KEY POINTS:
Imagine Daniel Carter, only he's faster and can kick the ball further. Or perhaps Carl Hayman with a little extra horse power. Or Jerry Collins packing a couple more centimetres on the old biceps.
What about Richie McCaw?
Hang on, things are starting to get a little scary.
But if the All Blacks' controversial conditioning programme does what it's supposed to, a squadron of 22 players more physically advanced and mentally refreshed than after any other pre-season period will re-enter the Super 14 on or around March 23.
It may have earned the ire of professional rugby paymaster News Ltd but that will be long forgotten in every section of New Zealand rugby if the removal of stars from the first half of the Super 14 results in the All Blacks ending their 20-year World Cup drought in France next year.
Twelve weeks of fitness programmes tailored to improve the top players can provide the all-important edge next year in France - at least that's what All Blacks strength and conditioning coach Graham Lowe is banking on.
Lowe will oversee the programme, starting on January 1.
"It's actually scary what the potential is for some of these guys because none of them have had a chance to do anything like it before.
"When you look at them physically right now, they're in pretty good nick. They've made improvements from the strategies we've used until now just to keep the edge there.
"It's hard to quantify the potential improvement in them because we just don't know. It could be huge for the fact that they are such impressive athletes in their own right and they've achieved what they have despite having to play a significant amount of rugby. So it's exciting."
The essence of the opening line from an old TV show flits into mind as you listen to Lowe.
"Gentlemen we can rebuild them. Better than they were before. Better ... stronger ... faster."
Okay, maybe the All Blacks won't be a team of bionic men but international player of the year McCaw, who has no doubt been compared to "Six Million Dollar Man" Steve Austin more than once, is a mix of curiosity and excitement as he surveys the next four months.
He reckons there will be pain, but big personal gains to be made.
"I might emerge a better rugby player because of it and that's exciting for me really," he says.
"From a conditioning point of view, it will help my strength, speed and fitness and hopefully it will help me long term in the game. But it's also a great chance to work on some skills. I've never had the chance to just do any skill work because you're always playing games."
Therein lies the need for the conditioning programme, driven by Lowe and All Blacks coach Graham Henry, who have become frustrated at the lack of opportunity for players to better themselves.
A packed rugby calendar has in recent times seen leading All Blacks take a break over December and return to their Super rugby franchises only to find they have about three weeks to physically improve while also reforging team combinations.
Lowe says this would be a worse scenario than ever if it happened next year as the Super 14 starts in the heart of summer, on February 2. And the World Cup gets under way in early September, just six weeks after the final Tri-Nations test on July 21 lowers the curtain on a tightly packed test season.
The chosen 22 have been told what to expect when their month-long break ends on New Year's Eve.
It will be far from a summer holiday but Lowe says nobody has objected.
"It's going to be as much conditioning as a lot of them have experienced before," he smiles, adding that the players will get a rare taste of nine to five living.
"One of the things I've been conscious of is that they feel like they've got a real solid working week and they get a chance to freshen up mentally at the weekend and do those things that you could argue normal people might do."
McCaw admits it will be a "weird" concept not lacing up at the weekend but is relishing the change of mindset.
"Usually you build up towards a big emotional high at the weekend and then start again," the All Blacks captain says.
"With this you'll do your week's work and then have a couple of days off. I'll have to work out what to do with myself."
Lowe will visit the conditioning players throughout the 12 weeks and also bring them together in a short-camp scenario.
Everything he has arranged has been in conjunction with the five Super 14 franchises, who will miss their prime assets for the first seven rounds of the competition.
Most affected are the defending champion Crusaders, who will have to get by without McCaw and six of his international teammates.
Lowe can't understate the role the franchises have played in accommodating the All Blacks' long-term goal.
"In the end the only way this whole thing will work is by it being a kind of New Zealand rugby community thing," says Lowe, who was to visit each of the franchises for a fourth time this month to check logistics.
Boasting a Masters degree in physical education majoring in exercise physiology, Lowe has mapped out the entire year for the World Cup-bound All Blacks.
The 30-man cup squad is named straight after the Tri-Nations and will then spend five weeks "sharpening the knife" before leaving for France. It will be a far cry from the intensive training camps dotted around New Zealand that marked their build-up to their failed 2003 campaign.
But as Lowe says, it is "the good stuff on the front end of the season" - namely the conditioning period - which provides the all-important base.
CONDITIONING SQUAD
Backs: Leon MacDonald (Crusaders), Mils Muliaina (Chiefs), Joe Rokocoko (Blues), Sitiveni Sivivatu (Chiefs), Aaron Mauger (Crusaders), Daniel Carter (Crusaders), Byron Kelleher (Chiefs), Piri Weepu (Hurricanes).
Forwards: Rodney So'oialo (Hurricanes), Richie McCaw (Crusaders), Chris Masoe (Hurricanes), Jerry Collins (Hurricanes), Reuben Thorne (Crusaders), Jason Eaton (Hurricanes), Chris Jack (Crusaders), Ali Williams (Blues), Carl Hayman (Highlanders), Greg Somerville (Crusaders), Tony Woodcock (Blues), Keven Mealamu (Blues), Anton Oliver (Highlanders), Andrew Hore (Hurricanes).
KEY DATES
December 2006: All players rested.
January 1 (approximately): Non-conditioning players return and train with their Super 14 franchises.
January 1-March 23: Conditioning group players train on separate programmes.
February 2-May 19: Super 14.
June 2, 9, 16: Home tests v France (two) and Canada.
June 23, 30; July 14, 21: Tri-Nations tests v South Africa and Australia.
July 22 (unconfirmed): All Blacks World Cup squad announced.
July 23-August 28: World Cup "sharpening" period.
August 29: Depart for World Cup.
September 7-October 20: World Cup.
- NZPA
