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He was always leaving but David Nucifora's stint with the Blues has ended a fortnight earlier than he had planned.
Nucifora is still on duty but his coaching role has been replaced by the clerical obligations which befall every Super 14 franchise once they fall out of the series. Player reviews, staff evaluations - all that sort of stuff.
The what-ifs have largely vanished, the slender hopes the Blues held last Friday about making the playoffs disappeared as the chasing Waratahs, Sharks and Stormers overhauled them. The Blues base at Unitech in Mt Albert is being packed up before the arrival in a few weeks of the Auckland provincial side.
Nucifora is heading back across the Ditch where he hopes for a role with the high-performance unit of the Australian Rugby Union. The position of Blues coach will be advertised later this month with the successful contender likely announced in July.
The atmosphere at the suburban ground is unusual. There is a relaxed manner about the coach and players, there is nothing more they can do about the Super 14 season, just the clerical bits and pieces, some fitness work while keeping an envious eye on the playoffs.
"It is not the week we wanted but that is the way it panned out," Nucifora says after the last of his three years coaching in Auckland.
He was initially employed as the Blues technical director in 2005 after he and the Brumbies fell out midway through their victorious 2004 campaign. After succeeding Peter Sloane as Blues coach, Nucifora CV reads 23 wins and 17 defeats .
His verdict was that he had improved as a coach, that had been a natural byproduct of his extra experience while he thought the Blues had also made strong progress as a franchise. It was not a case of getting the players to think his way.
"It is not about that, it is about them realising the way they should act as professional rugby players from week to week. Our aim was to be consistent," Nucifora says. "Unfortunately this year we had that patch in the middle when we dropped off and most of the teams seemed to have had that this year. They haven't been able to hold it together but that is the nature of the competition and the challenges that you face."
Like teams in Australia and South Africa, the Blues now face a number of hurdles finding new players and staff. But he feels the robust systems in place will help the franchise overcome those difficulties.
His job now is to be diligent until his departure, to make sure there is a seamless handover to his successor.
Asked whether utility back Anthony Tuitavake could make a similar transition to the All Black ranks, Nucifora is optimistic he could play centre or wing depending on the team balance. "Anthony is good enough to play international rugby, there is no doubt about that and hopefully he will get his opportunity this year," he says.
But he's far less certain about the winner of this edition of the Super 14, saying only that the Sharks might struggle because of the travel demands in getting back to Sydney for Saturday's second semifinal.
The Aussie has enjoyed his time in New Zealand, although he suggested the media and public scrutiny was as intense as it would be in Melbourne if that city had a solitary AFL team.
"The media are always out there searching for an angle or a story and that makes it tricky at times and adds to the pressure but that is mainly here in Auckland. It is not as bad in other places. But that is the nature of it, I mean people are interested in the sport, it is the number one sport in the country and everyone is trying to do their job as best they can.
"But there should be realistic expectations," Nucifora says. "Sometimes I do believe it is the pressure put on by both the media and the public that can make it more challenging for the players to achieve what people are hoping they can achieve."
