KEY POINTS:
As far as brave faces go, the ones Auckland and North Harbour are putting on their horror national championship campaigns are spectacular. We're talking Mel Gibson in Braveheart here. Or maybe even Mel Gibson in Gallipoli, just before going over the top and into the teeth of the
machine guns.
Both of Auckland's metropolitan unions maintain that, more than anything, they have been victims of circumstance this season. And both, as it happens, have pretty good cases.
Auckland can point to a mass overseas exodus of the union's best players, which reduced a champion team to a bunch of kids in the space of just a few months; while Harbour had to contend with the twin prongs of an increasing number of All Blacks call-ups and a horrendous injury toll.
The unions would describe these factors as reasons. Others, however, might see them simply as excuses. There's little point, though, in quibbling over semantics.
One thing is certain - the playing resources of both unions were stretched beyond breaking point and the results were there for all to see. The real question is whether, as Auckland chief executive Andy Dalton believes, this season was merely a blip, or whether it signifies the start of a sustained, irreversible decline in the city's two major rugby unions. Only time will tell.
Dalton wasn't surprised that Auckland struggled this season. In the wake of the loss of 14 senior players - many of them vastly experienced former All Blacks - the tough times were clearly coming. What shocked him was the extent of Auckland's decline.
"Our expectation was that it would be a tough year but that we'd get by to a better level than we did," Dalton says.
"We'd agree that we should have been in the top eight. That was our expectation at the start of the season and we didn't meet that - by one game, but that is irrelevant."
Auckland were hurt not only by the loss of "key players in key decision-making areas" - Isa Nacewa, Brent Ward, Brad Mika, and Sam Tuitupou - but also by the road block their prolonged presence in the team placed in front of the next tier of talent, says Dalton.
A side-effect of building a stable, successful team under Pat Lam between 2004 and 2007 had been the loss of many capable players to other unions. That talent dispersal from the country's biggest union was not a bad thing, said Dalton, but it did serve to widen the gulf in class between the players who left and those who stepped up to replace them.
Lam, who coached Auckland to two wins and three losses in their first five games before stepping aside to concentrate on his Blues duties, this week sat in on the Auckland players' individual reviews. The consistent refrain was that they were surprised - and in many cases caught out - by the step up in intensity from club and age-grade rugby to the national championship.
The lack of experienced teammates to turn to was also a huge factor.
"Look at Dean Budd," says Lam. "Last year if he had made the team, standing next to him would have been [Jerome] Kaino, [Angus] MacDonald, [Brad] Mika and [Daniel] Braid. This year it was [Peter] Saili, [Chris] Lowrey and [Stanley] Haukinima. All of those guys were in the same boat.
"Listening to their feedback, they knew it was going to be tough but they didn't realise the mental pressures that would be on them, and things like how losing the ball in contact would impact on the whole team. It is the first time they have experienced it. But there are players there who will go on to be All Blacks in five years time.
"And there is no need to panic. Things are always cyclical. It was always on the cards. I don't think any team has lost that many players in one go. They key is going to be next year. You'll see these guys be stronger and better for [this year]. I have no doubt when we look back in three or four years this [season] will have been the making of them."
Lam is probably right in that next year will be a fairer time to judge the new crop. His young side did, after all, miss the playoffs in 2004 only to bounce back and win the title the following year.
Auckland, though, are also facing accusations the union is no longer producing talent in its junior ranks.
This year's national secondary schools team contained just two players from the Auckland union, and one of those was a late addition. Dalton, though, puts that down to the vagaries of the selection process.
"I'd ask anybody if you said that, from Te Kauwhata north, there were only two players who warranted a place in the New Zealand Secondary Schools, you'd have to be surprised.
"That is probably a third of the population. De La Salle won the Top Four and their under-18s have only lost one game in the past five years. So I struggle with that and we are looking forward to talking with the selector."
Dalton also refused to accept this season had been all doom and gloom, pointing to development of Budd and Saili in particular, as evidence there are quality players coming through the system.
"There are some good signs there but boy it was a frustrating year. But I am very confident that we'll be back."
Harbour may not have been affected by the overseas exodus to the same degree as Auckland, but they were equally hamstrung by a lack of experienced players.
"Frustrating is the best way to describe our season," chief executive Brett Hollister says. "Frustrating because never did we get access to the full ability of our squad. For the majority of our campaign we were without nine of our best players."
Injury accounted for five of the players Hollister lists but the others - Anthony Tuitavake, Rudi Wulf, Tony Woodcock and Anthony Boric - were absent due to All Blacks call-ups.
