Mark Meyer put a brave face on the crushing seven-goal defeat by Canterbury that marked his 100th game for the province.
Northland finished the weekend with that 2-9 loss and a 2-2 draw against Southern to show for their efforts over the opening weekend in Hamilton.
"While it was disappointing for me,
it was positive to see the young guys in the team being blooded in the NHL in this way. They got to know how hard it can be out there," he said.
It was difficult not to be impressed with the Canterbury performance as they outplayed Northland with their slick passing game and Northland had few answers.
Meyer likened Northland to Portugal facing up to an All Black-like Canterbury.
"We had nothing to lose out there today, Canterbury had a few Black Sticks in their team and they played to their strengths and showed us how good they are."
Yesterday, the Northland team came back strongly to lead Southern 2-1 until they conceded a goal in the final minute.
Sam Webb had finished off a well-worked penalty corner in the 29th minute for a 1-0 lead at half time before Southern equalised. Northland went ahead again in the 56th minute when Mark Thorne finished off a penalty corner but they were caught short by the last-gasp goal.
Against Canterbury, communication was lacking and passes went wide of the mark, giving the Christchurch-based side the possession they needed to dominate the game.
But with nine goals against them, the real problem was defence, with the side overrun from all directions, leaving John Child and Meyer and goalie Jareth Cocking exposed. Cocking was the main reason the rugby score didn't turn into a cricket score.
The midfield seemed a step too far from their markers and the skilful Canterbury forwards made several punishing runs.
Child was solid and moved into midfield to try to strengthen the midfield defence. He scored a goal and fittingly, with Canterbury tailing off after a job well done, it was one of the youngsters in the team who at least allowed them a positive end to the game. Ferdinand Von Ozertzen scored with a flourish but it was too little too late.
