Road rage for the Turbos
Trouble on their travels an ongoing issue
When Manawatu go on the road in the national provincial championship the result is more of a splutter rather than turbo-charged.
Since they were reinstated to the top flight of the NPC in 2006, the Turbos have recorded a dismal 13 away wins from 58 matches.
That equates to a meagre 22 percent winning record.
With the team set for their first away match of the 2017 provincial season against Otago in Dunedin on Saturday, they will be hoping they can buck that record.
Exactly why the Turbos have been so poor on the road was something coach Jeremy Cotter could not put his finger on.
He was keen to keep their away record off the mind as they prepare for their trip to Dunedin.
‘‘Forsyth Barr is quite an exciting place to go to. The boys really enjoy going there,’’ he said. ‘‘Otago are a good team, they were finalists last year, they are tough.’’
Manawatu have a good chance of knocking off last season’s finalists, who remain winless.
But with the match being away, their odds of winning tumble.
Sure there were some lean years for Manawatu, especially in the early seasons of the then Air New Zealand Cup, but their away record is much worse than their home record (28 wins from 62 games, 45 percent).
Neither is a record to gloat over but since 2013 there has been a significant swing in home results (16 wins from 24 games, 67 percent), but little improvement away (6 wins from 20 matches, 30 percent)
It took until the Turbos’ third season in the top flight to win an away game - that came in their shock win over Canterbury in Christchurch in 2008.
It would not be until 2011 that they registered two away wins in a single season and they have only repeated that twice (2012 and 2014 a season when they won four of their five away matches).
And there are very few fields the team can consider happy hunting grounds.
In fact they have recorded more than two away wins over just three provinces since 2006 - Wellington, Northland and Otago.
Wins over this week’s opponent are split between Carisbrook (1/1) and Forsyth Barr Stadium (1/3).
But then there is also the horror destinations - Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Counties Manukau,
Auckland and Taranaki.
The Turbos have a zero from 20 record in away matches to that lot combined since 2006.
They have picked up 10 wins against those five unions at home. It proves that venue matters. Counties Manukau, who the Turbos host in week eight, has the biggest swing in Manawatu’s winning record with the Turbos winning three out of four at home and zero from five away.
Manawatu scored a handy draw this season with trips to Dunedin, Hamilton and Invercargill separated by home matches.
But the big challenge comes in their final two games of the regular season.
The team will bus to New Plymouth on game day to take on Taranaki on October 11 and repeat the match-day bus ride when they head to Napier to take on Hawke’s Bay four days later.