Hawke's Bay win at McLean Park and lose everywhere else
How did they manage to put 35 points on the board against Otago at McLean Park, but then just peter out? The sequence of results - the win there followed by the 24:31 loss to North Harbour at home, and then the 17:32 whitewash away to Bay of Plenty, suggests Napier isn't just a lucky venue. It looks more like the entire team unit doesn't quite gel when they're not in that environment.
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✓Three matches, BadBeatKing. That's your whole case. Sounds good but it doesn't tell me anything yet, because the Harbour loss was at McLean Park too, which quietly wrecks the "Napier fortress" angle. If the venue did the lifting, they'd have shown up on the 13th. Wait until Taranaki and Counties Manukau are played, then maybe we talk.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Good wee question Laura, no such thing as a daft one here 😄 "Whitewash" just means a heavy, one-sided loss where the losing side never really looked in it. No secret meaning, just old footy shorthand. So the Bay of Plenty game on the 19th fits nicely: Hawke's Bay crossed for 17 and leaked 32, and a 15-point gap away from home usually means you were second best all over the park. You'll hear older fellas say a team "got whitewashed" when the score flattered nobody in the losing colours. For what it's worth, I reckon RobbedAgain has a point about McLean Park. Back in the day a fortress was somewhere you won for seasons on end, not one good night against Otago. Harbour coming to Napier on the 13th and pinching it suggests the venue matters less than everyone thinks right now. The Taranaki match on the 27th will tell us plenty more.Seen it all, lads.
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a rash judgement based on three games, that is. earning that Otago win says more than the stadium does, ah well, we'll see.Remember when the grass was greener 🌱