Dylan Cleaver: A whirlwind season to inspire some great footy

Canterbury celebrate after winning the ITM Cup Final in 2010. Photo / Getty Images

The timing, in every sense, is a long way from ideal.

The national provincial championship, known for the past two seasons as the ITM Cup, this year undergoes a radical overhaul while being shoehorned into the narrow window between the Super 15 and the World Cup.

Over the next seven days 11 matches will be played. By the time you get your heads around the intricacies of the new format, it will be over and we'll have moved on to our quadrennial anxiety attack.

This much we can tell you. Last year's 14-team ITM Cup has been split into a seven-team Premiership and seven-team Championship, based on the finishing position in 2010. The top seven - Canterbury, Waikato, Auckland, Wellington, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki and Southland - make up the Premiership.

Teams play every other side in their division once, which is simple. What isn't simple is the four crossover matches with the other division.

Clear? As mud?

Thankfully, you don't need to be physicist Stephen Hawking to work out how the competition ends. The top two teams in each division meet in a final. The winner of the Championship final is promoted to the 2012 Premiership at the expense of the team that finished seventh in that division.

If that is all a bit much to take on board, then just sit back and enjoy the ride. The abbreviated season means games will be played every day of the week except Mondays (on the Fridays of July 22 and August 19 there are no matches scheduled).

The depth of squads will be tested like no season before, though they have been granted the use of an extra reserve and teams can stay on the road between some midweek and weekend fixtures.

It is a whirlwind introduction to a competition which the New Zealand Rugby Union hopes will inject a bit more interest into the third-tier of professional rugby.

It's far from a foolproof strategy, but this you can take for granted: there will be some terrific footy; upsets will confound; Lord Ranfurly's gift will enthral; and then there's always the new stars that emerge.

As for winners. In times of uncertainty, it's hard to look past those in red and black.

Canterbury will be hit hard by All Black commitments, but when you can call on the likes of the Whitelocks, George, Adam and Luke, plus Sean Maitland, Robbie Fruean, Ryan Crotty, Matt Todd and the impressive leaper Luke Romano, things are looking alright.

PREDICTIONS

Premiership champions: Canterbury

Relegated: Bay of Plenty

Championship winners: Counties Manukau