Steve Deane: Auckland's lost chance to outrage Canterbury

Okay, so scratch Dan Carter from the list of great Canterbury rugby players who've packed their kit bags and headed to the bright lights of New Zealand's biggest city to further their careers.

That leaves, umm ...

Which is kind of the point. If he had taken the filthy lucre reputedly on offer from Auckland, Carter would have boldly been going where pretty much no Cantabrians have gone before.

It seems that was too much to ask.

"The main reason I have stayed with Canterbury is because I am a born-and-bred Cantabrian. It's where I have lived all my life," Carter told the people of Canterbury as he signed with the red and blacks for two more seasons on Monday.

That, of course, isn't entirely true. Of late, Carter has lived in the south of France. And in Auckland, a city in which he owns a house and is owned by a girlfriend. Last season he lived in Auckland and commuted to Christchurch for work.

"I still have links to the region and my family is still there, which is very important to me," he also said, in what seemed a more accurate description of the ties that bound him.

Here's a quote that didn't appear in Christchurch's newspaper Press: "Really, I can't go and tell my father I'm going to be playing for Auckland."

Carter's words, apparently, when he informed an Auckland Rugby official of his decision.

The great shame - other than the Blues still not having a credible first five-eighths - is that the rest of the country has been denied the chance to see how Canterbury would have reacted to such a defection.

Canterbury joyfully pointed out the loyalty behind his decision. But what if he'd gone the other way? If the undies-modelling, clothing store-owning, big contract-loving devil on his shoulder had won the battle for his heart, mind and, most importantly, left boot?

How would Cantabrians - folk who send their children out in public with signs professing their hatred of Auckland; who boo Auckland-born All Blacks; and who joyously celebrate errant Carlos Spencer penalty attempts in tests against the Wallabies - have reacted to such a betrayal?

Images of Luis Figo dodging pigs' heads at Camp Nou spring to mind.

When informed about Carter's mooted switch to Latte Land, a Cantabrian friend reacted with shock and outrage. When he eventually stopped blubbing he recounted a story about living in Boston when baseballer Johnny Damon switched from the Red Sox to the Yankees.

Damon apparently took out a full-page advertisement in the Boston Globe explaining his decision and thanking Red Sox fans for their hitherto support. Damon is still booed every time he sets foot in Boston.

Not even his own 24-hour infomercial channel broadcasting an abject apology, one suspects, would spare Carter a similar fate.

Still, he would have been adored in his new hometown.

If any city needs to witness the coming of a messiah - even a Cantabrian one - it's Auckland.

If there is one consolation, it is that at least the Blues seem to be taking the quest for an upgrade of Jimmy Gopperth and Tasesa Lavea seriously.

But with Carter and Jonny Wilkinson reportedly on the list of those who have said nay, where next do they look?

The sad fact is that there simply aren't many, if any, quality playmakers on the market.

Overseas, many first five berths are filled by second-rate Kiwis. Domestically, many aren't even that good.

Having assessed him as unlikely to make the grade, Auckland gave up Lachie Munro, shipping him to Northland. The next cab off the rank last season was Ash Moeke.

Aucklander Daniel Bowden is returning home, but not before having convinced the Highlanders he is a second five-eighths. Carter's decision may prompt Stephen Brett or Colin Slade to head for greener pastures, but neither had a convincing campaign for the Crusaders.

Beyond that the landscape is bare.

If the Blues are still looking to buy in a player, and one can only hope they are, they could do worse than trying to tempt Isa Nacewa back from Leinster - the club he helped become champions of Europe this season.

Wonderfully skilled and a consummate pro, Nacewa's biggest problem has always been an unfortunate ineligibility for the All Blacks that has severely limited his earning potential in this country.

But if the Blues and Auckland were prepared to get creative with their finances to lure Carter, they should seriously consider doing the same for Nacewa.

They won't, of course. Nacewa's signing would lack the wow factor and economic upside in terms of bums on seats - not to mention the chance to flick a metaphorical two-fingered salute Canterbury's way - that would have come with Carter's capture.

So where to now? Not Canterbury, that's for sure. I mean, people have to be able to look their fathers in the eye.