COMMENT: Grin and Grind It, We'll Take What We Can Get

THE last time Northland managed to beat Otago at Carisbrook, aka The House of Pain, Peter Sloane was captain, Joe Morgan was still in the No.12 jersey and a bloke called Eddie Dunn was running the backline from first five eighths.
For the rugby trainspotters it was 1979, Northland won 16-7 and the current Otago coach Steve Martin was a 20-year-old halfback trying to bust his way into the big time.
After Northland flirted with the notion of ending that 29-year hoodoo in an Air NZ Cup match in Dunedin on Saturday night, that record seems set to expand past the one-score-and-ten mark.
As if losing by a measly three points wasn't hard enough to swallow, now Otago can stretch their psychological torture even further. Thirty years is a long time no matter what angle you look at it.
Only six of the current Northland squad were born the last time Northland won at Carisbrook. And, no, that doesn't count the coaches.
Barring some remarkable permutations of this latest Air NZ Cup format, it will be at least 31 years before that paticular rugby statistic gets tested again.
But it doesn't take much analysis to see why Northland won that day in 1979.
For a start Sloane, Morgan and Dunn were all players who could claim that most precious rugby achievement: They had all played for the All Blacks. Others in the team that day were about to, like Mike Burgoyne, Wayne Neville and Fred Woodman.
In the professional rugby era they reckon history doesn't matter.
Well, contemplate those names, then try whispering that theory in the hallowed halls where the Northland rugby faithful roam.
But if anything Saturday's effort from the current crop of Northland rugby athletes did offer something tangible: At least they had a shot at winning it.
For that even the harshest critic can be thankful.
It has been a while since any Northland team has managed to finish within cooee of Otago at Carisbrook, and even longer since any team has managed to head home with a championship bonus point in the back pocket.
Which is another small blessing to be thankful for.
That and the fact that this Northland team has, at the very least, identified what they are good at, and seem hellbent of making sure they utilise it. It might not be an area of the game that will melt your wide- screen television, but if belting your opponent senseless one metre at a time works then who are we to question it?
Even players like winger Fetu Vainikolo and fullback Hayden Taylor are getting in on this act. You would have to say that halfback Corey Tamou and centre Leo Taliu are built for the job as well.
Northland's D4 diesel approach - as opposed to the high octane drag-racing tactic - might not see the commentators reaching for their cue cards of superlatives but it might just be a recipe for some success in this competition.
Anyway, if it was Auckland or Canterbury who decided to abandon their backline and wallop everyone with their big blokes it would be hailed as a masterstroke. And what are the television directors who run rugby these days going to do about it anyway? Remove all Northland games from the coverage schedule? Fine - more people will probably buy tickets to come and watch.
Instruct the commentators to lampoon Northland at every opportunity? Hell, what's changed.
It might be prudent to be suitably warned on Thursday night when Northland face the first real examination against Bay of Plenty though, or for that matter any game Northland plays this season against any of their rural counterparts. Hawke's Bay, Counties, certainly Taranaki and definitely Southland are singing from the same song sheet.
So from now on rolling mauls are to be welcomed with heartfelt cheers of appreciation. Lineout drives will be accompanied by a roar of excitement. Everytime a forward gains two grass blades of positive momentum, we are expecting a stand ovation.
This high-paced passing game featuring backs with surnames with too many vowels in succession needs to be reined in. If we have to bore the opponents to death to bank some victories, so be it.
Those roaming the hallowed halls won't be moaning. These days they take anything they can get.