Mended Willis thrills to buzz of Super 14

It should surprise absolutely no one to hear Tom Willis' view of the inaugural Super 14.

"Can't wait, mate," the Chiefs hooker said yesterday.

"I'm really looking forward to running out on the field, just getting that buzz of adrenalin - 2005's been a pretty long year."

The former All Black hooker has more reasons than most to be counting the days until round one.

His year was ruined by a long-running back injury that first hit him during last year's Super 12.

The initial diagnosis was a prolapsed disc.

He had surgery, but after playing a handful of games the back started getting progressively more sore.

The upshot was the vertebrae near the bottom of his back had become infected.

So with this year a write-off, he put his boots away, and headed back to his old school, Kings High in Dunedin, where he did some mentoring and reading recovery with students before travelling overseas for a spot of what the head scientists would call clearing his head space.

Now fully fit, he's relishing the idea of being part of a stronger, more explosive Chiefs squad.

"The Chiefs have always had pretty honest, hard-working people, and now we're starting to complement them with guys who add dynamic elements to the game. It's quite exciting," he said.

It's early days, but a fit, firing Willis next year is sure to enliven the All Black hooking debate. Willis, a lawyer, captained the All Blacks in his first appearance, against Ireland A in Belfast in 2001, and was regarded as an expert lineout thrower, which not all the current candidates can claim.

Chiefs coach Ian Foster reckoned the trickiest part of piecing the squad together was making sure he had sufficient combinations in the event of injuries and to cover all possible situations which might arise.

So he's gone for players who are adept at more than one position.

In the backs, Mils Muliaina, Sosene Anesi and the newly fit Loki Crichton are quality performers in that vein, while Liam Messam, Jono Gibbes, Sione Lauaki and Kristian Ormsby fit that bill in the loose forward and lock departments.

Crichton suffered a potentially career-ending neck injury against the Hurricanes on April 1 in Wellington and Foster is delighted he's back.

"It was a little bit surprising for us," he said.

"He only got the final clearance two or three days ago and he's obviously mended a lot quicker than anticipated. He gives the whole backline a degree of balance."

The Chiefs have four newcomers to the competition - wings Anthony Tahana, the lively Bay of Plenty flyer, and Counties Manukau's Lelia Masaga, flanker Messam and prop Nathan White - while hard-running Counties midfield back Niva Ta'auso, who was a hit when he joined the Chiefs midway through last season as a replacement for Crichton, gets a full contract.

Auckland's blockbusting Sam Tuitupou is the sole draft pick.

The Chiefs assemble on November 28 for three weeks, then have a couple of weeks together before pre-season games against the Highlanders in Queenstown on January 26 and the Hurricanes at Rotorua on February 2.

They start the Super 14 with three away games - the Sharks in Durban on February 12, then the Cats in Johannesburg, followed by John Mitchell's new outfit, the Western Force. Their first home game is against the Reds on March 3 in Hamilton.