Stags take tough review on chin, Auckland now in sights
“We’ve done a good review [of the Otago game], we’ve been pretty upfront, the boys had to take a few on the chin to be fair. They did that well, we are here to get better."
The Southland Stags players have taken an honest assessment “on the chin” as they look to turn positive patches into an 80-minute winning NPC performance.
The Stags are yet to win a game through their first four outings to date this season despite putting themselves in decent positions.
The latest was a 31-21 loss to Otago in Dunedin on Saturday.
Southland will take on Auckland at Rugby Park in Invercargill on Sunday. Following that game, the Stags will be at the halfway point of the season.
Stags co-coach David Hall said there was no question around effort and the players have been working hard during the week in the leadup to games.
However, there were areas on game day each weekend where they have let slip.
“Unfortunately, we just keep making the same mistakes at crucial times which is costing us the ability to get that win across the line.
“We’ve done a good review [of the Otago game], we’ve been pretty upfront, the boys had to take a few on the chin to be fair. They did that well, we are here to get better,” Hall said.
Speaking to The Roaring Pen podcast loose forward Blair Ryall added the attitude within the camp was to simply make sure they turn up each and every Monday to prepare to win at the weekend.
“Our first day in [each week] is always pretty tough with our review, that’s been like that since the start. But the mood is really good, there are obviously a lot of positives.”
Ryall confirmed the reviews have been quite pointed and he embraced that.
“They’ve got to be. You’ve obviously got to right your wrongs and get better,” Ryall told The Roaring Pen podcast.
A good chunk of the focus, it appears, has been on the attack and being a bit more ruthless.
“I think a lot of it was executing a lot of opportunities we get. You are always going to get scored on, but I think we left a lot of tries out there [against Otago] and if we did get those tries it would have been a different story,” Ryall said.
Southland has a chance to make it a one-two punch from the smaller unions to the big boys Auckland after Manawatu upset them 33-31 on Wednesday.
That upset result came hours before even more pressure was lumped on the future of the NPC competition following a review of New Zealand Rugby.
The review questioned the sustainability of the NPC.
If you love the NPC Sunday might be a good time to vote with your feet and show up to highlight that.
SBS Bank Stags team to play Auckland:
1.Shaun Stodart
2.Jack Taylor
3. Quinn Harrison – Jones
4. Danny Drake
5. Josh Bekhuis ©
6. Blair Ryall
7. Hayden Michaels
8. Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa
9. Jay Renton
10. Dan Hollinshead (vc)
11. Michael Manson
12. Tevita Latu
13. Matt Whaanga
14. Viliami Fine (15th Game - Blazer)
15. Greg Dyer
16. Nic Souchon*
17. Hunter Fahey*
18. Jonah Aoina
19. Mike McKee
20. Jacob Coghlan
21. Connor McLeod*
22. Angus Simmers*
23. Noah Foster
*Potential Debut