Yes it is, Richie!

Well, those who would like to be, anyway!

I know what you’re thinking, how can a self-respecting two-season sports follower be talking about Rugby Union in the midst of a Cricket season to remember?! What, with the Black Caps bringing the cricketing-heat, as they take on the cricketing mavericks from… where?  Bangladesh?  Psst… That ain’t gonna fly… Aahhh… Send in the Hounds, I mean, the Australians (although as I type, the Bangers are firing)!

Okay, so that was a little attempt at Super Bowling the third One Day Cricket International in Christchurch, where the highlight will be, not actually on the field… although if McCullum scores 100 off 27 balls, that could work.  Given that this will more than likely require an afternoon nap, old man that I am… dreaming it to reality… the “lucid” highlight may very well be to see the new Stand at what will be a completed AMI Stadium, erected in all its finished glory, showing those who decided to return to Eden, what a Ground that looks the part… really looks like!  I have seen photos from a Facebook friend, and I must admit, she looks world class… Ah, the memories still remain of concrete embankments, in the days of my “trying not to forget” Youth.

Therefore, with the cricketing international this day, Thursday, such an event seems to be a little like those wowserish little snacks at the Wedding feast, before you sit down to pig out to party, all sanctified like, you will know!  As what is coming on Saturday night, with the return of the back-line Rugby King, Dan “he is our man” Carter, another Crusade begins, as the let’s hope it’s Super 14 kicks off, in real time, the night before, with the Blues vs Canes!  I am Jonny King… I almost put something down about being a Man who likes to Spin… so blogging confusing these days… anyway, it seems Rugby is realising that if they do not present their commodity like they really believe it’s the bees knees, then those who are watching may just think it is worth missing.

While this is a slight excursion from the subject matter I am getting to, you will follow… anyway, this is highlighted in no more stark a manner than when it gets to the business end of the tournament, where the final meets the champion!  So the Crusaders have been crowned, Yes, we all know it’s gonna happen if the injuries keep quiet… okay, so we have the said final, and from the way it is presented before the event, the manner the trophy is presented, after the match, one would think this is a small town event.  Now compare this with the Super Bowl.  Yes, this rugby event may not be on this scale, but this is meant to be the pinnacle of the provincial-type rugby event in the Southern Hemisphere, which is being satellited around the world, and if seeing is believing, called me an a-rugbyist! Perception become ones reality, and I can’t help perceiving that the rugby fraternity have got to get their thinking out of the clubroom, all Speights like, and get it onto Broadway… No, not one of the main shopping streets in Palmerston North, you know, on Stage, because this event should be choreographed in such a way that it is the centre of attention, and if anyone else is gonna start believing this, it should firstly be those behind this gig, the ones who are putting this on!

Now while I am pleased to hear some of the changes at the beginning end of the competition, which may be for this weekend only, however, it is nice to hear that the spectators are going to be allowed to run onto the park again after the match (this weekend in Christchurch, at least), which should bring little young Jonny to game, encouraging Dad in pursuit, if such a tactic is the pinnacle for the return of rugby flourishing, such may indicate that there is something more severe for the back-end of the tournament (no, I am not suggesting this will be positive).  Rugby Fraternity, please, blow us away with the Super Final event… and then play the match… and then celebrate like this is the most important provincial/ club rugby competition in the world!  Help us believe that this is so!

I may get to some thinking-reasoning behind who I believe will be in the final>winners of this Super competition, but rocket scientists need not apply, as I may have already spilled my beans. Nevertheless, such could be worth a reasoning reflection on my final 4 this year.

However, while that will deserve a piece of it’s own, I did want to get to I am Jonny King’s players to watch in this Super competition, in a kiwi context.  While I could have picked more Crusader players, I am not that one-eyed… that could be misconstrued as a lie, so I will move on, and affirm that I have picked one player from each franchise, beginning north and moving south, one player who I am looking forward to “hopefully” viewing this year, one player who might just have “it”, and given this forthcoming opportunity, has the opportunity to prove that he has “it”.

Introducing…

Blues – Stephen Brett – Yeah, get a second Cantab player in the backdoor!  Well, you can blame the Blues for that, because they harassed him to come north! Seriously, I am glad Brett has moved on, considering who he has in front of him…Messrs Carter, and even Slade, should injury ensue.  When I first saw this young man given the green light to play, I was excited to see what looked like a player with the skill set to take him right to the top.  However, what one has perceived subsequently, is that the obvious physical gifts, may not be replicated with the mandated mental gifts, and in a position like first-five eight, brawn will only get you to a certain level, where the brains in the operation, need to kick in and take the player to the top.  Brett’s ability to think and act under pressure are questionable at present, as he is want to mess-up the moment when the kitchen is on fire, with his goal kicking, one for the heart attack!

