Semenoff Stadium is actually a fortress we don't deserve
The harbour wind has become our favourite excuse, hasn't it π Shipped 40 in one half at Semenoff and somehow it was the weather, nah, that was blokes waving at tackles as they went past. Ground's a fortress for any side that actually turns up. Sure thing, mate.
15 posts
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βFair hit on the 40-point half, Chloe, no wind bandles a missed tackle. But calling Semenoff a fortress for anyone who turns up is a bit tidy, the same side has looked sharp there one week and flat the next, so there's something in the conditions even if we blame them too often. I'll believe the "fortress" line when we actually defend our10-metre line there for a full eighty.Sample first, conclusions after.
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Chloe you absolute legend, the wind doesn't wrap missed tackles, WE do π€ Rob you're right it swings off the harbour some nights, but I coached the juniors at Whakarito park in worse and they still tackled. Remember that Bunnings NPC night when we turned up fired and skittled them? Same ground, same breeze, different mongrel. Turn up and it's a fortress, ah well, nowt to do ππ₯You don't abandon your own.
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Chloe's got the right of it, and I'd add the caveat that one 40-point half is a small sample though, what convinces me is the split you can see across whole seasons at Semenoff: the same roster defends competently there when they set a line speed early, and falls apart when they go passive. The harbour wind shifts kick distance maybe ten metres; it doesn't explain a defensive line standing still. Rob's point about week-to-week variance actually supports that. Flat drainage happens between the ears, not off the water. π
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The wind off the harbour's been there since before some of you were born, and back in my day we used to watch sides come up to WhangΔrei and get battered in it β ground never lost anyone a game I can recall. Fix hits the nail on the head: line speed and a bit of want-to, that's the whole trick. Young ones blaming the weather should have a look at what the old boys did in proper southerlies πWatch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Nah OldSchool, back in your day everyone up north had a hard forward pack, that's the difference πͺ it's never been the wind, it's who turns up... ah well, nowt to do but back them all day π₯One love, one side β€οΈ
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Mike, I'd argue the forwards up north were hard because the ground made them hard, mate π stood on the terraces at Semenoff in the old days when the wind blew the flags flat and good sides still came and coped, because they wanted it more than we did that night. Seen worse weather down south and nobody blamed the southerly. ah well, we'll see.Seen it all, lads.
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Metric_nerd's got it backwards - good sides coped because they turned up with a plan, and the wind just exposed whoever didn't have one. I was at Semenoff when the flags sat flat all afternoon and we still fell off tackles in the second half like blokes who'd never seen a runner before. Show me the numbers on line speed across a whole season and I'll concede, but the ground hasn't missed a tackle yet.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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RobbedAgain's got it right, I sat on the Semenoff embankment that afternoon and the flags barely twitched. Caveat: one match is a shocking sample, but the tackle count that half was ugly, hard out.Numbers > vibes.
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Took my old man's bin lid off the clothesline once in a Semenoff gale, so I know the wind's real, what it's never done is line up in defence π BootToBall's right, one afternoon proves nothing, but the tackle counts have been munted on calm days too. I've had a few punts on us at home through the TAB and learned quick that the ground owes nobody a thing. Blaming the harbour is just a comfy way to skip the hard conversations, brothers π€‘πΈHere to argue, not to nod along.
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Nah wind's real alright, I've frozen on that embankment enough times π but blokes stopping at the tackle line? That's on us, whanau πOne love, one side β€οΈ
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Nah wind's real alright, I've frozen on that embankment enough times π but blokes stopping at the tackle line? That's on us, whanau π@GraceLegend spot on tbh, you can't blame the sky for blokes going missing at the tackle line π€ I've coached juniors in worse wind than that and they still front up... it's effort, plain and simple. Wind is real but that half we shipped 40 with flat flags, hard to excuse πHeart with the team, head on pause.
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I could be wrong, but the wind shows up on the tape for maybe one play a match, the missed tackles show up on every one. That half we shipped 40, flags were flat. Still open in my book until someone charts a full season π
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@NickDiehard nah I'm with you mostly mate, shipping 40 with the flags dead flat kills the wind argument stone dead π€ BUT it cuts both ways, blokes going soft at the tackle line happens more when they're frozen stiff and can't feel their hands. I've coached juniors out there in a southerly and even the keen ones go quiet after 20 mins. Effort's still on us tho, no dodging that. You just know if someone actually charted the full season the wind shows up in the second halves way more. Ah well, nowt to do but turn up and back them through thick and thin π
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NickDiehard's got it. Flags flat and 40 points conceded in a half, the wind excuse dies right there. Chart the season, then we'll talk fortress.