Next step up the ladder for the Chiefs

Jono Gibbes has vivid memories of his Super 12 debut.

"We got absolutely smoked," he said this week of the opening round match of the 2002 competition.

The score? 42-23. The venue? Sydney. The opposition? The Waratahs.

The Chiefs are back in Sydney tonight for the first round of their 10th campaign, and with the charismatic Gibbes at the helm.

But the rugby landscape has changed for the Hamilton-based franchise since the smoke went up three years ago. Now they go into the competition on the back of their first appearance in the semifinals.

For years, the Chiefs had been the under-achievers among the five New Zealand franchises. That all changed with a sterling effort which ended in defeat by eventual winners the Brumbies in Canberra.

The Chiefs are aware expectations are higher this year, from outside and within the squad. But the players know more of the same this season won't accomplish the goal of making, or winning, the final.

"We got a bit of confidence out of the results last year but it also dawned on us we have got to work twice as hard this year to get back up there," Gibbes said. "A, because we don't have the element of surprise and, B, we found in the semifinal against the Brumbies that we weren't ready to go the next step."

For coach Ian Foster, who got the Chiefs further than they had done before at his first attempt, there was a big step forward in one aspect last year.

"Somehow you've got to learn how to move close losses to close wins. Often that's a tactical thing, often a player thing, a structural thing or a discipline thing. For us it was a belief. We needed to start trusting ourselves that we could carry on executing the way we play when the pressure really came on.

"Our success last year is probably due to that belief and about little key patches in each game."

A breakdown of the Chiefs' seven wins in the 11-game regular season shows four were by seven or fewer points.

They start the season without three influential figures: All Black lock Keith Robinson, hooker Tom Willis and flying winger Sitiveni Sivivatu.

Robinson has been sidelined with a bad back problem and is unlikely to reappear until about round five; Willis' back injury opens the way for Aleki Lutui to cement his place; and Sivivatu is recovering from a shoulder operation but is likely to miss the early rounds.

A glance at the Chiefs draw suggests they'll need to get plenty of points as a bulwark before a three-match road trip to South Africa and Australia for rounds nine, 10 and 11.

Foster reckons he's a "day-by-day person", although admitting there is a larger picture to bear in mind.

"If you look too far ahead in this campaign you get tripped up on little details.

"We want to be best prepared in round one and make the semifinals. We're no different - every other organisation is like that - but we're also very aware that there's only one way to get there and that's step by step."

If last season's achievement was tantamount to crossing a rugby Rubicon for the Chiefs, this season the trick is to show 2004 was not a one-leap wonder.

"We're very realistic that the Super 12 isn't about fulfilling potential," Foster said. "You have to go and earn everything you get. Every team we play is full of international players."

Gibbes won't be left alone to shoulder the demands of leadership.

The Chiefs have a core of seasoned performers, ranging from Loki Crichton, Adrian Cashmore, Mark Ranby, Keith Lowen, David Hill and Byron Kelleher in the backs through craggy, tough-minded characters like Gibbes, Marty Holah, Wayne Ormond, Deacon Manu and Michael Collins up front.

There are strong personalities mixed with some young faces.

For example, the two wingers for tonight's game, Sailosi Tagicakibau and Sosene Anesi, are making their Super 12 debuts. There are high hopes for young first five-eighth Stephen Donald and flanker Nili Latu, in the squad for the first time this year.

"There's not a lot of superstars, it's about teamwork and serving the team and being disciplined," Gibbes said. He could have been reading the creed of the Chiefs. But this year the goalposts have shifted. If the Chiefs are to make good on last year, the days of flattering to deceive have to be put behind them.

VITAL STATS

Titles: 0

Finals: 0

Best finish: 3rd

Worst finish: 11th in 1997

Biggest win: 47-9 v Gauteng Lions (now Cats), 1997

Biggest loss: 53-3 v Cats, 2000

Backs

Adrian Cashmore (BoP)

Loki Crichton (Waikato)

Sosene Anesi (Waikato)

Sitiveni Sivivatu (Waikato)

Sailosi Tagicakibau (Taranaki)

Keith Lowen (Waikato)

Grant McQuoid (Bay of Plenty)

Mark Ranby (Waikato)

Derek Maisey (Waikato)

Stephen Donald (Waikato)

David Hill (Waikato)

Byron Kelleher (Waikato)

Kevin Senio (Bay of Plenty)

Forwards:

Steven Bates (Waikato)

Sione Lauaki (Waikato)

Nili Latu (Bay of Plenty)

Wayne Ormond (Bay of Plenty)

Jono Gibbes (capt, Waikato)

Marty Holah (Waikato)

Sean Hohneck (Waikato)

Keith Robinson (Waikato)

Bernie Upton (Bay of Plenty)

Ben Castle (Bay of Plenty)

Simms Davison (Bay of Plenty)

Michael Collins (Waikato)

Deacon Manu (Waikato)

Aleki Lutui (Bay of Plenty)

Tom Willis (Waikato)