However, in saying all that, he has genuine X-factor, and with this season, where he has been given the helm at the Blues, to run this ship from the number 10, we will get the opportunity to see if he can handle the storms, or whether he will flourish at only being a fair weather friend!  We need a genuine back-up to Carter, and while Donald and Mike have been given the opportunity, they have played more like the Duck in a Delooney Tunes cartoon (not bad!).  In other words, they have not come up to mark, as one Nick Evans before!  Therefore, with another gentlemen in this list, Brett, without any weightier shadows lurking in the Grandstand to take his toys, can prove, over a full Super season, that he can be trusted to lead his team to the promised play-offs, affirming that he is not a one-weather pony, and worthy of a shot at higher honours.

I am genuinely looking forward to seeing how he goes, and as a Cantab, he is a little bit of red n blue country, and that has gotta be good for ya!

Chiefs – Ben Afeaki – As I think and look through the Chiefs roster, one could easily pick a flashier player, like Masaga, but as such, he has been around for a number of years, so I have decided on someone whose star could very well be on the rise.  It will be questionable whether he will be given the opportunities to rise, but the potential in this player has been noted for some time, and whether it be this year, it seems only a matter of time!  The first time I noticed Ben Afeaki was when he was picked-playing for a NZ age group team, and even then, he was a giant of a boy-man!  Now playing the game of rugby as a prop, this may sound a little perfunctory, but a 19 year old with an approx. 130kg frame, standing around 192cm from the ground, certainly gets your attention.  Also, when this player can move-it-move-it around the field, and Afeaki is faster than your average fat-boy, such skill and obvious ability in open play was duly noted.

Afeaki has completed a couple of seasons with North “show us your crowd” Harbour in the Air New Cup, but this will be the season, given the opportunity to play, where the key component in any prop’s arsenal will be tested… can he scrum, can he lay down the heat, and hold firm, even when his neck desires to move south, encouraging his speech to exit through another orifice?  After all, this will be where his mettle is tested, and if he perishes up close and personal, his undoubted ability around the field will be forgotten as frivolous!

I hope Afeaki is given the green light to start this season, as the upside to this man’s potential in the propping fraternity is frat-boy-like.  It may take a few more Super seasonal moons for this man to mature, as props are like fine wines, but the process must start somewhere, and this seasons looks good to me!

Hurricanes – Aaron Cruden – As a man-ion currently residing in the Manawatu, I am rather familiar with this young man’s exploits and undoubted God-given gifts and talents.  I remember the first time I saw him, and watching him that one and only time, one could perceive that there was gold in them their feet!  This one occasion was when he came on for Manawatu, before the Testicular cancer trial would rear its ugly head, and take him through darker pastures in those days ahead.  Coming through these, seemingly forged by suffering, Cruden would lead the NZ Under 20′s to World Cup glory (where he would be player of the tournament and year), followed by an injury-plagued season with Manawatu.  His undoubted class has already been affirmed at the levels he has been exposed to, and word of this boy has already left our shaky shores, as the talk is that this guy is one for the world to watch.  This was affirmed in the Australian weekly rugby show, where they showed Cruden, and talked him up like he was an Australian, and given the reports about their sniffing at his door to come West, it looks like they really believe it.

In thinking about Cruden, the area where this boy seems to shine, in contradistinction to Brett, is in the top-two-inches!  Cruden has said so much in a recent interview I read where he was asked of his strengths, and his reticent answer affirmed his ability to scan the field and see… we call that vision people!  With all class players, the often repeated line is that things seem to be slower for them, they are able to see things that other players can not, and can pull off the improbable, as time at the top end, is a commodity that all want, for few have it, and Cruden seems to be one of these individuals!  While he is not as physically imposing as Brett, he is not lacking with ball in hand, although his propensity toward injury, may highlight the need to grow some phat muscle!  If there has been one area of weakness in his game, it has been his kicking, and particularly his goal-kicking.  He is aware of this, and has been spending time with “Mick the Kick”, and from reports, this is on the improve, which is so important for the man in 10.

As the Hurricanes team has already been named, Coach Cooper has decided to put the boy on the bench.  After last season’s example, Daniel Kirkpatrick, another number 10 with a large upside, who found the transition difficult, Cooper has decided to wisely allow Cruden to sit for a while, and introduce him slowly. However, it would seem to be only time before his will come, and all the talk about potential will be field tested for reality.  I look forward to this time, as I believe that this boy has what no other number 10, presently residing in New Zealand has, bar Dan Carter… world class written all over him.  God willing, he will write this over the Super 14 fields this year, even all the way to the final… where it will end!

