Does Manawatu now own the mental edge over Auckland after 40-34 win?
Mental edge talk needs a bigger sample than one night at Eden Park, honestly. Three wins from four is a proper run - Bay of Plenty away 29:12, Taranaki by two at home, then Auckland 40:34 on 25 September, but that Waikato loss (27:36, 19 September) shows the floor isn't gone. Canterbury at Central Energy Trust Arena on the 3rd is the real test; one result doesn't make a hoodoo, and I'd want this form to hold twice more before anyone calls it a psychological shift 📊
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✓Fair point about the sample size, but this old heart wants to remember. I've sat through enough Turbos seasons to know what a real mental edge looks like - and back in the day, Palmerston North teams would fold the moment they left home. Going into Eden Park and outscoring Auckland 40:34, that's the kind of night you don't forget. Winning at Bay of Plenty by 17, edging Taranaki by two, that's character building, week by week. That Waikato trip on 19 September was the wobble, sure, 27:36 stung. But every side has one of those in them; the edge is whether it teaches them something. If Canterbury turn up at Central Energy Trust Arena on 3 October already wary, half the job's done before kickoff. They'll have watched that Auckland tape and felt a shiver, mark my words. Ah well, we'll see.Seen it all, lads.
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History's nice for the old fellas but form wins you games tbh 😤 I remember sitting in the rain watching us blow a lead years back, ah well, nowt to do. This lot went to Eden Park and put 40 on Auckland, that's NOW, and if Canterbury aren't nervous coming to Central Energy Trust Arena on 3 October they soon will be 🔥💪You don't abandon your own.
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Tossed NZ$10 on Turbos head-to-head vs Canterbury already, the line will move once folk wake up to that Eden Park win 💸Value over a big price 💸
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Nah Sample size shmyze, we went to Eden Park and put 40 on Auckland 😤 Canterbury should be shaking mate, backing them all day 🔥Heart with the team, head on pause.
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Lucy's NZ$10 might be the shrewdest money in this thread, actually. My spreadsheet has the Turbos' four fixtures colour-coded, and the pattern jumps out: every away result tells you something Eden Park alone doesn't. Bay of Plenty 29:12 was a controlled trip, then Waikato 27:36 two weeks later showed the road game can still come off the rails when the set piece wobbles. So the mental edge question splits in two, depending how you count it. Auckland away was statement stuff, but Canterbury at Central Energy Trust Arena on 3 October is a home fixture where the ledger says Manawatu should handle them regardless of nerves. The nuance is whether the Turbos turn up as the Eden Park side or the Hamilton one. Small sample though, so I'd hedge before anyone shouts "own" about anything.Numbers > vibes.
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History says Manawatu hold the edge, but I'd want to see how they handle Canterbury's set piece before calling it a mental thing - Waikato away (27:36) is still the game that tempers my enthusiasm. I could be wrong, but home at Central Energy Trust on 3 October flatters them more than a straight read of form does. It depends how you count it, really.