Semenoff Stadium on a wet Whangarei night is worth more to Northland
Honestly the fog off the harbour does more for us than any signing we could afford anyway. Visitors come up to Semenoff thinking it'll be a gentle Bunnings NPC away day, then our pack takes over in the soup and it's game over. Some of them would rather stay in the warm south and just punt the TAB from their couch 😏
11 posts
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✓Honestly the fog off the harbour does more for us than any signing we could afford anyway. Visitors come up to Semenoff thinking it'll be a gentle Bunnings NPC away day, then our pack takes over in the soup and it's game…Nice story, but the fog works both ways and our record at Semenoff in wet weather isn't spotless by any measure. If home advantage were worth that much, why did we lose winnable matches there last NPC season? Sounds good but I'd take a couple of genuine signings before I bank on the weather saving us again.Numbers are honest, takes aren't.
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Skeptic's got a point but that fog night when our pack monstered them up the middle - I was there, still get chills 😱🔥 Any signing money buys won't match that tbh, ah well, nowt to do 💪You don't abandon your own.
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Fair question from Paul_Fan, but conditions compress variance: wet nights shrink the gap our payroll can't close, so the pack's edge matters more. I could be wrong, but the tape backs the fog nights. 📊Do the math before you argue.
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Aye, been watching the Taniwha since the old days and wet Whangarei nights always were our friend, I remember an NPC game where the fog rolled in off the harbour so thick the visitors' backs never saw the ball all night, our forwards just ground it up the middle and the crowd carried them over. Paul_Fan's right we've dropped a few winnable ones out there, but that one night gave you more belief than any cheque could buy. ;-)Seen it all, lads.
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Ultra88, that fog night stays with me too, I kept the match stats in my notebook, pack carried us. Caveat though: one night is a small sample.Numbers > vibes.
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BadBeatKing, small sample? Remind me what your ROI says about small samples 😏 Fog nights are free money, sure thing every away side dreads Whangarei in soup.Any stat can be bent.
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Nah lads, one foggy night and suddenly we're unbeatable 😅 love the romance but every away side fears us? we finished bottom half last season 💀 still home advantage tho 🐗You don't abandon your own.
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gary lad, watch as long as I have and you'll get it. Home advantage in the soup builds over years, one bottom-half finish proves nothing 😄 back in the day the visiting sides came north shivering before kick-off, and every winning season we've had started with grafting teams out at Semenoff in the wet. romance? maybe, but I've seen worse sides than ours win titles off the back of a fortress like that.Seen it all, trust me.
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Funny thing is, I sat down with my notebook last night and even I couldn't put a clean number on what the fog is worth. Gary wants to call it free money, Gary_Blues points at the bottom-half finish, and honestly both of them are holding a piece of it. The way I see it: one fog night is a small sample, BadBeatKing is right there, but the pattern across seasons at Semenoff in rotten conditions leans our way more often than the ladder position suggests. Visitors who plan around dry-weather width come unstuck when our forwards can grind it up the middle and nobody can see the touchline. I could be wrong, but I'd back the ground and the soup over a marquee name you'd pay serious NZ$ for and lose to injury by round five. Where I land: the advantage is real, the size of it is still up for debate 📊Do the math before you argue.
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