Gregor Paul: Three is definitely a crowd of coaches

Earlier this year Graham Henry talked about loyalty, sharing his belief that sometimes it can be misplaced.

Events of the past week make it impossible not to wonder whether he is making the mistake he warned others against. Steve Hansen has been shuffled into no-man's land - a position of vague responsibility where he will be able to dodge bullets as he's shielded by Henry and Wayne Smith.

If the backs fail to deliver much thrust and flair, will it be the fault of the backs coach or the attack coach? Ditto, if the forwards don't do their bit in setting an attacking platform, should inquiries be directed to Henry or Hansen?

Hansen has been given the opportunity to pottle along with his contribution difficult to determine. That's terribly nice for him, as pottle-along jobs paying six-figures are a rarity.

There was once a more simple age where we had a forwards coach and a backs coach. The All Blacks had the opportunity to revert to that streamlined structure for this tour and beyond.

The inescapable truth is that after the Tri Nations review, not even Henry was convinced Hansen was up to the job of coaching the forwards. Put another way - would there have been coach rotation had the lineout functioned and the forwards dominated?

Did Henry really need a new portfolio to sharpen his skills? Defensively, the All Blacks have been outstanding this season, as they have been consistently since the end of 2004.

Normal practice within a high performance environment dictates that if someone is failing, not doing what they should, they are moved on. That's what happened to Liam Messam. Joe Rokocoko also felt the cold edge of the blade.

But not Hansen. He's been bumped sideways and all the dressing-up, all the spin-doctoring of this being a positive, an opportunity to grow, will not hide what this is - a case of misplaced loyalty.

Henry now has a passenger in his coaching team. Instead of letting Hansen off, he's allowed to come along for the ride.

The modern game is played at frightening speed, by explosive athletes. There is some degree of technical complexity but, when you boil it down, the age-old principles apply - you have to win the ball then use it.

With senior players taking on more responsibility and having greater input into preparation, it feels as if three's a crowd in the new coaching set-up.

It didn't feel like that before. It made sense when Hansen took the forwards, Smith the backs and Henry master-minded the defensive patterns as part of his overall brief to determine the style and marry that to selection.

Attack, as a single portfolio, doesn't seem enough. It's like a painter doing only undercoats.

The real damage is that the reshuffle takes Henry away from what he is so good at. It's never been fully appreciated just how important the aggressive defence of the All Blacks has been. At their peak in 2005, they isolated the opposition ball carriers, turned over the ball and hit on the counter attack. Defence was their foundation and now there is huge pressure on Smith to continue with what Henry has been doing so expertly.

Why take that risk, though? Why not leave Henry and Smith as they were and bring in a new forwards coach?

The rotation is a result of no one within the camp wanting to see Hansen dumped entirely. It's like Henry said. Sometimes loyalty can be misplaced.