Silver lining discovery is the work of optimists, but even those of us in the camp of the pessimists could take heart in the NRL New Zealand Warriors’ show against one of the better teams in the 2017 Telstra NRL Premiership competition, the Melbourne Storm.
The road trip to Melbourne by the Warriors ultimately led to the Storm padding their won – loss statistic, with the final score of 20 – 14.
The Warriors had brief flashes and long periods of impressive play, but it would have been a difficult upset. The Warriors are close to obtaining the sort of conviction it takes to win against the top teams and they came close to doing so against the Canberra Raiders, but until they make that breakthrough, close losses are losses still.
The outlook in Christchurch is decidedly more optimistic, as the Super Rugby Crusaders have been nothing short of perfect thus far in union play, posting eight wins against zero defeats. They have been, and remain, the most successful team in Super Rugby history, claiming six premierships since their launch in 1996. They won three consecutive beginning in 1998.
If it were possible, through some form of alchemy, to bottle some of that success and pass it along to the Warriors, it would be not a silver lining finding type of process, but more akin to changing lead to gold.