October 7, 2025

Bunnings NPC Predictions for the Quarter-Finals

Team Ratings for the Quarter-Finals

The basic method is described on my Department home page.
Here are the team ratings prior to this week’s games, along with the ratings at the start of the season.

Current Rating Rating at Season Start Difference
Bay of Plenty 10.58 6.48 4.10
Canterbury 9.03 4.02 5.00
Taranaki 8.57 5.30 3.30
Hawke’s Bay 5.42 0.68 4.70
Otago 4.92 -1.15 6.10
Counties Manukau 3.57 -0.26 3.80
Wellington 2.70 6.60 -3.90
Tasman 1.64 3.49 -1.80
Waikato -1.61 5.46 -7.10
Auckland -2.64 -0.04 -2.60
North Harbour -4.18 1.50 -5.70
Northland -5.96 -6.54 0.60
Southland -10.83 -5.90 -4.90
Manawatu -15.05 -13.45 -1.60

 

Performance So Far

So far there have been 70 matches played, 47 of which were correctly predicted, a success rate of 67.1%.
Here are the predictions for last week’s games.

Game Date Score Prediction Correct
1 North Harbour vs. Southland Oct 03 15 – 14 11.20 TRUE
2 Auckland vs. Otago Oct 04 17 – 51 -0.60 TRUE
3 Wellington vs. Bay of Plenty Oct 04 26 – 33 -4.20 TRUE
4 Waikato vs. Northland Oct 04 25 – 19 7.80 TRUE
5 Manawatu vs. Hawke’s Bay Oct 04 10 – 38 -15.70 TRUE
6 Tasman vs. Counties Manukau Oct 05 41 – 49 2.70 FALSE
7 Canterbury vs. Taranaki Oct 05 34 – 14 0.90 TRUE

 

Predictions for the Quarter-Finals

Here are the predictions for the Quarter-Finals. The prediction is my estimated expected points difference with a positive margin being a win to the home team, and a negative margin a win to the away team.

Game Date Winner Prediction
1 Otago vs. Waikato Oct 10 Otago 9.50
2 Bay of Plenty vs. Tasman Oct 11 Bay of Plenty 11.90
3 Hawke’s Bay vs. Taranaki Oct 11 Taranaki -0.10
4 Canterbury vs. Counties Manukau Oct 12 Canterbury 8.50

 

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David Scott obtained a BA and PhD from the Australian National University and then commenced his university teaching career at La Trobe University in 1972. He has taught at La Trobe University, the University of Sheffield, Bond University and Colorado State University, joining the University of Auckland, based at Tamaki Campus, in mid-1995. He has been Head of Department at La Trobe University, Acting Dean and Associate Dean (Academic) at Bond University, and Associate Director of the Centre for Quality Management and Data Analysis at Bond University with responsibility for Short Courses. He was Head of the Department of Statistics in 2000, and is a past President of the New Zealand Statistical Assocation. See all posts by David Scott »