ANENDRA SINGH
It took me a long time to get into Super 14 rugby this season.
In fact it took Western Force's upset win over the Chiefs in Perth last month to get my juices flowing.
For a change I found myself hurriedly washing down that sushi with red wine in the last
round to watch the Blues pip the Hurricanes in Auckland and the Highlanders thump a complacent Crusaders.
The semifinals didn't do it for me, but the final was up there.
With the Air New Zealand Cup looming in August it'll be interesting to see how lean and mean some of the Kelt Capital Magpies boys will be at the June 27 breakfast launch at the RSA Hastings.
Not surprisingly, the Canes franchise again paid lip service to the Bay boys after all the hoopla following a dream Air NZ Cup last season that yielded seven players, including Wellington loan prop Tim Fairbrother, for Super 14 franchises.
Blues halfback and inspirational Magpies skipper Danny Lee, Highlanders prop Clint Newland and Canes prop Fairbrother started with a hiss and roar.
Newland started every game and progressively grew in stature for the season's underachievers, the Highlanders. In fact I'm surprised that the Bay forestry worker, who gained notoriety for knocking out cold Wellington prop Neemia Tialata in the Air NZ round 2 match last season against the Lions, didn't feature in Graham Henry's touchy-feely squad on Sunday. It seems he's still wearing the thug tag despite his record 10-match ban.
Let's face it, if the Canes had picked Newland, then there's fat chance the franchise would have given him much game time.
Lee wouldn't have enjoyed warming the bench mid-way through the season but, coincidentally, the Blues' performance also seemed to have gone off the boil.
Fairbrother would have relished his 13 matches (five as a substitute) and it's safe to assume that the Lions will not be loaning him to the Magpies again this season. On the upside, Newland will be there.
The other Super Magpies must have felt like blind dates, all spruced up for the night, only to find themselves stood up at the restaurant. Canes flanker Michael "MJ" Johnson and hooker Hika Elliot, and Blues lock Bryn Evans fall in that category.
Okay, so the pay packet to the tune of $65,000 each for just turning up will go nicely towards buying a few blocks of cheese in the current tough economic climate, but where's the joy and pride aspect of professionalism?
No virile sportsperson wants to be a Norm Hewitt, who was on the bench for most of his All Black career even after incumbent Sean Fitzpatrick was short of a canter.
Johnson is the most hard done by of the Magpies, failing to make even the 22 but will, like others, benefit from the rigorous training in the capital, although that petrol price hovering around the $2 a litre mark must have felt like a niggly hamstring.
Zac Guildford is perhaps the exception, comfortable that he was going to be a Super sub in every sense of the word. Nevertheless, the elusive winger overcame the disappointment of an injured hand to push his way into five starting line-ups in six appearances.
Guildford's most memorable moment would have to be watching Dan Carter's face on slow-motion replay as he charged down the Crusaders and ABs first five-eighth for a try in the semifinal last month.
With the mass exodus of ABs and AB wannabees to fulfil overseas contracts, there should be no reason why the 2008 Magpies outfit should not make the play-offs.
But before that, international rugby will be entering a new era this weekend as Henry sweats over his new-look All Blacks.
Thrown another lifeline after an abysmal World Cup last year, Henry will be mindful of the fact that a poker-faced New Zealand coach, Robbie Deans, who NZRU spurned, will be glued to the TV as he prepares his troops to lead a crusade on "foreign" but familiar soil.
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ANENDRA SINGH
It took me a long time to get into Super 14 rugby this season.
In fact it took Western Force's upset win over the Chiefs in Perth last month to get my juices flowing.
For a change I found myself hurriedly washing down that sushi with red wine in the last
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