David Leggat: All in 'family' for Crusaders

The New York Yankees and Real Madrid share two areas of common ground: they play with balls and they're deeply disliked by a huge chunk of their sporting fraternity.

Actually make that three: they're immensely used to winning.

No franchise has won baseball's World Series more often than the Yankees' - aka, the Evil Empire to about 90 per cent of American fans - 26 titles.

Real Madrid won the first five European Cup titles (the forerunner of today's Champions League) when it began in 1956, and have been the continent's top club nine times.

Yet, apart from their adoring fan base, they are widely despised.

Why? Setting aside a hefty dose of Green Eyed Monsterism, it's largely because they are the most prosperous, successful clubs in their sports (although in Madrid's case, there are deep-seated political reasons at play as well. Remember, they were Franco's club in the bad old days of the hated dictator).

They created dynasties, and some of baseball and soccer's greatest players have passed through their doors.

Dynasties take time. The Yankees have been thumping home runs for nigh on a century; Real Madrid have been a prominent player on the European stage for 50 years, and much longer within their national borders.

It is pushing it to talk of the Crusaders in dynastic terms.

After all, professional rugby has been running for just 11 years, making it an infant on this particular stage.

But the Crusaders are moving in the right direction.

Consider their record.

The Crusaders have been in seven of the 10 Super rugby finals and won five.

Altogether they've won 12 of 14 playoff games ahead of tonight's match against the Bulls in Christchurch.

Their success is not just down to the fact they've had good players. Other franchises have classy footballers, so what's the Crusaders secret?

Many have pondered that. Is it something in the Canterbury water? Are players put through some ancient ritual which embodies them with unusual powers? Is it simply luck?

No to all the above. But the secret, if there is one, is closely guarded. Not much is given away by those within this fraternity.

Here's one thought: the Crusaders operate much like a large family. Those in the family are blanketed with the rugby equivalents of love and security and are taught sound footballing principles off a well-worn page.

In turn, they're expected to do what all good families do: look after one another, stay strong and keep the faith.

Of course, they have had a supply of outstanding footballers, but that's only part of a story. Tonight, another step should be taken towards putting another piece of silverware on the mantelpiece.

* So Thierry Henry reckons it's about time he took up cheating.

The Arsenal hero's reaction to losing the Champions League final to Barcelona this week was a classic example of making selective judgments on matters of sporting illegality.

Henry berated the Norwegian referee for not ruling out Barcelona's opening goal for offside.

He opined that it was time to learn to cheat if the events in Paris were an accurate guide to how things have become in the world game.

Wake up, Ted. It's been this way for years. And Henry conveniently forgets one point: Arsenal's goal came from one of the more blatant pieces of cheating.

Arsenal fullback Emanuel Eboue flung himself to the turf without a finger laid on him. The referee awarded a freekick, from which Henry crossed for Sol Campbell to score.

So what can we expect this time around, when the World Cup starts in Germany next month?

Tougher refereeing? Disciplinary action after the event from world governing body Fifa?

It would be nice to think so, but no, most likely it will be more of the depressing same.