Isaac Ross was seen as the future when he burst on the scene in 2009. But, as Gregor Paul reports, unless he adds grunt to his game or switches position, he might soon be the past.
It's not definite but it is possible the All Black coaches will advise Isaac Ross to consider a switch to the blindside after this year's Super 14.
They might also encourage him to think about shifting from the Crusaders to where he is more likely to win regular game time.
Ross became a cause celebre last year when he was dumped from the All Blacks for the end-of-year tour after eight tests.
His star has continued to fall in 2010, with the 25-year-old left at home for the Crusaders' trip to Perth and South Africa.
Footage of him charging through Italian defenders last June seems to belong to a different age - one when he was heir apparent to Ali Williams.
But in some ways, it's that very memory of him, ball in hand, long legs striding ever faster, that has been at the core of his downfall.
Both the All Black coaches and rugby public were seduced by Ross the athlete and Ross the ball player. It was easy to be taken in.
New Zealand's fixation with running rugby has intensified in the professional era. Exposure to bonus-point football has created a schism in the rugby world - with New Zealanders convinced they are the true believers, such is their conviction the game has to be played wide and fast, with tries the only honourable means of scoring.
When Ross thundered around for the Crusaders, showing up on the wing, he won an instant fan base and an All Black call-up.
Part of that was driven by injuries to Williams and Anthony Boric but Ross made the No 5 jersey his when he galloped through the Italians.
The nation had a new hero. And then the cracks started to appear. The South African locking duo of Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha were the stars of the 3-0 series whitewash.
They didn't show up on the wing. They didn't scamper around like loose forwards and try to win turnover ball. They were forwards trapped in forwards bodies; locks who knew their core jobs.
They attended to their aerial work, particularly Matfield, who destroyed the All Black lineout with alarming ease.
They hammered into the clean-out, particularly Botha, who proved there was still a place for a big, nasty brute who liked intimidating people.
They tackled, scrummaged hard, weren't bad at supporting the ball carrier and even competed for high kicks.
What they showed was that Ross was a master at the extras - the bonus activities - but not up to scratch in the key skills.
In the final game of the series in Hamilton, when the All Black lineout fell apart, concerns also grew that the scrum lacked grunt.
And then it all came home to the coaches - Ross was not the future, at least not until he added power to his frame and steel to his character. They had a magnificent athlete while South Africa had magnificent locks. Ross had to begin a transition - using his obvious mobility as the base, he needed to learn his craft properly.
So he was sent to the gym rather than to Europe with the All Blacks over summer. At 2.01m, it was felt he was too light at 111kg. He needed more bulk to give him confidence at the contact areas and to make him more effective.
He needed to improve his core strength in order to make a more telling scrummaging contribution.
The conditioning coaches thought Ross could easily carry another 4kg and retain his mobility. At 115kg, he should have been able to build the confidence to be more physical.
But the training programme didn't deliver the required goals and Ross is believed to be only 1kg or maybe 2kg heavier than he was last year.
His core strength hasn't improved as predicted, either, and the subsequent benefits of being more aggressive and effective at the contact areas haven't flowed through.
Unlike Brad Thorn, Sam Whitelock and to a lesser extent Chris Jack, Ross isn't naturally inclined to putting himself about.
The core skills of being a lock remain the weakest parts of his game, which is why the All Black coaches are pondering whether a positional switch is in order.
Ross has much to offer but maybe his future is not at lock. If he can't smash and crash, then it's the wrong position for him.
What he can do is win lineout ball and get around the field and, with the game quicker and more open as a result of the law interpretations, Ross has a portfolio of value.
Unless he makes giant strides in his physicality and abrasiveness, his future might be at blindside and he'll be told as much.
And he'll be told, if he wants to keep alive his slim hopes of playing at the 2011 World Cup, he'll have to play more and the Crusaders are possibly not the right team.
If he shifted to the Highlanders - where he was drafted in 2008 - he'd be more likely to play regularly, certainly as a lock and occasionally as a blindside if that's what he decides is the right path.
