The Hawks have been fiercely competitive every weekend they have taken the field. Most of their games have come down to a handful of points.
They lost to Taieri 17-12 and 15-13 and to Green Island 34-31. And the "game of two halves" against Dunedin was lost 29-27.
Notice a pattern?
Kaikorai’s 23-5 win was an outlier.
Discipline has been an issue. Coach Jeremy Wara was not ducking that.
The sin bin has seen some heavy traffic and that has been costly.
But there have been happier occasions as well. The Hawks edged Green Island 15-7 and beat University 26-14.
Last weekend they sneaked a 30-29 win over defending champion Southern at Bathgate Park.
Wara would not go as far as saying the tense win over the Magpies was a turning point for the team. But he was pleased with the progress the Hawks were making.
"It’s been nail-biting, eh," Wara joked.
"[Those narrow losses] have been trying," he said, adding everyone was in good
spirits, and buoyed by the results in some sense.
Harbour has won three of its past five games and climbed
into fifth position.
"I don’t know if we’ve turned a corner because there are still little tweaks to make and some refining to do.
"That point will come but I don’t think we are there yet. We are still developing and that is what is so exciting."
As for the discipline issues, Wara felt there had been some questionable cards, "but, for the most part, it is on us to sort it out".
"That ill-discipline creeps into our game when we are under pressure."
The Hawks have plenty of talent in the lineup. Halfback Nathan Hastie and fullback/first five Obey Samate are at the top of that list.
Prop Tevita Pole has performed well up front and promising lock Siaki Kata has impressed.
Former All Black Waisake Naholo is a source of inspiration. The winger has made a big contribution to the club.
He had none of the swagger and all of the commitment you wanted in a good club man, Wara said.
Harbour will play Dunedin at Kettle Park tomorrow.
The big game of the round is between Kaikorai and Taieri at Bishopscourt. The Speight’s Jug is up for grabs.
Green Island hosts Southern at Miller Park and Zingari-Richmond plays University at Montecillo.
