Crusaders - simply the best

Richie McCaw

They began their Super 12 life at Hamilton's old Rugby Park. Halfback Justin Marshall was their temporary captain and they slid to defeat against the Chiefs.

The Crusaders were a collection of locals and castoffs - Damon Kaui, Danny Love, Andy Miller, Phillipe Rayasi, Richard Kirke, Pat Lam, Dean Coleman and Mark Weedon.

Lock Norm Maxwell and flanker Scott Robertson were others picked up in the draft who stayed and became huge contributors.

The team finished last in that 1996 season, with two wins and a draw.

It was a grim beginning in contrast to the seven finals the Crusaders have made in the last eight seasons, in an era when they can claim to be the most effective professional sporting team in New Zealand.

Recruiting, selection, player development, coaching succession plans - they were all brought into sharper focus after that awful start.

The Crusaders' administration created the framework for the revival under the leadership of chairman Mike Eagles and chief executive Steve Tew.

New coaches Wayne Smith and Peter Sloane, manager Robbie Deans and skipper Todd Blackadder attended to the rugby tasks.

There was the all-important return of Andrew Mehrtens, the gifted five-eighths who had made his test debut in 1995 but missed the initial campaign because of injury.

The Crusaders, the Blues with Carlos Spencer and the Brumbies with Stephen Larkham, can attest to the importance of a dominant pivot.

Most coaches concede that selection is the most crucial part of their work. The Crusaders chose wisely and also recruited sagely.

Maxwell and Robertson stayed, others such as Mark Mayerhofler, Con Barrell, Kevin Nepia, Greg Feek, Norm Berryman and Steve Surridge moved south in those early years.

Players such as centre Mark Robinson, Caleb Ralph and Greg Somerville followed and blended with the "local" talents of Daryl Gibson, Reuben Thorne and Mark Hammett.

The tradition of identifying and signing talent has continued in the final year of Super 12 with Rico Gear and Mose Tuiali'i doing their deals.

They are not afraid to cast some players aside each year to bring in fresh faces. This season regular names such as Ben Blair, Marika Vunibaka, Nathan Mauger and Cameron McIntyre went while new men such as Vilimoni Delasau, Sam Harding and Kevin O'Neill were chosen.

Maxwell, Leon MacDonald, Greg Feek and Gear came after a year or two elsewhere.

The coaching succession plan was set with Smith and Peter Sloane in control before Robbie Deans slipped from his managerial duties into coaching when the others were promoted to national level.

At times Deans has been assisted by Steve Hansen, Colin Cooper, Don Hayes and now Vern Cotter and Rob Penney.

Resources were sometimes stretched because the Crusaders were a one-team franchise. They faded in 2001 on the back of Super 12, NPC and All Black commitments but, on balance, have benefited from being a close community without the in-fighting which has troubled others.

With Mehrtens easing out of the spotlight, Daniel Carter has taken on the five-eighths role with perhaps even more aplomb. He is a rare talent who proved his quality on the All Blacks' end-of-year tour.

The extraordinary Richie McCaw may be the best openside flanker in the world and the best in New Zealand's great rugby history. He and Carter offer the Crusaders unique privileges.

And in former All Black fullback Deans, in charge for his sixth consecutive season, the Crusaders have a coach who remains innovative, stubborn, ruthless and loyal yet mentally tough enough to outlast conflicts with some, such as Mehrtens.

Deans will make tough calls, his work is based on the principle that no one is more important than the team.

It is a philosophy the Crusaders have seized better than any other side in the Super 12 and the way they are able to counter-attack emphasises that doctrine.

Four titles, two runners-up medals-the Crusaders have been the benchmark for this professional competition.

But they will feel they have cheated themselves if they do not reward departing stars like Marshall, Mehrtens, Maxwell and Dave Hewett with one final trophy.