The absence of the key quartet highlighted the inherent Catch 22 in a system where unions are encouraged to develop players for the national team. Last season, when Tuitavake was on the fringe of All Blacks contention, he played every minute of every game for the union. This season he was hardly sighted. Not only do unions lose immediate access to their international players, they are also faced with having to up the terms of their contracts to hang on to them, thus paying more for less. They are also faced with the harsh reality that the players will eventually leave anyway to pursue the extra money their new-found All Blacks status can command overseas.
In a way, Harbour have been a victim of their own success in producing top quality players. Of its total wage bill of $1.2 million, 30 per cent went on players who hardly played a game. The remaining $800,000 that was spent on the rest of the squad placed the union among the lowest spenders in the competition.
Some would argue Harbour got what they paid for, having not spent enough to be competitive. Harbour would argue the opposite - that they didn't get anywhere near what they paid for.
"I still believe that if we can get our best 15 on the field then we are a threat," Hollister says.
But for that to happen, he knows there needs to be major changes to the way international players are contracted and paid.
Like Auckland, Harbour faces criticism that its talent pool has run dry, with the recruitment of journeyman first five-eighths Jimmy Gopperth from Wellington cited as the most damning evidence.
Hollister, though, describes the union's production line as "outstanding". He points out that, before Gopperth, the union produced Luke McAlister and Nick Evans and also has 18-year-old Ben Botica - the son of Frano - waiting in the wings.
The union also has three players in the national under-20s side and promising back Nafi Tuitavake was a national sevens representative.
"That said, there are a whole lot of things that we think we can do better as well," Holister admits.
Like Auckland, Harbour are looking for a new coach. Hollister hopes to have his man in place by the end of the month. Whoever gets the job will be pretty much expected to work with the players the union already has. Having paid off $750,000 in debt in recent years, the union has no plans to spend big on players in the hope of short-term success. Hollister has faith in the union's production line. Again, like Auckland, time will tell if he is right.
One thing both Hollister and Dalton agree on is that the failure of their national championship sides won't necessarily condemn the Blues to repeat that failure.
Lam, too, is cautiously optimistic there are enough experienced players left and enough emerging talents coming through to make the Blues a force in Super Rugby.
"When you get down to it there were a lot of guys at All Black level who didn't play much at all for the three unions," he says.
"When you look through the list there are 10 All Blacks there and there is a strong front five. It is just about getting the next group and ensuring that our depth is good enough. Those are the key decisions we are looking at now."
Lam is due to name his Blues squad on October 31. His selections will provide a clear indicator of how much faith he really has in the players from year's failed Auckland and Harbour teams. He has already made it clear using the draft remains a possibility.
"All I will say is that I'm not ruling the draft out. But if we go to the draft it will have to be better than what we have currently."
Rounds of misery
Auckland:
Round one
The defending champions get off to a horror start, losing to Counties Manukau in Pukekohe. Isaia Toeava does his best to single-handedly rescue his side but his breaks are all snuffed out and journeyman five-eighths Tanner Vili comes off the bench to seal it for Counties with a drop goal.
Round three
Boosted by a successful Ranfurly Shield defence against Taranaki, Auckland head to Canterbury optimistic they will at least compete. They don't, getting completely smashed 34-3.
Round five
Waikato haven't won a game yet this season but they make short work of Auckland, who slump to a third consecutive away defeat.
Round seven
A miracle comeback from an injury-hit Auckland side, who topple Bay of Plenty 25-20 in Mt Maunganui, looks like being the turning point in the season. Daniel Braid and Lachie Munro, however, are gone for the season.
Round eight
For 10 minutes it seems Auckland might have a chance of competing with a Wellington side desperate to lift the Shield for the first time in 26 years. But for the next 70 they are resoundingly walloped, going down 27-0.
Round 10
Having seen off North Harbour a week earlier, a win over Northland will put Auckland fifth and in line for a return match with Bay of Plenty in Tauranga. They start well, racing to a 10-0 lead, but once again the wheels fall off and this time it's fatal. Northland win 21-13 and Auckland finish 11th.
North Harbour:
Round one
An inauspicious start from Harbour, who go down 20-13 to Taranaki in New Plymouth and make Taranaki look good in the process.
Round two
Harbour lead Wellington by 14 at halftime but there is a sense of inevitability about Wellington's comeback and Thomas Waldrom scores in the corner in the 79th minute to snatch a 30-27 victory.
Round three
Bay of Plenty hand Harbour a third straight loss with a 38-31 victory in Mt Maunganui. A long season beckons.
Round six
Harbour have righted the ship with two straight victories but they are found out by Canterbury, thrashed 36-9 at home.
Round seven
It just gets worse for Harbour, ripped apart and thrashed 43-7 by a Southland team that manages just 18 tries all year.
Round eight
Northland have lost six in a row and Harbour must beat them to keep their season alive. They don't, losing 35-24 at home.
