Bright regional forecast thanks to Nucifora

David Nucifora

The Blues leave this week for a pre-season camp to put the finishing touches on their preparations for the inaugural Super 14. But the far-reaching and fundamental changes David Nucifora has applied during the off-season are more likely to have the greater bearing on the franchise.

Famous for being the most talent-laden of New Zealand's five Super 14 franchises, the three-time Super 12 winners are equally well-known for the fractious relationship between the Auckland and Harbour unions that supply the majority of players.

While there have been shouts of favouritism - particularly in selection matters and not always without justification, from the north side of the bridge - a certain red and black team from down south has become a beacon of stability and established itself as the model franchise.

You could be forgiven for thinking that Nucifora was a glutton for punishment. The victim of political machinations at the Brumbies despite his success with the Canberra-based team, Nucifora bought a ticket for the Blues - a franchise so steeped in the arts of in-fighting between two provinces, Shakespeare could have written the plot.

"I know in the past there's always been issues about where players have come from et cetera, but one of the things we've worked really hard at in the months leading into the team assembling was to try to break down some of those things that existed in the past between the unions," Nucifora said.

To that end he has promoted and sold the concept of regional rugby to the three unions - Auckland, North Harbour and Northland - that make up the Blues franchise.

"We have focused on how we are going to develop players in the region. We need to look at ongoing development. We don't want to look at our season as a campaign in isolation, or look at their NPC seasons as campaigns in isolation. We want to give them back to their NPC teams as improved players and when we get them back we want them to be improved again."

Nucifora has already had the Harbour and Northland coaches and strength and conditioning coaches in camp for a week, and will have Pat Lam do the same when he returns from holiday.

"I know the players certainly don't have any issues [working together] but we've spent a lot of time working with the teams from Auckland, North Harbour and Northland in trying to assist where we can in different areas, trying to get some consistency with how we want to do things and how they want to do things. That way the players will have a consistent 12-month rugby programme. Both rugby-wise and off-the-field issues, we've made some huge advances in the relationships... they may not be totally reflected in the next 12 months but we've certainly come a hell of a long way."

For those fans that still prefer their rugby in the NPC style rather than Super 14, the Australian is quick to point out that this does mean a homogenous on-field template will be applied to the three unions.

"That's one of the things I made clear to them, we weren't going to tell the coaches how to coach. But what we did want to do was make sure we're all agreed on the core skills of the game so there were certain things that were non-negotiable when the players went from this coaching set-up back to that coaching set-up."

Selection-wise, Nucifora appears to have found appeasement. He takes with him to Australia on Friday the largest contingent of Harbour players (10) since they left the Chiefs for the Blues after the 1998 season.

Although Nucifora doesn't consider his players Harbour, Auckland or Northland players, he acknowledges the importance of the next few weeks for establishing combinations.

Of particular interest will be what Nucifora does in midfield, an area of intrigue this season following the retirement of Tana Umaga. Potentially fighting for two spots are Ben Atiga, Luke McAlister, Isa Nacewa, Rua Tipoki and Anthony Tuitavake.

"The way we use our time in this part of the year is crucial. Even more so this year because we started a week later and commence two weeks earlier. The make-up of what you do in your preparation is the key to your season," he said.

"You've got to get the mix right between physical work, skills work and teamwork. This trip is important because it's the finishing touches."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY