KEY POINTS:
The provinces will pour extra time and resources into player development after agreeing New Zealand needs more elite talent.
The executives of all 14 premier division provinces met in Wellington last Wednesday to review the inaugural Air New Zealand Cup. While minor gripes were voiced about the format, particularly of the second round, they were unanimous that the shortage of players needed to be addressed.
The expansion to 14 teams - each has to contract a 26-man squad - meant 364 players were needed. Injuries pushed the total number of participants closer to 400.
Some unions such as Manawatu, Tasman and Northland went offshore to find players this year when the local market failed to deliver. But while buying foreign talent provided a short-term solution, every province has longer term plans in place to increase the number of elite individuals they produce.
These plans are the key to the future success of the Air New Zealand Cup as competitiveness will only be sustained if the number of players genuinely equipped to play at this level increases.
Counties Manukau coach Kevin Putt said that player development, in conjunction with advances in the quality of coaching and refereeing in the province, had been high priority for some time.
"We have put development as a priority. We have a history of producing talent. We have two very good schools that produce a lot of good rugby players but the athlete could be improved.
"It is about getting the whole system right. We need to make sure we have got the talent identification right, the coaching right and the refereeing is good. If we can do that then the future is very exciting for us.
"There were 22 players in this year's Super 14 who started at Counties. As long as we stick to our guns, in five to seven years we should be in a strong position."
The biggest area of concern for the new teams has been the gap in strength and conditioning. Only a handful in the Counties, Tasman, Manawatu and Hawke's Bay squads have experienced life as full-time professionals. As a consequence they lack the strength and conditioning base of those players with New Zealand Rugby Union contracts who can train all year round.
Improving fitness levels during the off season will be a key objective. Most are assessing how they can expose their players to the best practices and people on limited resources.
One of the benefits of increasing the talent pool will be to cool the market down in terms of the salaries being offered to specific players. All teams have reviewed the season and several say they need to buy quality players in various crucial positions.
With a shortage of quality in the market, some players have found themselves in high demand and have been offered inflated packages to switch provincial allegiance.
The market is most intense at the lower end where the need to make immediate squad improvements is most acute. The more established unions are a few years ahead in their academy programmes and development structures and therefore are less inclined to use the transfer market.
Bay of Plenty chief executive Paul Abbot said player development had been and always would be a priority for the province. "I think it's business as usual on that front. That is an area all teams are constantly working on."
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
