Bryn Hall of North Harbour. Photo / Getty Images
North Harbour cannot afford their customary slow start when they kick off their ITM Cup Championship campaign tomorrow night against the Bay of Plenty Steamers in Tauranga.
In 2014, Harbour fell to 0-4 before resurrecting their season and pushing hard for the semifinals, while under Liam Barry in 2013 they
did not win until round six.
Adding further motivation is the fact that Harbour were defeated 21-14 by the Steamers in Rotorua, one of their most disappointing outings of 2014. In fact they have not beaten the Steamers since 2009.
"There is an edge. The guys talk about a bit of payback. That loss hurt us in our aspirations to go to the semis. But we need to start well, regardless.
"Harbour hasn't done well at the start of their season for a number of years. So that's our focus. If we go through all our processes and get our game structures right, hopefully we'll come away with the result," said second-year coach Steve Jackson, who was not averse to a verbal kick up the backside for any of his players who chose poor options or had muddled thinking at training at QBE Stadium yesterday.
