Joanah Ngan-Woo of the Hurricanes Poua. Photo / Getty
Joanah Ngan-Woo of the Hurricanes Poua. Photo / Getty
Black Fern Joanah Ngan-Woo says the Hurricanes Poua may not be underdogs in the Super Rugby Aupiki semifinals had the season been extended and the players allowed to train full-time.
Just 22 days after the season started, the Wellington side head into finals footy on Sunday, with all four teamsqualifying for the semifinals after playing just three pool games.
They’ll face Chiefs Manawa, the top-ranked team, who defeated the Poua 53-21 in their season opener.
And although they’re building as a team, Ngan-Woo told the Herald they might not be in this position — bottom of the table — had they spent more time together.
“We’ve already seen what we can produce being a part-time assemble, four days a week, so I think a longer season being full-time athletes would produce some awesome rugby.
“We’ve tried to cram everything in; policies, learning, different things and combinations into the time that we have, so other things miss out, like defence.”
In Aupiki the players commit part-time from Thursday to Sunday and “back to work Monday to Wednesday”, said Ngan-Woo.
“There’s not much time for downtime or time off. It’s been super busy and super fast and now we’re already at the semis. It would be cool to have a proper season and proper time with each other.”
The Hurricanes Poua fell to the Chiefs Manawa 53-21 in the competition opener. Photo / Horowhenua Chronicle
Ngan-Woo believes the competition is far from its full potential yet, but a united front of players hope to change that.
“A lot of players from other clubs are on the same page and we’ve all got the same sort of issues of going back to work and then back into season for rugby.
“They’re still in talks with Australia and Japan, so once that gets underway that will be cool.
“There’s movement but it always could be better. We’re just rolling with it and taking what we can get.”
The Poua have one win this season, beating Matatū by one point, before losing to the Blues by nine last weekend.
All Aupiki finals are held at Auckland’s North Harbour Stadium, with Matatū taking on the Blues at 3.15pm before the Hurricanes meet the Chiefs at 6.05pm.
Ngan-Woo is hopeful they learned enough from their defeat to the Chiefs to be more competitive in their semifinal.
“We’re just ready to go again. We’re just focused on ourselves and doing everything we’ve been doing and learning in training rather than focusing on them.
“Having them in the first game ironed out a lot of maybe weaknesses and work-ons that we had.
“We’ve lost our captain since the first game — we’ve filled in that. We’re starting to build a lot of connections and combos. I think we’ll see a new backline.
“We definitely have it in us, the potential in our Hurricane team is crazy and I don’t think we’ve reached it yet.
“Hopefully we can do it this weekend — cause an upset. We want it a lot.”
