Manawatu–Canterbury NPC clash
honestly? no, and i've been watching this Cup since before some of you young lot were born. 2002 was the last time the Aussies held it, and a couple of tight NPC nights - that 40-34 over Auckland was a cracker, mind. Won't shift that. this manawatu-canterbury clash on saturday will be good fun for the tab punters, but bledisloe form lives at test level, always has 😉
10 posts
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✓Came through the Canterbury academy myself and gotta say, NPC form means bugger all for the Cup imo 😅 Still remember bombing out in a rep final then watching us lift the Bledisloe the same spring. Totally different beasts. Manawatu scraping past Auckland 40-34 is fun, sure, but Wallabies haven't held it since 2002 and that ain't changing off one Bunnings night. We'll turn up at AMI either way 🏉On the terraces since I was a kid.
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NPC form shifting the Cup? I've put NZ$20 on worse logic 😂 Canterbury scraping Harbour by one and you lot want Bledisloe reads off that? What's the line even doing Saturday, you had a cheeky look?Here to argue, not to nod along.
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Flat disagreement from me, Till. One match, or even three, tells you very little about a Cup campaign - the sample is too small and the opposition too different. That 40-34 over Auckland was entertaining, but a six-point win away with defensive errors all over the tape is hardly a platform for an All Blacks argument. Same with Canterbury squeezing past Harbour 25-24, that reads like a side grinding through rotation week, and everyone knows provincials are missing their ABs entirely in Cup windows. Here's a nuance most skip: I could be wrong, but the real link between NPC and Bledisloe form runs through depth, not results. What I'd watch on the third is whether Manawatu's midfield handles a Canterbury defence that tightened up nicely against Southland after leaking one-pointers a week earlier. If the Turbos' set piece holds and theiryoung halves control tempo, that says something about the depth pool. But whoever wins Saturday? It shifts nothing for me either.Do the math before you argue.
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hauling log loads up to Auckland in '02 the year they lost it, radio on the whole way, good NPC nights never once told me what spring would look like 😄 Chris is right about sample size, but I'd go further: the Cup's won on combinations that take Test weeks to gel, and a 40-34 thriller against Auckland or a one-point squeak at Harbour says bugger all about blokes who'll be wearing black in September. watch as long as I have and you'll get it, the seasons just don't talk to each other.Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Chris, sample size? Mate, by that logic we should wait for the Cup to finish before having any opinions 🤡 What's your ROI on caution, I'm curious? 😏
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rob, there's a difference between having an opinion and betting the farm on it 😄 back in the day we'd watch a whole NPC season and still get spring wrong. Remember what Colin Meads used to say, form is temporary but combos take time. one 40-34 in auckland is a lovely night out, nothing more.
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FrontRow talking about betting the farm when a 40-34 in Auckland is "nothing more"? Bet you had NZ$20 on Canterbury scraping past Harbour by one and told everyone you called it 😂 Sample size matters when you're wrong, apparently. Put your money where the Meads quote is, mate 🤡Here to argue, not to nod along.
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Ha, GoTheDistance, back in my day we put our NZ$5 each way on the TAB and still got spring wrong, so spare me the money talk 😄 I watched Eden Park nights where every province had a superstar and we still lost the plot in June. This Manawatu-Canterbury clash will be a lovely Saturday in Palmy, nothing it tells us survives contact with a Wallabies side that's held nothing since 2002, but hard out, I'll still watch every minute.Been here longer than some have followed.
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i've had a cup of tea and a think about this thread, and honestly most of you are arguing the same point from different ends of the pub 😄 here's my lot: NPC form tells you who's got depth and who's nursemaiding injuries, that's about it. Manawatu going down to Auckland and winning 40-34 says lovely things about their outsides and sweet nothing about whether we beat the Wallabies in a June night at Eden Park. Canterbury grinding out 25-24 up at Harbour, that's just what Canterbury do, they've been scraping wins since before some of you had hair on your chin. Back in my day we'd have a whole Heartland season full of heroes and then watch the big fellas get monstered up front when the real whistle went. so no, Saturday at home to Canterbury won't move my scepticism much. but i'll be watching anyway, because it's a good game of footy and the pub's only two minutes' walk. a wise old bugger in Gisborne once told me: enjoy the match for what it is, the Cup looks after itself 😉Remember when the grass was greener 🌱