It may be confusing for many but, whatever way you look at it, Otago has been hard done by in the draw for this season’s Mitre 10 Cup.
It ended up playing the top four teams from last year in Tasman, Wellington, Auckland and Canterbury.
The structure of the competition is such that teams get to pick their opponents in various order for four crossover games.
Well, some get to pick more than others.
For this season, the first round of picks had the top seven teams — the Premiership — picking sides.
Bottom Premiership team Bay of Plenty had the first opportunity to pick an opponent at the Championship side’s venue.
Everyone avoided Otago so Tasman was left with it as the only opponent left.
The second round was when the Championship sides — from the bottom up — had to pick an opponent for a home game.
Otago was left with Wellington, Auckland and North Harbour — hardly the most attractive of selections.
It picked Auckland, mainly because of the Lin Colling Memorial Trophy.
In the third round, the Premiership teams picked a home game with Tasman going first.
Canterbury had third pick and selected Otago as it envisaged a big crowd for a Ranfurly Shield challenge.
Of course ,when the game had arrived the shield had long gone.
The final pick was by the Championship teams for an away game. Otago had third pick but by then — due to previous rounds — had to pick between Wellington and North Harbour.
It picked Wellington mainly because of the Mike Gibson Memorial Trophy.
So it ended up with the top four teams in the Premiership.
Southland, on the other hand, which finished bottom of the Championship last year, does not play Auckland, Wellington or Canterbury this season. Hawke’s Bay has played Canterbury, North Harbour, Bay of Plenty and Wellington.
It has missed Tasman, Auckland and Waikato.
In the end though, it did not make much difference for Otago.
Otago has beaten Wellington and Canterbury and will take on Tasman today. It lost to Auckland, which was stacked with All Blacks.
The days of crossover matches may also be coming to an end.
The future of the competition is up for discussion and there is talk of having pools split along geographical lines. Whether that leads to the end of picking opponents is still unclear.
