Staggered beginning exposes problems
OPINION: Call me mad but I’ve watched the Stags’ 44-13 embarrassment at the hands of Northland three times to try to make sense of it all.
Before we delve too deep into it, credit where credit is due, Northland look good and should be regarded title contenders in the Championship division this year. But this is about turning the microscope on Southland. A lot of people are angry with what was delivered on Saturday evening at Rugby Park in Invercargill.
It was the first time Northland won an away game against any team since 2014 and they did it with absolute ease.
It is hard to know where to start in regards to looking at Southland’s problems as they try to produce a miracle-like turnaround in just six days to beat Canterbury and lift the Ranfurly Shield.
The Stags’ problems are wide ranging, the attack is limited and the defence generally is well off where it needs to be - in particular on the fringes.
On attack against Northland, Southland went nowhere as they constantly got caught behind the advantage line and kept shovelling the ball on without providing any real threat.
The Stags look a team who are very easy to defend against.
Physically, Southland don’t look all that imposing, something that was always going to be a concern this season with the playing resources at hand.
Many suggest good defence is based around attitude and accuracy. It is a big call to ever question someone’s attitude, many angry fans have gone down that track since Saturday. Some of that is probably fuelled by emotion.
What we can be more confident in suggesting is that accuracy isn’t there.
Let’s take a look at the six tries Northland scored on Saturday - there would have been some red faces in the Stags camp when they reviewed the tape.
Try one: In basic terms, it came on the back of a one on one missed tackle on Northland wing Jone Macilai from probably Southland’s marquee player in the backline heading into the season - Ryan Tongia.
Try two: It was on the left-hand side of the field as the Stags outsides again were caught off guard and an overlap was created with the ball sent to wing Jordan Hyland who waltzed in to score.
Try three: 20m out, 5m in from touch, Southland were caught napping with no-one defending the blindside. Halfback Sam Nock picked up the ball and darted blind, brushed off opposite Liam Howley, and otherwise went in untouched to score.
Try four: Northland centre Rene Ranger from 25m out put a grubber kick behind the defensive line with Stags fullback Lewis Ormond in a good position to mop it up but lost the ball cold and Macilai scooped it up to score.
Try five: A mistake on attack between Greg Dyer and Matthew Johnson meant Northland were able to quickly turn defence into attack, and had the Stags scrambling on the left-hand side. Jack Goodhue put a big fend on flanker Phil Halder before feeding fullback Solomona Alaimalo who went in to score outwide.
Try six: The last was a simple pick and go from close range by replacement hooker Jordan Olsen.
Next up are Canterbury on Friday night in Christchurch as Stags fans dream of seeing a repeat of the Ranfurly Shield heroics of 2009 and 2011.
In reality, result aside, what needs to be shown is improvement and a performance those Stags fans, and the Southland players themselves for that matter, can be proud of.
After just three games there is a lot of angst with what has been delivered in 2017 to date, in particular last Saturday.
There is only one way to put a stop to that.