Richard Loe: Chiefs have what it takes at the top

You'd be a brave man if you put a bet on it because the Chiefs have blown so hot and cold in the past - but I am going to pick them to make the top four of the Super 14 this year.

Why? After all, they don't have an easy run in. They have the bye next week and then begin a three-game tour of South Africa - against the Cheetahs, the Bulls and the Stormers. They finish with home games against the Hurricanes - and that could be a fight for a top four place - and the Brumbies.

But I think if you look at my criticisms of the Blues last week and apply them to the Chiefs, you'll see what I mean when I say they are just about the opposite.

I said the Blues came up short on attitude and physical application at the breakdown. No problem there, in fact the Chiefs were one of the sides that blew the Blues out in that phase in their recent game.

I said the Blues didn't have combinations or confidence. The Chiefs have both. I'd add one more thing: experience.

They are probably the most experienced New Zealand franchise now and that's the only thing I can think of when searching for the answer to this question: why are all the 50-50 passes that the Chiefs used to throw and drop, now sticking?

I think it's because that experience is clicking in, shifting the confidence up a notch and you now have key men like Sione Lauaki, Brendon Leonard, Stephen Donald and Sitiveni Sivivatu all doing the business and playing really well.

You can also see the strides they have made at the scrum. The front row got a hiding in the first game of the Super 14 but they have put it right - and I think the depth and the competition between the hookers and the props for a starting place is working well for them.

Leonard is giving them a cutting edge round the scrums and rucks and I hope Sivivatu returns from injury in the form he was previously showing - he was such a handful. The other winger, Lelia Masaga, had an ordinary provincial championship but he is absolutely dancing this year.

Lauaki will be a key to their future. No one has managed to get him playing consistently well and he has been a typically hot and cold player - up for the big games but sometimes going missing and often not showing up in games against the lesser lights.

Graham Henry hasn't managed to get him playing consistently and neither has Ian Foster but the Chiefs play well when Lauaki does.

That's my one worry - that a key player or two will go off the boil or get injured and they'll fall short again. However, I'm sticking with them to make the top four this year, when anything can then happen.

I think the top four will be out of these five teams now - the Sharks, the Waratahs, the Bulls, the Chiefs and the Hurricanes.

That game between the latter two at Hamilton on May 9 might be the difference between fourth and fifth for the winner although I am also not convinced about the Waratahs this year.

They are in a good position and have a good draw but they will need to stop being so boring and dull if they are to make the playoffs; they'll need something extra.

Contrast that with what the Chiefs have been showing in recent times. It's been exciting to watch, though they'll need to tend that defence.

They went into last night's match with the Lions after scoring 113 points in two matches against the Blues and the Reds - but were short of the record 181 points the Crusaders scored in three matches in 2002 against the Cats, Hurricanes and Waratahs (when they won by 96-19).

But they are still the most dangerous attacking side in the competition.