Promising start, faltering finish for Turbos
Where did it all go wrong? For a second-straight year, the Manawatu¯ Turbos were left sitting one point outside the playoffs.
After a promising pre-season, the Turbos were looking good for a healthy crack at the semifinals.
While there were reasons for optimism throughout the year, it all fell apart down the home stretch.
The Turbos started with a 41-29 loss to Wellington in Palmerston North.
In hindsight, that was a relatively good effort against one of the best teams in the competition, but at the time it screamed missed opportunity.
A try in the 52nd minute had the scores level, but Wellington wore them down.
The Turbos conceded a try two minutes from fulltime which cost them a crucial bonus point.
They bounced back from that with a healthy 35-20 win over Tasman.
It was not always pretty as they let Tasman back into the match mid-way through the second half.
But the Turbos closed out the match well to claim a solid win with Hamish Northcott bagging a bonus-point try on fulltime.
The trip to Dunedin was meant to be a chance to show off their talent-laden backline featuring both Nehe Milner-skudder and Ngani Laumape.
But Manawatu¯ were never able to get their backs into space.
They fell off too many tackles in the second half allowing exfeilding product Jona Nareki to bag a hat-trick,
Once again they failed to bag a
bonus point late.
Returning home to face Bay of Plenty should have offered a chance to get things back on track, instead they slumped to a 20-17 loss. The Turbos had every chance to win the game but were made paid for constantly turning down shots at goal.
Late in the game with a pieced together front row, their scrum faltered for one of the few times in the season.
It cost them a penalty try and in the dying seconds they lost flanker Nick Crosswell to a fractured neck, ending his year.
The trip to Hamilton proved a happy one as the Turbos beat Waikato 23-10.
After falling behind 10-3, the Turbos bench offered plenty of impact as they charged ahead.
They returned home to turn on one of their strongest 15 minute periods at the end of their match against Northland.
They added 16 points late as they picked up the 39-25 win.
From there the Turbos set off for Invercargill, escaping with a 25-20 win over their winless opposition.
The Turbos scored two early tries before almost letting the game slip.
It took a piece of solo play from Jason Emery to secure the win late. A couple of soft tries cost the Turbos their match against Counties Manukau 29-24.
After turning on some of the best tries of the season, they were guilty of missing too many tackles.
They looked to have scored the match-winner late, only to be denied due to obstruction.
But then Taranaki’s upset over Canterbury added the Ranfurly Shield to the mix.
It may have been in a short week against the best side in the competition, but few would have forgiven the coaching staff for fronting anything but their best when the Log ‘o Wood was on the line. The Turbos left little on the field and got within nine points with 10 minutes to play before a couple of late tries blew out the score to 46-25.
The toll from that match left them down a few men for their must win final match against Hawke’s Bay.
Up 17-0 at halftime, they looked to have the game in the bag.
But with both teams down a man after a first half brawl Hawke’s Bay adapted better.
They raced in 31 points in 18 minutes as the Turbos’ lead disappeared as they ended up losing 36-31. Referee Cam Stone’s unwillingness to turn to the TMO played a role in the loss as Hawke’ Bay were awarded two tries that weren’t, Manawatu¯ not award one that was fair and him ending the game on a knock-on that should have been a penalty for an intentional knock-down.
The last game screams as the major factor of the Turbos missing the playoffs. But the the crucial missed bonus point against Wellington and the poor loss to Bay of Plenty were just as costly.