KEY POINTS:
There is no question the silly-season has started, judging by the way coaching appointments have been handled in Hawke's Bay and Wellington.
After weeks of speculation, the Magpies finally confirmed what everyone knew early last week - that head coach Brendon Ratcliffe would not be at the helm next year.
Ratcliffe, who signed a two-year contract in November 2005, made a fair fist of getting the Bay through their inaugural year in the Air New Zealand Cup. They finished ninth - the highest of the newly promoted provinces.
That, though, has not been enough to convince the Hawke's Bay board to retain his services.
Former All Black coach Laurie Mains and Kevin Schuler have been touted as potential replacements. But that sort of talk flatters the board. It suggests they had a predetermined master plan - that they were dispensing with Ratcliffe because they already had a higher profile, experienced replacement.
Sadly, no such master plan exists. Mains was bemused at being linked to the post and Schuler, who has a business and dairy farm in the Bay of Plenty and a consultancy role in Japan, is content with his assistant's position at the Steamers.
It appears as if the ructions in Hawke's Bay have been caused by nothing more than a clash of personalities.
Maybe the men on the Hawke's Bay board are still thinking like a second division province.
The politics have not been put to one side and instead have been allowed to affect the outcome of what should have been an objective, performance-based review.
Ratcliffe has every right to feel hurt and betrayed, as does Wellington's former assistant coach Chris Boyd. He recently learned he'd been passed over for the head post in the capital and then this week was ousted from the team altogether.
The fact there was a vacancy at the province at all is just as hard to understand. John Plumtree took the top job in 2003 and steered the Lions into the NPC final and again the following year.
But when an assistant's opportunity arose at the Hurricanes, he was passed over for Canterbury coach Aussie McLean. Plumtree sensed there was no desire to promote him so he quit in October after taking the Lions to yet another final.
McLean then leapfrogged Boyd for the Lions job and swiftly hired former All Blacks Jamie Joseph and Alama Ieremia as deputies.
Ratcliffe and Boyd can only laugh when they hear the New Zealand Rugby Union talk proudly about their coaching pathways. The system has failed them both, as it did Plumtree.
Ironically, the Hawke's Bay mess could be partly cleared by handing Boyd a redemption of sorts.
Ratcliffe is attempting to win his job back through legal channels. His relationship with the board is so damaged, though, that it might be in the union's best interests if Ratcliffe wins his battle but then stands down.
The Wellington Rugby Union still employs Boyd and want to find him a meaningful role. Coaching Hawke's Bay, a union within the Hurricanes franchise, is a logical solution.
It would of course have been better if Hawke's Bay and Wellington had followed the lead of Bay of Plenty and had faith in the people already within their system.
Steamers head coach Vern Cotter couldn't turn down the chance to coach Clermont in France when the offer was made in April.
It left the Bay with only a few months to find a replacement before the provincial championship.
Cotter's assistants Andre Bell and Schuler stepped up and were given a year.
The Steamers made the quarter-finals, played some reasonable football after a sticky start and Bell was offered the job longer term.
He's expected to sign in the next week or so once an agreement is reached on remuneration.
