The years-long rut the Stags desperately need to get out of
There’s no dodging it, the Southland Stags are in a rut. It’s a rut that’s lasted years, rather than months. Southland has won five of 43 games over a five-year stretch now.
Counties Manukau 39 ({Penalty try, Josh Gray 3, Liam Daniela, Riley Hohepa tries; Hohepa con, AJ Alatimu con, pen) Southland 29 (Mike McKee, Michael Manson 3, Gabriel Hamer-Webb tries; Dan Hollinshead 2 con). HT: 24-17
There’s no way to sugar-coat it. The Southland Stags faithful are in desperate need of some sort of success to latch on to.
Southlanders are a loyal bunch, that will never be questioned. But Stags fans need a bit more to help puff the chests out with pride.
Southland is now six rounds into its 2023 NPC season without a win.
Before the season opener co-coach James Wilson stated he would deem a winning season a success. So, more wins than losses in simple terms.
That won’t happen with four games to play in a 10-game season.
The Southland Stags are in a rut, and it’s a rut that’s lasted years now.
Southland has won five of 43 games over a five-year stretch now.
Many in sport say that winning is a habit - but so can losing be.
That’s not a line written to be nasty. It is simply there to point to the desperate need for the current Stags team to find that winning feeling and then replicate it.
It would be a different conversation if the 2023 Stags lacked effort. They don’t lack effort. There is a genuine desire to get better.
It would also be a different conversation if they were just outright hopeless. They are not.
The problem the Stags have is they are a team that put themselves into contests but lack the ruthlessness in their execution to turn winnable games into competition points.
The latest example of that came on Saturday evening in the 39-29 loss to Counties.
There again were moments when the Stags revealed themselves as a team with a bit about them - in particular in attack.
Michael Manson’s set play try from a close-range scrum in the 21st minute highlighted that.
That was the first of winger Manson’s three tries as the former school sprinting star continues to showcase he has got plenty of upside in attack.
When Manson scored his first try it put the Stags within striking distance at 12-10 midway through the first half.
But Southland has developed a killer habit throughout the 2023 season where it lets in points late in the first half.
That happened again at Pukekohe on Saturday going from 12-10 down at the 32nd mark to 24-10 down at the 37th minute.
Southland did manage to pull one back on the stroke of halftime when first five-eighth Dan Hollinshead sent a long cut-out pass out to Manson who fed fullback Gabriel Hamer-Webb to score to make it 24-17 at halftime.
The two teams traded point-scoring blows in the second half.
When Manson showed a bit of individual brilliance to score his third try in the 64th minute the Stags found themselves down just 32-29 and in striking distance of its first 2023 victory.
But again, Southland just wasn’t polished enough late in the game to capitalise.
Quite rightly there will be a fair bit of frustration at the moment from the likes of Wilson, David Hall, Daryl Thompson, and Matt Saunders.
When the Stags seem to plug one problem area another one surfaces.
An example is its lineout. That had been its strength for much of the 2023 season but came unstuck on Saturday against Counties.
The scrum was also one of the best in the competition during the first four weeks but during the past fortnight has been put under a lot of pressure.
The loss of tight-head prop Morgan Mitchell in recent weeks has been telling in that department.
Sometimes you don’t fully appreciate the importance of a player until they are actually not there. Mitchell falls into that category.
At the same time, the Stags have lost No 8 Dylan Nel and second-five-eighth Scott Gregory to injury - two experienced players who provide go-forward.
Their absence has also been telling. Although Rugby Southland director of rugby Matt Saunders made it clear when he took on the job that he wanted the ongoing excuses in Southland rugby to be ditched.
His message to the Stags players is to show up to training on Monday ready to prepare to win the next weekend, whatever has gone before them.
That doesn’t change this week.
Southland’s next assignment is Canterbury on Sunday. What better way to leap out of that rut and to start to change the narrative that’s attached to Southland rugby than an upset victory in Christchurch?
Some will suggest it’s ridiculous to even consider a victory over Canterbury at the moment.
Although most in New Zealand gave Southland Boys’ High School no chance to win a national title. On Wednesday there will be a public victory parade for Southland Boys’ High School because they did just that.
Unexpected outcomes in sport can happen with belief and execution.
Now’s the time for something special at the Stags level, for everyone involved in Southland rugby.
An extremely good summary of the team this season. The balance between winning and losing isn't a long way apart. But no one celebrates the almost won games.