Bulls primed for unexpected

Bulls primed for unexpected

If anyone should be prepared for the shifting sands of the NZRL National Premiership, it’s Rockcote Canterbury Bulls coach Darrell Coad.

Twelve months ago, his side seemed to have dipped out on a place in the final on a points differential countback, but a flurry of protests and counter-protests saw the third-placed Bulls take on fourth-placed Wai-Coa-Bay Stallions for the title, with the southerners eventually claiming honours.

This season, the defending champions have occupied the driver’s seat for much of the journey and even after suffering their first hiccup last week against Counties Manukau, seem relatively assured of returning to the final with a routine victory over winless Northern Swords this Saturday.

Don’t try telling Coad that.

“Anything can happen,” he says. “Come Monday, we could be talking about something completely different.”

As the 2015 competition stands, entering the final round, Canterbury, Counties and Wai-Coa-Bay are level at the top of table, with just one loss each, but the Stallions trail the others on countback and are unable to improve their position in their bye week.

The Bulls or the Stingrays (or both) would have to lose to the Swords or Wellington Orcas on the road this weekend to miss out on the final and while that seems unlikely, Coad knows the dangers of taking things for granted.

“The Swords are never easy,” he insists. “Last year, we beat them quite convincingly down here, but we’re travelling to them this time.

“It’s their last game of the season and they have everything going for them. They want to test themselves against us and we realise all these factors.

“We have to train hard this week, so we’re 100% focused on the job or we will get turned over. We’ve come too far to fall at the last hurdle.”

Their loss may ultimately prove costly to Canterbury, who could have sealed another Bulls/Stallions final with victory over the Stingrays.

Since falling to the Stallions in their season opener, the South Aucklanders have gathered momentum and are now the form team of the premiership,.

“Counties are always strong and they were definitely the better team on the day,” says Coad. “They deserved their win. And they’ll be really hard to beat in the final, if we both make it.

“It was disappointing to lose, because we had gone relatively well up to then. Each week, we try to find something to work on and that results gives us plenty to think about over the next couple of weeks.”

The main take-away from the defeat was a tackling performance that left a lot to be desired.

“It was terrible and, as a coach, I’ve done a lot of pattern work on that, but it just didn’t seem to come off.

“That was our demise, but you learn as you go. The boys got a bit of a reminder this week and I’m sure they’ll respond well.”

The Swords have possibly been better than their bottom-of-the-table standing suggests and have been unlucky on a couple of occasions, losing to Wellington only on a last-minute converted try.

The Orcas have also beaten Central Vipers and drew with Akarana Falcons in their season opener, so they could provide the Stingrays with an even sterner test at Porirua.

Meanwhile, the Falcons will try to end their season on a positive note, when they visit the Vipers in Waitara.

ENDS

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