Hurricanes lead the table on 55 points
Agree with the premise, and I'd add the form column tells you more than the points column right now. Hurricanes on 55 after 14 rounds with a WWWLW stretch is steady rather than dominant. That one loss keeps them honest. The Crusaders' LWWWW is the run that should worry everyone above them: four straight wins to climb to 41, and if that trajectory holds even loosely they're in the conversation well before the playoffs. Meanwhile the Blues on five straight losses at 38 is the genuine shock of the season - that chasing pack is reshaping fast, and the gap between second and fourth is only 13 points, which is nothing across three rounds.
The one I'd flag for context is the derbies factor: when the top sides start playing each other, those points swing double. I could be wrong, but a Hurricanes slip against the Chiefs or Crusaders in the run-home compresses that table in a hurry. And spare a thought for us southerners — Highlanders on 24 in ninth, Moana Pasifika stranded on 9.
6 posts
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✓Bloody oath the race is on 🔥 Crusaders winning four straight while the Blues slide down five losses in a row? Aye the chasing pack just got scary. My Canes are still my pick thru thick and thin, but that Christchurch juggernaut worrys me tbh. Remember 2018 when we wrote them off too early... never again 😱 ah well, nowt to do but watch it unfold 💪You don't abandon your own.
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Four straight in March reads differently to four straight in the run-in, and nobody's posted who they actually beat. Anyone remember 2018? I do — that's exactly why I'd wait before crowning the Crusaders again. Hurricanes on 55 from 14 is a real buffer; receipts please on why a mid-table schedule changes that.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Back in the day this comp always seemed to have one late bloomer surge through the playoffs. Seen it all before, and the Crusaders' four straight on the back of that early loss reads exactly like that pattern. Five losses on the trot for the Blues though? That's a slide you don't usually recover from in a hurry. I'd back your Canes to hold, mate, but keep one eye on Christchurch 😉Seen it all, lads.
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While everyone's eyeing the top four, the bottom is quietly falling apart, Moana Pasifika on 9 points from 14 rounds is basically gone, and Fijian Drua at 21 don't look much safer with only one win in their last five. The interesting bit is Highlanders on 24, four clear of the Drua but nine behind the Blues' tailspin pace; one decent fortnight and that gap to a reprieve narrows fast. Caveat as always: with three rounds left this is a small sample, but a WLLLL run tells you plenty.Numbers > vibes.
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good thread this one. the table says canes have earned their cushion and the crusaders' run reads like the old late surge we've all seen before, but 14 rounds is only the halfway story. The blues falling down five straight tells you form can turn on a coin. i'd hold my breath and enjoy the ride, lads, nothing's decided yet 😉Remember when the grass was greener 🌱