KEY POINTS:
A lone figure looked on from the old main stand at Waikato Stadium yesterday, tending a video camera as the Chiefs tested each other's mettle in an inter-squad game.
In what was a fitting metaphor for someone who has largely watched as life - at least, rugby - has passed him by of late, the stocky, shaven-headed bloke behind the lens was Brendon Leonard.
Astute rugby followers will remember Leonard. He used to be the All Blacks No 2 halfback. With a powerful running game and nose for the try-line, he was destined to be the No 1.
His elevation was supposed to take place once his former mentor Byron Kelleher packed his bags for Europe after the World Cup.
But a nagging knee injury put paid to all of that. Leonard soldiered through last year's Super 14 before finally succumbing to the pain in his knee after a stirring victory over the Crusaders.
He was absent from the touring party for the Chiefs' season-defining three-match tour to Perth and South Africa.
At that stage, the Chiefs were still a playoff team. But, without Leonard and several other key figures sidelined, the trip out west to play the Force was where the Hamilton-based team's season began to go South.
With the Chiefs' season hanging by a thread after a defeat by the Lions, Leonard answered an SOS, turning out against the Sharks in the final round robin match. But he was nowhere near fit and unable to influence the result as the Chiefs crashed out of the title race.
With rehabilitation having failed, the next option for Leonard was surgery. An operation revealed a loose piece of cartilage in his knee. Surgeons "nailed" the cartilage back in place but six months later the knee had not fully recovered.
A second operation just before Christmas showed that only half of the cartilage had healed. The troublesome section was removed and Leonard began his rehab all over again. Now, after eight months out of the game, he is ready to return to the rugby field.
He is hoping to get 20 or 30 minutes' game time against the Hurricanes in the Chiefs' final pre-season hit-out. And he is hoping that will prove enough for him to get the nod to face the Crusaders in Christchurch in the team's season opener.
The nature of his injury and the length of time he spent on the sidelines has led to speculation about Leonard's future - whether or not he has one. At just 23 he is young to have knee cartilage problems. Cartilage problems often turn out to be chronic, requiring multiple operations that cause complications later in life.
Leonard, though, insists his career isn't under threat.
"The knee is good and the head is good now that I am back training," he said. "Things are looking up. I am pretty confident [the knee] should hold up now. There are a lot of guys playing without any cartilage at all.
"If I keep my rehab up and keep the areas strong that need to be strong then it shouldn't be too much of a problem."
Chiefs and All Blacks fans will certainly be hoping that proves the case. At his best, Leonard is an X-factor player with the ability to turn a match on its head.
He knows as well as any the height his game previously reached. And he knows the challenge he faces as he attempts to scale that peak again.
"It is going to be tough. I haven't played rugby in about eight months now. I am not putting too much pressure on myself to be at my top form in the first couple of rounds. I have got to try to work my way into it and as long as I focus on what I need to do well my performance will take care of itself."
Leonard returns to a rugby landscape that has changed dramatically in the time he has been out. His last match in the black jersey was the All Blacks' disastrous World Cup quarter-final loss in Cardiff.
Since then, Jimmy Cowan has secured the No 1 halfback slot and the back-in-favour Piri Weepu has made an admirable fist of the back-up duties. The Crusaders' Andy Ellis also remains in the frame.
Leonard takes the party line when asked if he felt frustrated watching his halfback rivals advance their causes as he convalesced, saying only that it was "good to see Jimmy and Piri play well".
But he would not be human if he hadn't felt an incredible amount of frustration at his predicament. Soon, he will get the chance to vent some of that frustration.
"I've got the chance to make up for lost time.
I'm fresh - I'm definitely not suffering from burnout."
