Grand crusade to Super 12 heaven

By WYNNE GRAY

Sounds simple: tell us why the Crusaders are such a successful franchise.

The request came as the present Super 12 leaders headed for a showdown tonight with the Hurricanes, a side bent on ending the Crusaders' unbeaten run this year.

May as well start at the top with a call to Robbie Deans, Crusaders coach, former franchise manager and assistant All Black coach.

Deans was in that media mode Crusaders officials often use - pleasant, courteous, attentive - but when it came to delivering insights, he held up the Stop sign.

It was not appropriate, certainly not at this critical time of the tournament, for him to be revealing how and why his side kept winning. Least of all, it was tempting fate.

The mantra could be heard: Crusaders do not crow about their business, they go about their business.

One of their strategies is to stay low-key. In their rugby vernacular, they want to do their talking on the paddock.

That lesson came quickly.

In the debut Super 12 season in 1996, the Crusaders finished last - yes, last, for those with short memories.

Two wins and a draw was a poor return for such a rugby-rich area.

Unlike the Blues, who then had a strong player and administrative base, the Crusaders had been ill-prepared for the switch to professional rugby. They did not have a chief executive until late 1995.

It was time for the new appointment, Steve Tew, and the board to act. The Crusaders had to have some long-term strategies, targets, mission statements - all the jargon which goes with commercial and sporting enterprises.

In a debrief at the end of the disastrous 1996 campaign, the aims were crystallised.

The Crusaders had to qualify for the Super 12 playoffs, nothing less would be accepted.

Then the strategies were organised to achieve those long-term results.

Tew was able to travel overseas and study the professional habits of diverse sides such as the Toronto BlueJays, Arsenal and Glasgow Rangers, while the Crusaders invested in new staff and recruited a few players such as Norm Maxwell, Con Barrell and Kevin Nepia.

They recognised they were well short of being a professional sports franchise.

Wayne Smith and Peter Sloane replaced Vance Stewart as coach, Robbie Deans moved in to be manager, and the humble Todd Blackadder took over as captain from Richard Loe.

The adjustments did not stop there. The medical staff was changed, Steve Hansen was appointed to run the academy and oversee the rugby development plans.

The shake-up was significant, the plans unyielding. A professional team needed professional support.

After some initial reluctance, Blackadder, the quietly spoken country hardman, a forward who epitomised the rugby spirit in Canterbury, had agreed to be skipper. It proved an inspired choice, as the Crusaders finished sixth in 1997.

They were on the move and pushing hard.

In the following years they made assiduous buys such as Greg Feek, Steve Lancaster, Afato So'oalo, Marika Vunibaka, Mark Robinson and Caleb Ralph, and Norm Berryman and Ron Cribb were great draft choices.

As they went about their business, the Crusaders board, led by Mike Eagle, regularly challenged the master plan. Was it working, did it need tweaking, where could it be improved? A core side was built around the magic of All Blacks such as Andrew Mehrtens and Justin Marshall, with the solidity of Blackadder and Mark Hammett to encourage others to that level.

Local players were targeted: Matt Sexton, Reuben Thorne, Chris Jack, the Mauger brothers, Dave Hewitt, Sam Broomhall, Richie McCaw and Joe Maddock all came out of that policy.

They had some good luck with their core players, but there were many medals won in the boardroom. They had agreed that a development side should travel to Argentina in 1996. They accepted that some risks had to be taken to advance.

As the side grew, so did the marketing and commercial arm of the Crusaders.

The chainmail-clad, mounted horsemen clomping round the ground as Vangelis' music Conquest of Paradise is pumped out of a vast sound system, is a stirring start to every game at Jade Stadium.

The Crusaders worked on becoming one big family.

They also reconnected with their fans and the proud rugby history of the area. "Take a Kid to Footy" campaigns helped to further bind the team to their supporters.

Success was self-perpetuating. As the glorious victory trail grew, so did the crowds and financial rewards for the players and the franchise.

Being a one-province franchise made it easier to meld the squad and make selections, but it also meant players were thrashed more.

That exhaustion level told last year when, after three NPC campaigns, three Super 12 titles and tours with the All Blacks or New Zealand A sides, many in the Crusaders could not get themselves up for the Super 12 again.

Deans had to assemble his troops, but accepted he had them training too early.

He did not make the same mistake this season and the crusade is back on track.