Have boots, will travel
In the latest in Stuff’s Moneyball series, Ben Strang looks at the nomadic nature of Super Rugby squads.
Nothing shows the spread of professionalism in rugby like the makeup of New Zealand’s Super Rugby sides.
Once, players represented their region out of high school. Think Colin Meads from Te Kuiti High School to King Country, or Brian Lochore, from Wairarapa College to Wairarapa Bush.
Some, such as Otago and Highlanders player Ben Smith, remain loyal to this day. But he is the exception.
The Highlanders are the best current example. Just five of their players spent their last year at school in the Highlanders region, with Joshua Dickson, Josh Renton, Matt Faddes and Sio Tomkinson joining Ben Smith.
Only a handful of Super Rugby players originally came from the Highlanders region.
Michael Collins, of the Blues, and Wyatt Crockett, who is actually from the Tasman region but spent his final high school year at Otago Boys High School after shifting from Nelson College, are the only other Super Rugby players from the Highlanders region.
Sure, some Mitre 10 Cup and Heartland players originate from Otago and Southland, but at the top level, the figures are bleak.
With a population of only around 300,000, the Highlanders region is New Zealand’s smallest. So it’s not surprising they struggle to produce top-quality players in big numbers. But they can still field a top-quality side, offering New Zealand rugby the chance to show off its depth.
Unsurprisingly, the Blues region produces the most Super Rugby players from their massive population base. Sixty-one players spent their final high-school year in the Blues region. Ten are at the Chiefs, nine at the Hurricanes and six each play for the Highlanders and Crusaders.
Interesting, and perhaps infuriating for Blues fans, is the one position where they always struggle – first five-eighth. Josh Ioane is the only first-five of the 61 Bluesregion Super Rugby players, and he is a bench player for the Highlanders.
The Hurricanes region is producing players at perhaps the most impressive rate, with 51 spread over five teams. That’s despite losing Taranaki to the Chiefs, meaning the Barrett brothers – Beauden, Jordie and Scott – are now, technically, Chiefs at heart.
Some All Blacks started playing in Hurricanes-land, with Sam Whitelock and Aaron Smith from Manawatu, Lima Sopoaga a Wellingtonian, and Waisake Naholo Whanganui-schooled.
Add Israel Dagg, Charlie Ngatai and Liam Squire and you get the idea. Manawatu and Hawke’s Bay are producing quality players, but being based in Wellington, it’s sometimes tough for the Hurricanes to hold on to them.
If it weren’t for a small influx of former Hurricanes-region players, the Chiefs would have produced a dangerously low number of current Super Rugby players.
Just 22 spent their final year of high school in the region, including Taranaki players, with just 11 of them representing the Chiefs this season.
Wing is a problem area, with no current Super Rugby wingers originating from the Chiefs region.
The Crusaders region has produced 35 current Super Rugby players, many still playing for the franchise.
The Blues have the largest percentage of homegrown players, with 30,the Hurricanes have 21, the Crusaders 19, Chiefs, 11 and Highlanders 5.
Two games a season may be a small sample size but already there’s enough evidence to suggest that these aren’t the Warriors of old. True, they haven’t played any great teams yet and they won’t this weekend when they take on a winless Raiders in Canberra.
But in the dark days at the end of the 2017 season, the Warriors would have struggled to beat many NSW Cup teams, let alone ordinary Rabbitohs and Titans sides. That’s how bad they were.
In the games against the Rabbitohs and Titans, their fans were no doubt waiting for that trademark second-half capitulation, but no, it never came.
It’s this more than anything that indicates the Warriors can be a top-eight side this year.
Sure, there will be low points, we are still talking about the Warriors after all, but they have enough about them to make this a memorable season after so many disappointing ones.
Prior to this season the forward pack had for years been held up as the Warriors strength, although that was more myth than reality.
The pack was actually slow and without much of a bite.
Ben Matulino had been below his best for a couple of years and clearly needed a change.
Ryan Hoffman was a major disappointment and although he often spoke about the team needing to step up, he was one of the biggest contributors to the on-field errors.
Replace those players with Adam Blair and Tohu Harris and you’ve immediately got an upgrade.
Then throw in Leivaha Pulu and Agnatius Paasi and that is a pretty complete forward pack.
The right edge is now a pretty special one with Shaun Johnson, Harris and Peta Hiku all lining up to produce a fearsome attacking wave, while Blake Green has become the halves partner Johnson has been craving for.
He’s already fitted in better than Kieran Foran did last season and you can see Johnson is running with more freedom and less pressure to be the man who creates everything.
Coach Stephen Kearney knows how to bring the best out of his players and has given them more freedom to play what’s in front of them this year.
Now let’s not get ahead of ourselves too much and start talking about the Warriors making the grand final.
But if they can keep playing like they are, tidy up a few things, like being more direct with their running and cutting down on the penalties, then there’s no reason why they can’t make the top eight.
‘‘If they can keep playing like they are, tidy up a few things . . . there’s no reason why they can’t make the top eight.’’ David Long
‘‘I tend to say this every year, in reference to the Warriors, but wake me up in September.’’ Hamish Bidwell