Hurricanes lead on 55 but the Chiefs are lurking four points back
Been updating my own table every round and this is the closest top three in years. Hurricanes on 55 after 14, Chiefs four back on 51, and the Crusaders quietly sitting on 41 having won four straight. The gap at the top looks comfy until you look at form. Chiefs have dropped just one of their last five (LWWWL), Hurricanes stumbled in round four of that stretch (WWWLW), so the four points could vanish in two weeks.
One caveat on the sample, fourteen rounds is decent but form windows of five games can flatter you. The Crusaders are the interesting one. Four wins on the spin and only ten points off the pace with a favourable run-in? Punters on the TAB will be eyeing that outside title price. Blues on five straight losses tells you the top four is really a top three. My lean is Chiefs reeling them in, but I'd want to see the head-to-head leftovers before committing. 📊
5 posts
-
✓Hurricanes fan here and I'm not loving that loss in that five-game stretch tbh 😱 Chiefs just quietly grinding, one slip and they're on us. Still backing my boys through thick and thin, 55 points is 55 points 💪 Gonna be white-knuckle from here on, ah well, nowt to do but watch and suffer 🔥You don't abandon your own.
-
-
Seen this race plenty of times over the years and it usually comes down to who's peaking in the last few rounds, not who led at 14. Back in my day the Crusaders made a habit of strolling in behind the leaders then doing the business when it counted, and their four straight now has that old smell about it. Chiefs lurking four back is the scarier one for the Canes fans though, one slip and it's gone. She'll be right, eh 😉Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
-
watched a few of these run-ins in my time and the table at 14 rounds is only ever half the story. hurricanes have earned that cushion, mind, four points is real money with only a few rounds left. but the chiefs keep grinding and the crusaders on four straight have that old look about them. form beats memory come the pointy end, usually. i'd hold off betting the house on anyone just yet, this one's still wide open 😄