Five tactical questions
01 WING OR CENTRE FOR RIEKO IOANE?
It’s easy to say it doesn’t matter – that as long as Rieko Ioane plays the Blues will be able to adapt their game to find a way to utilise him.
But consistency of selection is important and the idea of Ioane forming a combination with Sonny Bill Williams has genuine appeal.
At centre Ioane would be more involved and it is the position he says he wants to play.
But at centre he’ll be more of a distributor than a finisher. Space will be harder to find and it will leave the Blues wondering what to do with George Moala.
02 FINDING THE BALANCE?
The Chiefs are going to presumably pick Damian McKenzie at No 10 and ask him to be their tactical director.
He’s a bag of tricks and a supreme talent. But he’s a risk taker. He’s impetuous at times, looking to make every play a winner and hoping to pull off miracles every time he has the ball.
The Chiefs don’t want to discourage him from expressing himself but can they get him to mix his game with some semblance of conservative option taking?
Can they persuade him to occasionally be safetyfirst, to take the low percentage option without him becoming a safety-first sort of player?
03 HAPPY HOOKERS
The Hurricanes have three outstanding hookers in their squad with Dane Coles, Ricky Riccitelli and Asafo Aumua all challenging to play. Coles is the senior man and will start.
But how much game time can the Hurricanes afford the other two and how will they mix it up? Aumua is only 20 and his core skills are in need of attention, but ball in hand he is devastating.
It’s going to be an interesting selection question each week for Chris Boyd – working out how to use all his available talent without seeming preconceived.
04 READ IT AND WEEP
The Crusaders played most of last season without Kieran Read and they missed him more than it may seem.
If they can find a way to use him in the wider channels – one receiver out from the touchline then they can add a whole new edge to their game in 2018.
Imagine Read firing down the tramlines with Seta Tamanivalu outside him on one side of the field and Israel Dagg on the other. If the Crusaders can get Read’s offload game fired up, then they will be a different proposition.
05 CAN THEY KICK IT?
Because the Highlanders are maybe lacking a little experience and proven punch in the midfield, can they adapt tactically to play around that potential weakness?
Can they use the supremely good kicking games of Aaron Smith, Lima Sopoaga and Ben Smith to boot their way to the title? It’s an interesting idea and not so far-fetched as the Highlanders kicked more than any other side in last year’s competition.