Laughing – their time has finally come

Apart from at the champion Hurricanes, there could be wobbles in the coaching departments of the Blues’ New Zealand rivals. Dave Rennie is in his last season at the Chiefs, having already decided to join the rugby brain drain. Scott Robertson is making the step up at the Crusaders who are obsessed with an inbreeding which has shackled their attack. There are strange goings on at the Highlanders, where Tony Brown is the head coach who doesn’t want to be a head coach.

There are confirmed sightings of Issac Luke which suggest the Warriors dummy half gave the offseason puddings a miss this time. Very encouraging news. Time for Luke to front up, big time. My guess is he was disoriented by the leadership, playing, personal and starring role demands in his first season at the Warriors. His emotional haka in New Plymouth last year was an insight into a player who cherishes the fans, but he should be more centred in his second season.

Jimmy Tupou . . . the Blues have snared a player from the school of hard locks. The Crusaders are the best tight forward school in the business. If Tupou and Patrick Tuipulotu stay fit, there is hope.

Warriors

They could feed off each other’s success in Super Rugby and the NRL premiership.

James Parsons. An odd talisman, you might say, a lucky All Black who is not exactly the next Keven Mealamu or Dane Coles. While he may lack A-grade physicality, Parsons is no mug as a player. Significantly, he’s a popular bloke who plays with heart and has his heart in the right place. He strikes me as a rare character in Blues rugby who can draw a team together and has a season of captaincy under his belt. Call it another hunch. Yes, superstars are all well and good. But a lot of us like supporting players such as Parsons, who will co-captain the side (with Jerome Kaino) when he returns from concussion in a couple of weeks.