Underwhelming, like much of the organisation and results at the franchise since they claimed the last of their three titles in 2003.
Laying all the blame on Lam's desk is unfair as there are many parts which have to be in harmony for a sports organisation to succeed. But he and his Blues coaching cohorts are the ones who identify players and are responsible for guiding them towards better results.
They set the tone, they need to lay down the standards, boundaries and expectations.
They have to find ways to wring more from their squad, they are the ones who scour the land for talent and have all the latest computer data on which coaches seem so reliant.
In Lam's opening season, he had 15 international players in his squad, in 2010 that number increased by one and last year it dipped to 14.
It's 14 again this season, though Lam will have to wait a while to get the best from the likes of Ma'a Nonu, Piri Weepu and Tony Woodcock, who are returning from overseas deals, injury or late starts to their training programmes.
Half his squad have felt the pulse of test rugby and should be proficient players. Yet they have to be moulded, they need direction and that is where Lam and his staff enter the frame.
The 43-year-old career coach heads that list, he sets the agenda, he sets the guidelines and his Blues career is at the crossroads. Results have been improving, but are not good enough and Lam is dipping into the first year of an extended contract.
Last year's change of finals format and victory against another wildcard, the uninspiring Waratahs in the qualifying round, was enough to save Lam's departure.
The Blues were thumped by the Reds in the semifinals, but reaching that stage gave Lam the space to contemplate this season.
There have been staff changes with former All Black Jeff Wilson replacing Liam Barry as skills coach while Bryce Anderson is the manager in place of Mike Sandle, who has gone to work for the Black Caps.
"Every year is a big challenge. This is my ninth season back in New Zealand, and every year it is the same thing and I think that is what brings the best out in us because you know that at the end of the year you could be gone," Lam said.
"The key for me as a coach is having a vision of where we want to take this team. We have been working away at that and we have been focusing on the results.
"I look back from the time when I started and the state of Blues rugby and what people were saying about us then."
Every side wanted to win the Super 15 series, Lam said, and even if he brought the title home there would be gripes.
"For me as a coach it is about giving everything I can to bring the best out of these guys and that is the challenge."
The longer break for the players since the World Cup has given Lam time to rethink strategies and how to deal with the expanded series and break for the June test wind down this winter.
It had been satisfying to make the playoffs last season, he said. But that advance only whetted Lam's plans for more improvement.
Losing the semifinal to the Reds left everyone with a "numb" feeling. Since then Lam and his crew had reviewed every aspect from player and staff recruitment to ways of improving the Blues systems.
' "People ask me how we get rid of the inconsistency and it really came back to standards," he said.
"We had to be critical of every training run, not let our standards slide in any aspect of what we do, from the practices to activities off the field.
"All our guys gave their all to the kids and we got a fantastic reception. In the past we might have had a lot who turned up and did a bare minimum.
"Now they all gave an eight-plus and if we do that throughout the season in all aspects, we should get somewhere."
