Of the same or the start of something big?

steely but silent resolve and a notable absence of bold predictions coming out of the Blues camp early in 2019, even if this year there might just be justifiable grounds for optimism.

To a man these players who have assembled to kick off their campaign with a home clash against back-to-back champions the Crusaders at Eden Park tomorrow night have adopted the approach that it’s time to ‘‘shut up and put up’’.

All Blacks wing Rieko Ioane made that clear when he told Stuff recently: ‘‘It’s a cliche´ now that the Blues are feeling positive. We’ve just got to be real. We can train as hard as we want, have as good a pre-season as we want, feel as confident as we want, but this has all happened before.

‘‘We looked the goods in preseason last year and fell off. The proof will be in the pudding.’’

Similar messages have come from other Blues who will run out to start tomorrow’s ideal measuring stick against the standard-setters of Super Rugby for the past two seasons.

‘‘We’re sick of the talk,’’ says openside flanker Dalton Papalii who springboarded out of a standout provincial campaign with Auckland last year all the way into the All Blacks.

‘‘Everyone says this could be the Blues year. We’re sick of that. We have to lead with our actions. With other New Zealand teams there’s a bit of talk or even no talk, but on the field they lead by their actions. We’ve got to follow that and go out and do what we do best.’’

Halfback Jonathan Ruru, who will service a potentially blockbusting backline, concurs.

‘‘I guess people will be saying this is the year the Blues turn it round. But we all think it’s time for actions, not words,’’ he told Stuff.

‘‘It’s all about just embracing that grind for 80 minutes, knowing it’s a long season and being able to get that energy right. And just grind.

‘‘[It’s] all about actions, pretty much.’’

Time will tell if this resolve translates into results.