As I scan the New Zealand Super Rugby Pacific news, it’s hard to escape the succession of injury stories.
Tales of woe about player X who won’t be back until week Y and the, virtual, apprentice players who’ll have to appear in their place.
Look, I’m sure there are many, many rusted on franchise fans out there, who live and breathe every kick, tackle and pass of their favoured team. Good on them.
But, if we’re honest, the competition is merely an elongated All Black trial and, on that basis, a loan system is overdue.
I’d never have entertained that idea once upon a time, simply because New Zealand possessed such great depth.
We don’t now. We simply have All Blacks appearing sporadically and (sometimes) under sufferance, guys who are still here but will never make the national side and aren’t appealing to overseas clubs, and boys on their first foray into professional rugby.
Super Rugby Pacific gets underway on Friday, February 14. But are we already just thinking about the international season? (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
There’s just not enough talent for us to allow players to be stockpiled in one place while the cupboard is bare in another.
Take Beauden Barrett, for argument’s sake.
The Blues don’t need him. And, frankly, given how much time he’s spent in Japan in recent years, they’ve plenty of experience of doing without him.
Barrett was once a Hurricane, where there’s a starting All Blacks halfback on the roster but no fit first five-eighths of any discernible quality.
Hell, the stocks of 10s in the capital city are so low that Wellington first-five Jackson Garden-Bachop, who’s now on Moana Pasifika’s books, would be a better bet than any of the blokes on contract in his hometown. But I digress.
Leave Harry Plummer to again steer the Blues around the park and have Barrett spend a season further developing his combination with Cam Roigard.
Daniel Carter used to commute from Auckland to play for the Crusaders and – albeit that I’m just spitballing here – Barrett could do similar.
Should Beauden Barrett move franchises to make the competition stronger? (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Am I seriously suggesting Barrett should be made to spend the next few months flying in and out of Wellington? Not really.
But I am saying that in the future all options to maximise the dwindling base of quality players in this country should be explored.
After all, this is – to most intents and purposes – a competition designed to fulfil broadcast agreements and justify player salaries.
It stopped being a serious endeavour as soon as All Blacks coaches began dictating when – and for how long – our elite players were allowed to participate in matches and training sessions.
Super Rugby became a competition to be endured. A nervous wait for All Blacks selectors and coaches, eager to get their players away from their franchise and into an environment where they had full control over them.
Franchise footy stopped being about identifying the best team and turned into an exercise in preparing players for the far more important business of playing Test matches.
That’s long been my criticism of the structure of New Zealand’s competitions.
I’m old. I like provincial rugby. I think provincial footy connects better with the rugby community than the franchise model ever has or ever will and I was dismayed that we never sought to properly professionalise that.
As an aside, I’m sure we had greater overall depth when our All Blacks were still part and parcel of the provincial pathway and the myriad teams within it.
But if we insist on a multi-national franchise competition, then at least do it properly. Play everyone home and away, put no restrictions on the participation of All Blacks, let people play for franchises in other countries within the competition and deny players sabbaticals.
We’ve dumbed Super Rugby down so badly. Time was when New Zealanders talked and cared about teams such as the Brumbies and Bulls and opined about whether our sides were a match for them.
Now, if we talk about Super Rugby at all it’s only to discuss possible All Blacks permutations.
Beauden Barrett, Jordie Barrett, Richie Mo’unga and Damian McKenzie during an All Blacks training session in Sydney. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
At the rate we’re going we’ll just have an All Blacks squad that’s permanently in camp or on the road, with players that rarely have to go through the rigamarole of franchise football.
That’s an argument for another day.
In the meantime, while we are still picking players from Super Rugby and are using it as a vehicle to tune them up for Test matches, let’s try and distribute the talent a bit more evenly.
If that’s in the initial contracting stage or via a loan system when the need arises, so be it.
But I fear we’re going into a 20-week window where the shortfall of talent in one or two franchises is going to be laid bare for all to see.
