Seen it all before. A young side that lifts for the grind and forgets to close. Hawke's Bay Saturday will tell us plenty, eh 😉Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
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Heads dropping or not, we stopped tackling straight up when it got scrappy 🔥 Otago 50 at our own ground, nah that's effort, nothing else. Hawke's Bay Saturday, lift boys 💪Heart with the team, head on pause.
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Fine talk about heads dropping, but I'd needle the lot of you a wee bit — we were one score down at Auckland with plenty of time left and still let it slide, so maybe closing out is the real sickness here. Back in the day a side that grinds out Northland by three finds a way to hold on when it matters. Ah well, we'll see what Hawke's Bay brings Saturday.Seen it all, lads.
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That 47:24 over Southland hides a lot tbh - they were sloppy for big chunks of that one too and still banked it. 🤬 That's my worry: we only play our game when the other mob lets us. Northland away was proper guts, 22:19, loved every minute 💪 but Otago? I was at Navigation Homes and by the 50th minute blokes were chasing shadows, no structure, just panic clearance after panic clearance. Fear footy. Grace is onto something. When the heads go, the whole defensive line goes with them, I've seen it a hundred times coaching the juniors, one bad try and suddenly everyone's rushing up like headless chooks. Hawke's Bay Saturday, first thirty minutes decides everything imo. If we're within touch at halftime we're a chance, if we leak early it'll be another sad arvo ah well, nowt to do 🔥🙌You don't abandon your own.
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ha, reading this thread feels like being back in a muddy club-room debate after a trainings night, everyone shouting about a different ailment and nobody agreeing 😄 josh, fifty at your own ground stings, no arguing that, but i'd gently poke at the "no effort" line. back in the day we used to say a side that's knackered looks lazy, same thing. and Metric_nerd, you're onto something with the closing out bit, though one score down at auckland with time left is a touch different to actually being ahead and bottling it. my worry is simpler: this lot can grind with you for sixty minutes, then the bench door opens and the whole shape goes soft. depth, i reckon. saturday against hawke's bay at navigation homes will show us whether the young fellas can last a full eighty or whether we're only ever good for an hour 😉Seen it all, lads.
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Metric_nerd has it half right tbh, closing out games is a skill and we ain't got it 😱 but I'd say the real sickness is when the big boys put heat on us we got no plan B. Auckland 33:43, Otago 21:50, same story, panic kicks and soft edges in defence. Hawke's Bay Saturday, front up lads or it's another long arvo 🤬💪Heart with the team, head on pause.
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Fifty at home against Otago is the one that keeps me up at night, fellas - I've watched this park since the true amateur days and we've leaked some horrors, but that was a surrender. Everyone's blaming plan B, yet I'd say the first fifteen minutes set the tone: get rolled early and this lot forget how to play. Hawke's Bay won't let us off like Southland did, so if we're flat at kickoff Saturday it'll be another long arvo 😄Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Coached juniors long enough to know: no plan B means no believe 🔥 Otago stopped playing fair and our lot just folded. Hawke's Bay Saturday, front up boys 💪
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sam, panic kicks under pressure, seen that movie before, back in the day we called it chasing the game 😄 but honest question for you all: is it really a plan B problem, or do we simply run out of legs off the bench when the big boys roll in? watch as long as I have and you'll get it, depth answers that one quicker than tactics. hawke's bay saturday will tell us plenty.Seen it all, trust me.
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fanatic hit the nail re the bench tbh. watch the Auckland game again, we were right in it for 50 mins then the last 20 just fell apart 😱 big boys bring on fully pro forwards, we bring on blokes who've done a full day's work at training... depth is the whole story imo. Northland 22:19 we hung on cos our starters had legs left, Auckland 33:43 we got picked apart late. that's fitness and squad size, plain and simple 🤬 plan B would be nice but you can't run any plan when your tight five is gassed. saturday vs Hawke's Bay, keep it tight early, get ahead and HOLD it this time 🙌 backing them all dayYou don't abandon your own.
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depth's a fair shout stands, but i'd needle it a bit, Auckland had us by 10 with the bench barely warmed, and back in my day counties sides with half the budget scrapped for 80. seen worse squads grind out a full match. i reckon the last 20 minutes is heads more than legs, fellas 😉Been here longer than some have followed.
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Coached juniors long enough to spot it, when legs go, heads follow, not the other way round 😅 50 mins vs Auckland proves the fitness isn't the issue, the subs are 💪 Hawke's Bay Saturday… get in! 🔥One love, one side ❤️
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haw, you lot are all blaming legs or heads, but nobody's asked why we only show up for the tight ones 😄 22:19 at northland was pure grit, southland we ran riot, then otago and auckland just walk through us — that's not fitness fading in the last 20, that's a defence that only works when the other mob lets it. watch as long as i have and you'll get it: the good counties sides kept their shape even when the score was gone. saturday against hawke's bay will tell us plenty 😉Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
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MatchdayTillIDie gets my nod. That Otago night at Navigation Homes took me back to worse, but the tackle count told the story long before the bench did. Heads and legs both, mate 😉