KEY POINTS:
I am not sure I believe all this stuff about travel being a big problem for All Blacks who are leaving to go overseas for "lifestyle" reasons.
One of the most commonly heard reasons for leaving to go to the Northern Hemisphere is that players get tired of the travel in Super 14 and the "same old, same old" factor.
But I think that's just an excuse. We can all come up with excuses for why we want to do something or not do something. Sometimes they can be pretty thin.
When you look at it objectively, how bad is it? They travel a lot to Australia, sure, and they do have to travel about three weeks in South Africa.
So what? I don't think three weeks away is out of court when it comes to professional rugby. And, if you are playing in Europe and you have to travel to France to play, what's the difference?
The reason I am mentioning this is the concept being floated now to broaden the Super 14 into a conference-style arrangement. New teams would merge with old in regional competitions, with the top teams from each conference moving into the playoffs.
New Zealand would include a Pacific Islands team; a Japanese franchise would play in the Australian conference; and the Argentinians in South Africa.
It's interesting, yes, but the NZRU seem to be thinking this may create excitement for those who are finding the competition a bit stale and boring these days.
I don't think so. It looks to me as if this conference system has been cooked up to address the players' boredom with the amount of travelling they have to do.
First, they don't actually have to do that much. I think the real reason for this is, as "Ginge" Henderson would say, "coin".
Second, this smells to me as though they are just thinking of the players, rather than the fans, and trying to address travel issues.
If this extended format is adopted, would I go to watch the Crusaders play a Japanese franchise? Or a Pacific Islands one? It'd be pretty 50-50 at best, I'd say - and that's why I think they haven't really thought this one through.
It might address some of the players' concerns - and that's good - but there is no sign to me that they are re-awakening interest and excitement in Super rugby.
I think we'd be better off taking a leaf out of the league book and making a real fuss and drawing out the semi-finals and finals. Doing that over an extended period would heighten interest, just as it does in the NRL, whereas the Super 14 is all over too quickly at finals time.
However, while we are talking about the accelerating drift of our top players overseas, full marks to the NZRU for trying to halt the flow of leading players like Dan Carter. Some people have been critical of this move, saying that trying to arrange a sabbatical is creating one rule for someone like Carter and another for everyone else.
But I don't have an issue with that. Already we have seen senior All Blacks doing their OE and then coming back to the squad - like Leon MacDonald and Brad Thorn, the latter actually going to the enemy code.
There's nothing to stop All Blacks coming back and being part of the test team and aiming for the World Cup - and I hope they do that.
Those who try and quibble about the rules and how they are applied differently to different people are being a bit anal. What does it matter how they get back here as long as they do?
And why shouldn't the NZRU try to protect assets like Carter from the north? Good luck to them, I say, and it depends on who's going and depth.
Collins, for example, can go - there are plenty of good loose forwards coming through. But Carter? There aren't that many top-class first-fives around, so you can understand the NZRU trying to keep him.
