Taniwha coach Derren Witcombe has said after experiencing so many close losses last season, he plans on upskilling his ITM Cup side to go through the process to get the wins.
Northland lost seven games last season, with only three of those losses being by more than 10 points, but Witcombe believes the excuses are running out and it's time to do the business.
"We feel the structure of this comp has been around for four years," Witcombe said. "We feel as a group we'd be selling ourselves short if we fell short of making the top four in the championship."
He added it was about going through the process to get the result rather than thinking the result would just happen.
Witcombe said this season had been a long one for some club players, but thanked the clubs and sub-unions for buying into what the Northland Rugby Union was trying to achieve.
