While everyone stresses about the over-the-hill Highlanders, ponders the injury woes at the Crusaders, marvels at the consistency of the Chiefs or is mesmerised by the Prince of Positivity, Sir John Kirwan, the Hurricanes have loped into fifth place on the Super Rugby standings.
Yes, their defence has been leaky and the bounce of the ball certainly went in their direction as they dispatched the Waratahs last weekend, but it's hard to deny Mark Hammett's side is a genuine threat in this year's competition.
They've got arguably the world's best wing in Julian Savea, the premier centre in Conrad Smith, a livewire halfback by the name of TJ Perenara, an All Black first-five, who can also play at fullback, a dynamic loose trio and a veteran second-row.
Despite all the things there are to get excited about, Hammett refuses to let his men get ahead of themselves.
After last weekend's game he said his team weren't the sort of side who could afford to gloat about a four-game winning run.
"We can take confidence out of it, but I think we are a team that sometimes, if you get too excited and too ahead of yourself, then your performance and the micro detail in your performance can drop by three or four per cent," Hammett said.
"Now for us, as a team, if we drop three or four per cent that's the difference of winning and losing."
If the Hurricanes can topple Kirwan's Blues at Eden Park tonight (Sat) that would make it five in a row. Considering the Hurricanes' next two games are home outings against the Western Force and the Stormers, it's not inconceivable that the Hurricanes could find themselves on a seven-match winning run ahead of their trip to South Africa.
One of the tried and true cliches in a rugby player's handbook is talking about how a team takes only one game at a time, but it would be wrong to think there's not a few Hurricanes who have looked at the draw and dared to daydream.
"You've got to be really cautious around reading good media as you've got to be cautious around reading bad media," Hammett said.
"We just need to be really focused on our vision and our goals and what we do each week and that's what we do and control that part of it. We are still human, we look at the boards, we look to see where we are going and how teams are tracking and that's natural when you're in a competition where you want to win. But ultimately what two teams do on a Saturday doesn't affect the game we have on a Saturday."
As the Hurricanes continue to progress through the season without too many plaudits, Smith said he had no problems with being the dark horse.
"It does suit us. Well it suits me anyway because I don't have to talk [to the media] every week but I think there's a real advantage of when you play your best footy and I don't think we've played our best footy yet and that's a good thing," Smith said.
"Because I think there's going to be some really tough games ahead and it's still early days now. We are not even halfway through the competition so I think it's good, it makes it easier to keep the boys grounded when no-one's talking about us and that's been pretty important. I think we've had a really good attitude so far this year and I think it's going to be important if you want to go further."
