Drastic change ahead as Blues look to plug talent drain from region
The signature of Beauden Barrett may be imminent, but his delayed arrival in Auckland isn’t going to fix all the Blues’ problems and turn them into a team worthy of challenging for the title.
There are a vast array of problems that the Blues have encountered since they last made the play-offs in 2011, and last won a title in 2003, and at the forefront of their issues is the drain of young talent leaving the region for other franchises around the country.
As the Super Rugby club with the largest population base and biggest talent pool in New Zealand, the Blues have a never-ending conveyer belt of young stars who thrive and show huge amounts of promise at schoolboy and age-grade level.
However, as has been the case for many years now, it isn’t uncommon for those who shone in their younger years in Auckland’s 1A 1st XV competition to continue to shine, but not under the floodlights of Eden Park.
Instead, the Chiefs, Hurricanes, Crusaders and Highlanders have all reaped the rewards for the Blues’ inability to identify or fully develop the talent they have at their doorstep.
Two of the most notable cases of ex-Blues players who have gone on to play starring roles in other sides in recent years are Highlanders duo Malakai Fekitoa and Waisake Naholo.
Fekitoa, the former Auckland midfielder who went to Wesley College in South Auckland and was contracted to the Blues in 2013 but never played a Super Rugby match for them, and Naholo, who was picked up by the Blues that same year but was let go only to win the World Cup with the All Blacks two years later, both became Highlanders legends after the Dunedin-based club signed them in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
Elsewhere in more recent times, there has been Ben Lam, an ex-Blues wing who set the Super Rugby record for most tries in a season with the Hurricanes last year, and Braydon Ennor, a former Blues U18 rep who is on track to winning back-to-back titles with the Crusaders after moving to Christchurch from St Kentigern College in 2016.
Both have caught the eye of the national selectors over the last two seasons after leaving the Blues region.
Other examples include promising Highlanders first-five Josh Ioane, formerly a star for King’s College in the Auckland 1A competition, and Chiefs prodigy Etene Nanai-Seturo, who played alongside Ennor at St Kent’s.
The continual loss of these young stars with bright futures to rival clubs has left the Blues as the worst team in the country at identifying and retaining talented youth players, which has significantly contributed to the franchise languishing in the rut they currently find themselves in.
That could be about to change, though.
Speaking to Stuff, Blues board chairman Don Mackinnon revealed that the club has drafted in former New Zealand softball captain and coach Eddie Kohlhase from High Performance Sport New Zealand with the aim of turning this weakness into a “world-class” aspect of the club.
“Eddie is leading a project across the Blues and our three provincial unions [Auckland, North Harbour and Northland] to look at our whole talent identification, recruitment and development system out of school where we’ve been poor, partly because we’ve not been aligned with our provincial unions,” Mackinnon told Stuff.
“It’s an incredibly important project to get us up to world-class in that space, and we’re not [world-class]. The great thing about it is the three provincial unions are totally on board and want to create a system where, alongside the Blues, we are retaining our best talent.”
Mackinnon confirmed Kohlhase’s work has already begun, as he enters the interviewing and information-gathering phase of his project.
“We’re hoping to have a preliminary report back for our July board meeting and finalisation by August. We’re moving on this as quick as we can because it needs to be fixed.”
Structural change can be expected between the Blues, Auckland, North Harbour and Northland, as the four organisations look to work in tandem to keep the region’s best players at home in the coming years.
“I’m hoping it will lead to concrete recommendations around how we align the four organisations so that we’re getting the best players and keeping them and spreading them across our regions,” Mackinnon said.
“It’s a hugely important piece of work.”
It won’t be easy, though.
While the Blues undoubtedly have the best 1st XV competition in New Zealand – possibly the world – to pick their future generation from, its reputation has helped make it a marketplace for teams from various other footballing codes from all around the globe.
That means the Blues aren’t just competing with other Super Rugby franchises from New Zealand, but also union, league and AFL clubs, among others, from around the world.
“It’s a crazy system at the moment when you’re hearing talk of 12 and 13-year-old kids being approached by league agents,” Mackinnon said.
“One of the things we’re looking to improve is our relationship with our secondary schools. We’re getting in front of the principals and talking about their needs, and where they see the Blues fitting with those.
“I believe repairing those relationships is incredibly important and it’s starting to show some results.”
The 2019 Blues XV That Got Away:
1 – Isi Tu’ungafasi (formerly of Mangere College and Auckland, now playing for Northland and Crusaders)
2 – Andrew Makalio (formerly of Onehunga High School, now playing for Tasman and Crusaders)
3 – Nepo Laualala (formerly of Mount Albert Grammar and Wesley College, now playing for Counties Manukau, Chiefs and All Blacks)
4 – Vaea Fifita (formerly of Tamaki College, now playing for Wellington, Hurricanes and All Blacks)
5 – Sam Lousi (formerly of St Paul’s College, now playing for Wellington and Hurricanes, soon to be at Scarlets)
6 – Jordan Taufua (formerly of Alfriston College and Sacred Heart College, now playing for Tasman and Crusaders, soon to be at Leicester Tigers)
7 – Dillon Hunt (formerly of Westlake Boys’ High School, now playing for North Harbour, Highlanders and All Blacks)
8 – Kieran Read (formerly of St Kentigern College and Rosehill College, now playing for Counties Manukau, Crusaders and All Blacks, soon to be at Toyota Verblitz)
9 – Bryn Hall (formerly of St Peter’s College and Blues, now playing North Harbour and Crusaders)
10 – Josh Ioane (formerly of King’s College, now playing Otago and Highlanders)
11 – Ben Lam (formerly of St Peter’s College, Auckland and Blues, now playing Wellington and Hurricanes)
12 – Jack Goodhue (formerly of Mount Albert Grammar, now playing Northland, Crusaders and All Blacks)
13 – Braydon Ennor (formerly of St Kentigern College, now playing Canterbury and Crusaders)
14 – Waisake Naholo (formerly of Blues, now playing Taranaki, Highlanders and All Blacks, soon to be at London Irish)
15 – Etene Nanai-Seturo (formerly of St Kentigern College, now playing Counties Manukau and Chiefs)
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
excellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to comments