In claiming their second win of the season against the Crusaders on the weekend, Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan said his side did not display everything they have in their arsenal.

"We showed nothing. I think we had a whole menu of strikes, and didn't do any of them. We sort of fed off a few scraps. In some respects, we've kept our powder dry."

They did that with only 37 per cent possession and 42 per cent territory.

"To win this competition, we've always got to keep in the back of our mind that we might have to play them three times."

The Chiefs scintillating 34-24 in in round 10 came on the back of their 31-10 win against them in Christchurch in the first game of the season.

Coach Clayton McMillan watched his players absorb all the early Crusaders pressure to maintain their composure, take advantage of penalty chances the visitors provided to claim a 12-7 halftime lead, and then cut loose and score three tries in the second half.

The Chiefs always believed they could beat the Crusaders because of the tools they could apply to make life challenging for the defending champions.

McMillan said there were no surprises in the Crusaders' approach.

"We knew they were going to go to a contestable game. We knew they were going to put some pressure on Damian [McKenzie], hit us hard in narrow channels, and try and assert some dominance through their maul and scrum penalties. That's their game, and they brought it out, and, for large parts, we dealt with that pretty well.

They also have an eight-point buffer on the points table, which will assure them of home games throughout the playoffs if they can maintain it.

Co-captain Sam Cane was heartened by the level of support from a crowd of 23,500.

"You don't take it for granted because it shows they believe in what we're doing, and in a way, we've earned their trust and respect and belief that they want to come out and support us.

"It makes a difference, and it's awesome.