$2.60. 

Oof. I’m gonna’ hazard a guess that as a Crusaders fan, we haven’t faced such long odds against the Blues anytime this century. But honestly, given the Super Rugby season we’ve had so far, I felt a strange sense of surprise in checking the TAB website, when the number for tonight’s clash didn’t start with a four or a five. 

Momentum is one of those funny things in sport. When everything’s going swell, you don’t think about Lady Luck, so much. When everything’s not, well, one thing leads to another and another, and your problems have a curious habit of snowballing out of control.   

Crusaders Coach Rob Penney learnt that lesson the hard way this week. Of all the things he’s had to deal with this season that are out of his control, an exodus of experience and injuries up the wazoo, being caught on mic calling a reporter the C-word was definitely a fiasco of his own making.  

Although I’m a ride-or-die Crusaders fan, I’m 100% on the reporter’s side on this one. I’ll always back someone asking hard questions. Professional sport is a high-pressure, results-driven business. You cannot have the adoration and the glory, the merchandise sales and the TV viewers, without expecting scrutiny in return. And in this case, the questions asked weren’t personal or out of scope. They were entirely fair and reasonable.  

In the 90s, we had these bumper stickers in Christchurch. I don’t know why I’ve remembered them. They said ‘Of course we CANterbury.” The Can was written in red and the ‘terbury” was written in black. I wondered if an entrepreneurial soul watching Rob Penney’s press conference might reel off a few new products this week with a slight twist on the old classic.  

Of course, the irony is that if Rob Penney was trying to dispel questions about the pressure he faces or trying to cast off speculation about his future, his reaction has had the exact opposite effect. That one sentence and that one word told media and fans everywhere more than any of his answers to the actual questions possibly could have.   

That being said… I’d like to think we’re not so precious we’re going to hold a bad word against a man forever. If anything, Rob Penney has taken the heat off his players for a few days. The Crusaders have apologised. We can move on.  

And you know what, it occurs to me that nothing would help that team move on more… nothing would help Rob Penny pull a metaphorical Andrew Mehrtens-at-Loftus-Versfeld middle finger to the World, nothing would be quite so satisfying as a triumph against the old foe tonight.  

$2.60? By the Crusaders’ standards those are awfully long odds. But never discount a wounded underdog with its back against the wall.  

We might have the equal-fewest wins of this year’s Super Rugby tournament. We might be facing off with the top-of-the-table team. Our coach might be slagging off my colleagues. But I for one, still believe.