The side travels to Rotorua this morning to meet the Bay of Plenty Lakers this afternoon in a must-win NZRL division two championship match.
Otago is coming off an impressive 22-18 win over the Wellington Orcas in Dunedin last week, and the winner of today’s match will advance to next weekend’s promotion-relegation clash.
That would involve it playing the bottom side from the top division, likely to be Waikato, at Mount Smart Stadium next Saturday.
Otago has never been in the national top division, but even without getting there this side has already made a huge mark in the history books.
"I was talking to Carey Clements, who’s a history buff," Whalers coach Dave Reedy said.
"He said last week’s win is almost the single biggest achievement for Otago rugby league.
"So the boys want to create history, as they keep saying."
Last week’s win had left the team riding high on confidence.
It had been the first time in 49 years it had played Wellington, a team Reedy described as a powerhouse of New Zealand rugby league over much of that time.
He said the forwards had been outstanding, with their fitness being key to the win.That would likely be pivotal again, as conditions may dictate the way the game is played.
"It’ll be up to our forwards again, I think. It’s meant to be wet.
"It’s been miserable weather up there all week, I think.
"They had an New Zealand [under] 18s game there on the park on Tuesday and that was real muddy and wet, so it’ll be up to our forwards."
He did not know too much about the Bay of Plenty side, other than that it was athletic and had beaten Wellington a week earlier by the same score as Otago did.
That was often the way in this competition, although Reedy said that was not necessarily a bad thing.
"The good thing about this competition is that we don’t know [the other teams].
"So we just have to concentrate on what we do, which is good, because if we know other stuff our minds tend to drift a bit.
"Just work on what we can control and our own game plan and sort of make adjustments during the game once we get a feel for it and have a look at the opposition."
He was confident his team had enough to come home with the win and said the side was playing well with the underdog tag.
"They know that we’ve got nothing to lose, so that’s helping us play better.
"There’s no pressure really. No-one was expecting us to win these games, except for ourselves. We expect to win, but the boys are enjoying it."
NZRL division two
Championship
Otago Whalers v Bay of Plenty Lakers, Puketawhero Park, Rotorua, Today, 4pm
