WEAKNESSES: MIDFIELD MINEFIELD – DO THEY HAVE THE DEPTH?

It seems odd to single out an area that boasts Charlie Ngatai and Anton Lienert-Brown but, behind them, specialist midfield depth appears skinny this season. Losing Tamanivalu takes a big chunk of size out of the Chiefs backline and means they’ll largely rely on subtlety rather than strength to get over the advantage line. That’s fine when you’re going forward but there are times when it’s handy to simply have a big body to rumble up the guts and create some breathing room.

Wings can be brought in to perform this role. But, on paper at least, the Chiefs don’t seem to have that big established backline presence in the midfield. Ngatai missed the latter stages of the Chiefs campaign and sat out the entire provincial season, ruling him out of the All Blacks, with concussion issues. He’s confident of returning but there will be a few nerves around his comeback and whether he can regain his classy form. Should the Chiefs lose Ngatai or Lienert-Brown – and neither will play every match – they are probably looking to use Stephen Donald, Tim Nanai-Williams or Taranaki rookie Johnny Fa’auli as cover, with Andrew Horrell having departed for Japan.

That may work in short stints but neither Donald nor Nanai-Williams are specialist midfielders. There may also be a slight concern around where turnovers will come from. Sam Cane, for all his defensive brilliance, size and strength, is not a noted pilferer. Auckland openside Mitchell Karpik missed this year’s season through injury while Taranaki youngster Lachlan Boshier is another keen to make his mark. Steals at the breakdown are gold for the Chiefs and they must figure out a way to maximise these opportunities.