There has been a gathering swell of political power push in behind John Kirwan. Photo / NZME.
"Knock, knock."
"Who's there?
"It's Gatty. I'm at the head of the queue next to Robbie, Carlos is here as well and Kieran is waiting to pitch in for the Blues coaching job. Can we come in and talk about our ideas for next season and beyond?
"Sorry, we're not taking any applications. We've had inquiries from other interested coaches wanting to know our timetable but they've all received a no comment response until we've made a decision about JK's future.
"We'll have that done by the end of May."
The circus continues down at the Blues headquarters in Mt Albert where it seems John Kirwan is pulling a lot of strings about his future instead of the chief executive and board being the puppeteers.
How else can you make sense of the reappoint JK movement?
There has been a gathering swell of political power push in behind Kirwan as it became clear results this season were likely to be worse than his previous campaigns.
Rugby figures with strong Auckland connections have been working through their channels of influence to push the board away from populist opinion that Kirwan's time was up.
They've been persuasive, conveying their message that Kirwan has plenty of upside and with more backing and assistance, he and the Blues will flourish next year. Younger talent was beginning to flourish and so would the Blues. The pro-JK mob see continuing benefits in his work and believe, with some coaching support from Tabai Matson next year that will emerge, before Kirwan shifts to a role as director of rugby.
NZR is also in on the refresh JK theme. High-performance director Don Tricker has been in regular talks with Blues chief executive Michael Redman and, in consultation with the board chaired by Tony Carter and private equity investor Murray Bolton, there have been moves towards a coaching resolution.
"We are going through a process and we are aware people want to know what is happening but we need to follow through the steps we have agreed and we are doing that methodically over the next few weeks," Redman said.
Hints have come about an overhaul of the coaching structure at the Blues and with assistant Grant Doorey and Isa Nacewa leaving this year, there is room for tweaking.
"There are lots of options the Blues are considering," Tricker confirmed. "That is what we are working through right now. Right now the Blues are clearly taking a bit of a lead in this space."
It is yet another pointer there will be a revision rather than a coaching cull at the Blues.
Hagley Oval has a new head groundsman ahead of the first test of the summer.