Defensively, the Stags were as frugal as some of their Scottish ancestors who settled in the deep South.
They built their game around an underrated pack which was far greater than the sum of its individual parts.
The scrum was immovable. The defence impregnable. And skipper Tony Lamborn kept beating everyone to the breakdown.
The Stags loose forward trio of Lamborn, Matthew James and Charles Alaimalo were formidable in that area of the game.
Hooker Greg Pleasants-Tate was awfully handy on that score as well and was the Stags leading attacking threat when he got himself tucked in at the back of the maul.
The tight five was very decent. Props Siate Tokolahi and Ethan De Groot did not have a reverse gear and hard-working lock Mike McKee produced some quality shifts.
It was a perfect pack for wet-weather rugby. And the Stags managed to register three wins — something they had not achieved since 2014.
But despite their obvious strengths up front, the Stags wanted to play with width and that is where the game plan unravelled.
Southland certainly possessed some elusive players out wide but, as a unit, the backline disappointed — over and over again.
The statistics highlight that point.
The Stags conceded fewer points (193) than any other side in the Championship or the Premiership.
But on the flipside they also had the worst attacking record. Southland scored just 144 points in 10 games — 54 points fewer than next-worst attacking side Manawatu.
Coach Dale MacLeod felt the Stags would probably have won more games had the attack operated with more accuracy.
"I think the disappointing thing was we could have achieved more," he said.
"When you look at it, we beat two teams that are playing the Championship semifinals in Otago and Hawke’s Bay.
"We went very close and probably deserved to beat Bay of Plenty, who are in the Premierships semifinals.
"But we also lost to the two bottom teams and for me that is probably the most disappointing thing.
"We let ourselves down there.
"But there is a lot to be taken away from the season and we can be proud of some of the things we achieved.
"We put some pride back into the jersey."
Winning away from home remains a big challenge for the team.
It has been five years since the Stags posted a win away from Invercargill.
Southland set the tone early with a gutsy 16-10 win against Hawke’s Bay. In round three it produced a dogged effort to beat North Harbour 11-10.
The 17-14 loss to Bay of Plenty could easily have been a win as well.
But the Stags lost the next five: 10-9 to Waikato; 18-14 to Northland; 17-9 to Taranaki; 47-10 to Tasman and 24-12 to Manawatu.
The loss to Northland was particularly painful. Southland did all the attacking but could not find the finish it needed to secure the win.
It undid some of the damage with a 32-15 win against a lacklustre Otago side. That win gave it an outside chance of making the Championship playoffs.
But the Stags lacked physicality in the 25-17 loss to Counties Manukau and bowed out.
The key to next season will be to maintain the defensive intensity and get the backs to chip in more.
It is the best you can do with a big bag of potatoes.
