Beauden Barrett in action against the Blues. Photo / Photosport
Beauden Barrett in action against the Blues. Photo / Photosport
COMMENT:
Say what you like about the Blues, and I'm going to, although probably not as succinctly as Sonny Bill Williams did after training today, but for them to still be in the race to pinch Beauden Barrett from the Hurricanes suggests they at least have ambition, notto mention resilience.
It will have also put the wind up their rivals from Wellington before they meet on the Westpac Stadium pitch in Wellington on Saturday, although the man in question will not be playing and neither will his brother, Jordie, an absence that will deny viewers a certain extra frisson.
The Hurricanes would have been fearful of Barrett heading overseas once his New Zealand Rugby contract expires at the end of this year, but the thought of him travelling instead to their rivals up State Highway 1 will fill them with horror because in that case there will be many more questions about what they could have done to retain him, along with the potential damage he could do for his new team against them.
Barrett hasn't signed yet, apparently, and doesn't want to announce anything until after the season, which will increase the excitement levels of Blues' supporters and also the franchise's coaches, staff and management, while sending the anxiety quotient of the Hurricanes in a similar direction.
It's probably not pushing the boat out too much to suggest if Barrett was staying at the Hurricanes he would announce it sooner rather than later; the alternative – the revealing of a shift north – would be a huge distraction for a team guaranteed a home quarter-final next weekend.
Sonny Bill Williams of the Blues and Beauden Barrett of the Hurricanes. Photo / Getty
We've been down this road many times with the Blues, of course. They've chased Barrett hard previously and he's turned them down, preferring to stay at a place he's been at since 2011.
It also brings back memories of the Blues' courting of Dan Carter from the Crusaders in 2009. They really thought they'd got him, but Carter decided to stay. Will this time be different? At a guess I'd say the odds are stacked more in the Blues' favour this time – at any rate the source behind the story which the Herald broke yesterday suggested it was on big time and others have corroborated that.
Just about everyone knows the Blues won't win another Super Rugby title until they have a quality first-five. Stephen Perofeta hasn't played a competition match for them this season after badly hurting a chest muscle in a pre-season match and while Otere Black and Harry Plummer have shown glimpses, neither is the answer in the short term. Black hasn't kicked on but Plummer, only 20, has potential and could possibly move a place out to second-five.
If Barrett does sign with the Blues, he won't arrive until the 2021 season due to a sabbatical clause. Perofeta, 22, will probably start next season as the Blues' top prospect but is young enough to benefit from Barrett's direction a year later because the 28-year-old remains the world's premier playmaker and, if that winds up Richie Mo'unga supporters, then Barrett is at the very least one of the most experienced.
He would add much-needed direction and confidence to the players around him and send a signal the Blues are a team worth joining and they're a franchise determined to break free from the Groundhog Day loop.
That Williams' quote mentioned earlier? It pretty much sums them up again this year. "It's that old saying; glass half empty or glass half full – and there are Blues supporters who might think there's no water in there at all," he said. "But look at our results – if we had won at the weekend we could have been the top eight or top six. It's the story of our season."
