Playoff run a bridge too far for promising Chiefs - Season Review
Colin Cooper’s first season in charge of the Chiefs was a real test of character.
An away quarterfinal against the rival Hurricanes proved a bridge too far for a side who were continuously knocked down over the course of a grueling regular season, only to get back up and keep fighting time and time again.
With his side’s year ending after a heartbreaking one-point loss against his former team, Cooper will reflect on what was an incredibly impressive season, all things considered. Despite an overhaul of personnel both on and off the field, the Chiefs finished just short of a semifinal berth and won just one fewer match than they did last season.
The depth and resolve of Cooper’s side was pushed to the limit early and often in 2018. Heading into the season, we knew it was going to be a different side after the Chiefs were hit by an overseas player drain – losing 100 caps of All Black experience to offshore clubs or retirements – but no one could have predicted the brutal injury toll the club would face.
Losing players like Tawera Kerr-Barlow, James Lowe and Aaron Cruden already made things tough, and when the injuries hit, the Chiefs were pressed even harder.
The side found themselves without any of the props from their original 38-man squad after six weeks of competition, and were without leaders Brodie Retallick, Sam Cane and Charlie Ngatai for stretches during the season (of the aforementioned three, Retallick was most impressive in 2018 and proves an invaluable member of the forward pack. The All Blacks lock scored a career-best six tries and won six penalties at the breakdown to lead his position).
Despite their overflowing injury ward, the Chiefs miraculously turned their perceived weaknesses into strengths, putting forth one of Super Rugby’s best scrums thanks in large part to their rag-tag front row, and getting the most out of overlooked backs like Sean Wainui.
The front row injury crisis led to key contributions from journeyman Angus Ta’avao – who led all props in minutes played – and helped unearth new All Black Karl Tu’inukuafe, whose story captured the imagination of club rugby battlers the world over. Both players were uncontracted at the start of the season.
Cooper’s faith in his former Taranaki talent paid off, with the aforementioned Wainui making himself a fixture in the starting lineup after injuries kept regulars Tim Nanai-Williams, Toni Pulu and Shaun Stevenson on the sidelines. Another player who started the season without a contract, Wainui finished his campaign tallying 14 appearances and scoring six tries – good for second on the team.
But the real storyline of the Chiefs season – and the narrative that grabbed the most headlines – was star fullback Damian McKenzie’s transition into the No. 10 jersey.
The slippery superstar shone in place of Aaron Cruden in his first full campaign at first-five eighth. McKenzie emerged as an elite playmaker, notching eight try assists and 22 line break assists in his 14 appearances.
Watch: Damian McKenzie’s top 10 plays of the season
He proved to be as dangerous as ever with ball in hand, leading his position in tries scored with six, run metres with 1141 – his nearest competitor managed 895 – line breaks (13), tackle busts (74) and offloads (18).
With time on his side, the 23-year-old is already an elite 10 and will only get better as his time in the saddle increases. Simple errors – including an early interception thrown to Julian Savea, instantly leading to a try – were what ultimately let the Chiefs down in their playoff exit, and the continued sharpening of McKenzie’s decision making as a playmaker will be what gets them over the hump next season.
Unfortunately for Cooper, the Chiefs are set to lose some major experience next season once again, with Charlie Ngatai (Lyon), Tim Nanai-Williams (Clermont), Dominic Bird (Racing 92) and Liam Messam (Toulon) all heading offshore to the Top 14.
With the impending departures of Ngatai and Johnny Fa’auli (Toshiba), the area that will be of greatest concern next year will be the midfield. The Chiefs will have to find someone else to pair with All Black Anton Lienert-Brown. Thankfully things are made slightly easier by the versatile Lienert-Brown’s ability to slide seamlessly between midfield positions.
Former All Black Ma’a Nonu – also a former Hurricane under Cooper – has emerged as a potential midfield option, but at 36 years old he only makes sense as a one-year stopgap.
The Chiefs could make do with what they have, and play either 22-year-old Wainui or 21-year-old Alex Nankivell in the midfield – both have extensive time there at the provincial level – or they could go even younger, with exciting prospects Quinn Tupaea and Bailyn Sullivan (both 19) coming through the grades. Tupaea is set to make his provincial debut for Waikato in August, while Sullivan made his Chiefs debut earlier this year. Other contracted midfielders Regan Verney and Levi Aumua remain untested at Super Rugby level.
Further young talent emerging for the Chiefs comes in the form of hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho, who impressed in his seven appearances, and 21-year-old flanker Luke Jacobson, who shapes as a long-term replacement for the departing Liam Messam in the back row.
The former New Zealand Under 20 captain Jacobson made 13 appearances in his debut season, including seven starts towards the tail end of the campaign. He scored three tries over a two-game stretch against the Crusaders and Highlanders.
The Chiefs player who had the brightest emergence in 2018 was fullback Solomon Alaimalo. The 22-year-old brings an elite combination of size and speed at nearly two metres tall, comparing physically with Wallabies star Israel Folau. He finished the season ranked second among all players in terms of run metres and scored a team-high eight tries. He also finished near the top of the competition in line breaks (19 – 5th overall) and tackle busts (69 – 3rd overall). Named Rookie of the Year by the club in 2017, Alaimalo’s performance makes him tough for international selectors to ignore moving forward. He will be a key piece for the Chiefs for the foreseeable future.
Overall, the future looks bright for this tough Chiefs team. Fielding a roster packed with both established and emerging stars, they will be extremely formidable once they return to their full complement and will be near the top of the New Zealand conference once again in 2019. Their ability to push further in the playoffs will depend on the continued development of Damian McKenzie and will be aided by week-to-week consistency.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
I bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments