Having been handed one of the easiest paths to a playoff in sporting history, Southland coach Dale MacLeod admits his side probably shouldn’t be there, but is in no way sheepish about their NPC semifinal spot.
The Stags on Saturday face Taranaki in Inglewood, having absurdly qualified for the Championship semifinals with a one-win, six-loss record (14.29 per cent win rate) to claim fourth spot in this Covid-disrupted, quirky campaign.
Even with Auckland, Counties Manukau and North Harbour having their seasons cut short after two games, New Zealand Rugby, despite abandoning promotion-relegation, still pushed on with having four teams from each division make the cut for knockout play.
Joe Allison/Getty Images
The Stags celebrate a try in their sole victory of the season to date – against Northland.
In what became a five-team Championship, Southland finished one point ahead of Northland, and while they did register their sole victory against them, it was only because the Stags had been drawn to face all three Auckland-based sides compared to the Taniwha’s two, and in turn collected an extra lot of two points for a cancelled fixture.
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“We didn’t make the competition,” MacLeod noted to Stuff.
“Do we deserve to be there? Well, if I’m being real honest, probably not. But, we are, so who cares?
“I certainly don’t feel embarrassed about it. I know how hard our boys have worked, and I know the challenges we’ve gone through to get here.
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“So I think that’s probably all blown out by the media, and it doesn’t concern us one bit.
“I feel real sorry for New Zealand Rugby, because everyone in New Zealand’s really good at throwing s… at people. And that’s a little bit what’s wrong with our society today, we whinge and moan about stuff.
“Covid’s hit us, Jesus, there’s a lot more going on in the world than a rugby competition. And if it turns out this is how it ends up, this is how it ends up.”
Their poor record aside, Southland have been far from a disgrace and have built on MacLeod’s first year in charge in 2020 where they registered as many wins (three) as they had in the four preceding years where they finished bottom of the Championship.
“The only game we’ve been disappointed with is Tasman, in the first half,” MacLeod said of their 51-14 defeat in Blenheim six weeks ago, where they trailed 39-7 at the break.
“Every other game we’ve been in the fight.”
Joe Allison/Getty Images
Southland have a 1-6 record this year, yet find themselves with a chance to win the NPC Championship title.
That included an agonising golden-point loss to Premiership semifinalists Canterbury in Christchurch the week prior, and then in last Sunday’s semifinal precursor where they left several players at home and went down 24-10 to Taranaki, who are the only team across the competition to have won every game, in a fixture MacLeod suggested “everyone was predicting probably about a 50-0 scoreline”.
Having used a whopping 57 players from pre-season till this point, and having lost a few key men from last year, it’s depth where the Stags get majorly tested.
But, here they are, with a chance of capturing some silverware, and embracing their huge underdog tag.
“The scoreboard’s a zero,” MacLeod said. “History means nothing.
“And we’ve got everything to gain. Taranaki have got everything to lose. And I talked to Barnesy [Taranaki coach Neil Barnes] about that last weekend. He said, ‘Mate, you’re probably the one team I don’t want to be playing, we know what you can do’.
“I watched a video during the week about Tom Brady [the NFL superstar] when he first started out. And he was ranked 199 because he couldn’t this, he couldn’t that, and, look what he’s done.
Kavinda Herath/Stuff
“You can’t measure passion”, notes Stags coach Dale MacLeod ahead of his side’s semifinal.
“People just underestimate us because we’re a bunch of no-names. But I believe we’ve got some really good young talent, and we’re starting to understand what’s required. And I have no doubt you’ll see the best side of us on Saturday.
“You can’t measure passion.
“For us to beat them, would it be fair? No. But sport’s not fair. That’s why people cry at the end of a game, because they believe they had a chance to win.”
In the wake of Southland’s ridiculous passage to the playoffs, Stuff has dug up a few other examples:
1952-53 NBA: The Baltimore Bullets made the playoffs with a stunningly low win percentage of just 22.9, which remains the worst record in history for any side advancing to the post-season. With five teams in both Eastern and Western Divisions, the top four in each clinched a spot, and with the Philadelphia Warriors’ miserable 12-57 season, it provided the 16-54 Bullets with a golden ticket to the party. They duly lost 2-0 (by 18 then nine points) in their semifinal matchup with the top-ranked New York Knicks.
2010 NFL: The Seattle Seahawks became the first team since 1982 (when a players’ strike shortened the season and the playoffs were extended from 10 to 16 teams) to qualify for the playoffs with a losing record, after their 7-9 (43.75 per cent) was somehow enough for them to win their NFC West division. Washington matched it last year in topping the NFC East, though at least they had a +6 points differential. The Seahawks’ was -96. Despite sneaking in, Seattle did then make their playoff appearance a memorable one, beating the New Orleans Saints in their wildcard matchup thanks to the stunning 67-yard fourth-quarter touchdown from Marshawn Lynch, which, such was the impact of the home fans jumping in celebration, even registered on a nearby seismograph, with the play now referred to as ‘Beast Quake’.
2016 European Football Championship: Portugal did not win a game in group play, yet went on a fairytale run to claim a maiden title. With the tournament’s expansion from 16 to 24 teams, the format was tweaked to include two extra groups and therefore the four best third-placed teams also advanced to the knockout stages. After drawing with Iceland and Austria, Portugal were sweating on a result against Hungary and, led by superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (two goals), three times came from a goal down to draw 3-3. That snuck them in as the third-best third-placed team, on goal difference, and the rest was history – they beat Croatia after extra time in the round of 16, toppled Poland on penalties in the quarterfinals, defeated Wales in the semifinals, then took down hosts France in extra time in the final.
2021 NRL: The Gold Coast Titans this year made history as the team with the worst record to make the top-eight playoffs in the NRL era. Needing to beat the Warriors by 11 or more in their last-round clash, the Titans duly did and secured eighth spot with their 10-14 record (41.7 per cent). In their elimination final against the Sydney Roosters they then looked set to score an unbelievable try on the siren, only for a stray pass to leave them devastated.
Super Rugby Pacific: This doesn’t kick off till next year, but the format will see an absurdly high percentage of teams (66.7) in the playoffs, with eight of 12 advancing to quarterfinals. It will likely mean there’s at least one side progressing who have lost more games than they’ve won. Consider the 2002 Super 12 ladder, where the eighth-placed team was the Chiefs, who had a 4-7 record (36.4 per cent).