Crusaders – Robert Fruean – I am unashamed to admit that this boy excites me in a rugby kinda way, and for all the right reasons!  In many respects, Fruean’s story is similar to Cruden’s, Under 19 World Player of the Year, ear-marked at a young age, seemingly taken out by illness, as Fruean had to undergo open heart surgery, only to return with a tracking trajectory to the top.  Have a look at this video about the boy…

To underscore this boy’s potential, and affirm how the 3 wise men view him, he was put into the NZ A/ Juniors set-up, basically on reputation/ potential, which was the first place I saw him play… and… HeeYah!  I have just checked the Saders line-up against the Highlanders, and Fruean is at number 13… outside Tim Bateman… but more significantly, outside Daniel Carter… the blood and black is beginning to flow!  I know I am talking this guy up, but he has everything one personally needs to make it to the top, God-given physical gifts (think Tana Umaga size), a good head on his shoulders, and character which has been charged with fire!

If you are familiar with this guy, or if you were listening-thinking as you watched the video about Fruean, you will have picked up that he is a Wellington boy, which is a cross to bear, and we all have our skeletons!  Given the present midfield combination in the Capital, Fruean really had a big decision to make… Yes, he could battle it out, or bide his time until post-2011, when things might change, as players move on, and he is young.  However, given the opportunity to head down South, Fruean has made the best choice he could possibly have made.  When I heard that Laulala was moving to Wales, and the talk was about Toeava, I was thinking about Fruean, and how good such a fit would be.  Just think about this for a moment.  Now he is playing outside the best first-five eight… ever (time will affirm), and next year, also most likely, outside Aaron Mauger!  One can only wonder, assuming this trio stay injury-free, if they will be the 10-12-13 for the All Blacks, come World Cup time.  Yes, that is a big call, and I am not prophet, but if potential is our basis, you may be calling Elijah!  Now there is a definite log-jam building in the number 13 arena, with Messrs Smith, Kahui, and Toeava, not forgetting Nonu’s ability in this position as well (and he seems to have made number 12 his for the losing), so Fruean will have to play like a hero, but who says he won’t?!  Whatever happens, there is quality in depth, and as AB believers, we can all say, “Amen!” to that!

Of all the players with potential this Super season, I am most looking forward to watching how Robert Fruean develops outside Dan, in the position of his choice, with a full season in the offing… Bring it on!

Highlanders – Joe Tuineau – The final player in this list may also be the most unknown!  Who is Joe Tuineau?  What may not help you, O reader, is that he also plays for Southland, and while they had a “Ranfurly” of a season, such a team does not generally get a following further north of those who are able to roll their “R’s”!  However, as a regular rugby watcher, I have been interested in his story, and seeing him develop in the Air New Zealand Cup, this big man has a big upside!  How much we will see of this guy, will probably depend on how the Highlanders develop, and also how injury free they are throughout this season.  The Landers have good locking depth, and if their teamsheet for the first game is anything to go by, Tuineau is behind Donnelly, Berkhuis, and Triggs, but if his recent trajectory is anything to base opinion on, he is developing nicely!

Let me unload a little about what I know about “Joe.”  Joe Tuineau played College Football and was very close to making an NFL roster.  However, in not actually making a roster he returned to New Zealand, where his partner, who plays Netball for one of the Southern franchises, resides.  Tuineau is a big man, over 2 metres, but not surprisingly, given his NFL potential, he is an athlete, with natural balance for a man of such size, very good hands, and good speed!  The obvious areas where Tuineau needs to improve are the “meat and potatoes” for a lock, where the grunt work is done!  I am not sure if Tuineau played rugby as a boy, but at the level he has and is playing, such basics of the locking game will be a new context for the man, and which is one that has been rather recent.  However, given his obvious physical gifts, which in the recent Air New Zealand Cup season, saw him turn down an opportunity to try out for an NFL team, he has the natural gifts to take his game to the next level.

I really hope Joe gets a go, but such may also be a season or two away, but keep an eye out for the man!

While I have only named one player from each team, one could also mention such name as, Josh Berkhuis, Nasi Manu (his uncle goes to our church, name-dropper), and Robbie Robinson, from the Highlanders. Sam Whitelock, Sean Maitland, and Zac Guildford, from the Crusaders.  Michael Paterson and Nick Crosswell, from the Hurricanes.  Colin Burke and Luke Braid, from the Chiefs.  Rene Ranger and Alby Mathewson, from the Blues!

It’s Rugggggby time people, break out the Jandals!

I think I have spoken-typed enough, and anyway, the cricket is just starting, and AMI Stadium is looking like a peach… Bring on the Rugby!

Until Next Time

I am Jonny King