Play nzherald.co.nz's rugby Pick the Score competition - go to: pickthescore.nzherald.co.nz
KEY POINTS:
It won't take long for the Chiefs to find out where they stand in 2009. The draw hasn't been kind, throwing up a season-opening triple-whammy - away to the Crusaders and Waratahs followed by a home encounter with the Sharks in the first three weeks.
Captain Mils Muliaina described the draw as "exciting". There were plenty of other less diplomatic adjectives he could have chosen for a start that pits the Chiefs against the best sides from all three competing nations.
But Muliaina - who begins his first full season in the captaincy role he inherited from the crocked Jono Gibbes last year - knows the Chiefs have no choice but to play the hand they have been dealt.
And, with a six-home seven-away match split, they will have to play it extremely well.
"I think for us it is an exciting way to start," Muliaina said.
"The thing with the Super 14 is that it is a little bit of a sprint. On a couple of occasions we have peaked at the wrong time. But we can't look back. We have got to start early this year and really hoe into things, otherwise we'll end up with the same result we have the last three years."
Those results - 7th in 2006, 6th in 2007and 7th again last year - have begun to wear thin with Muliaina. The pain of last season, when the team entered the final three weeks with its hands firmly on a semifinal place only to falter in Perth, Johannesburg and Durban, still burns.
"To go overseas with three weeks to go and our destiny still in our own hands was pleasing, but it was gut-wrenching to get to Durban and lose [to the Sharks] by such a margin [47-25]."
Nothing if not consistent, the Chiefs have won seven of their 13 matches in each of the last three seasons. They have also regularly been scuppered by injury plagues that have levelled their best performers at crucial times.
On paper, the starting XV looks a match for any side. Promising props Sona Taumalolo and Ben May and hooker Hikawira Elliot should hold up the scrum okay. Locks Kevin O'Neil and loaner Craig Clarke are useful enough and the loose forward trio of Liam Messam, Tanerau Latimer and Sione Lauaki appears well-balanced.
The return of X-factor halfback Brendon Leonard from a lengthy spell out with a knee injury should add an extra dimension to a backline that includes All Blacks Stephen Donald, Richard Kahui, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Muliaina.
But, as always with the Chiefs, their chances of success will swing on how often they can get those key figures on to the field.
"Injuries have been a big part of our season over the last couple of years
... But we've got a good core group of guys and we have established a lot of depth there now," Muliaina said. "We are hoping we don't get injuries but also we have talked about getting up for big games and then not quite having the consistency to carry on. That has been a key [lesson] over the last couple of years and it is something we want to establish early."
While the tough opening to their campaign carries the risk the Chiefs might already be an afterthought by round three, there are upsides to the rugged schedule.
With injuries not given a chance to bite, they should be at their strongest. And there is always the chance of catching the Crusaders and Waratahs - who are both bedding in new coaches - on the hop early.
Having beaten both of last year's finalists last season, albeit in Hamilton, the Chiefs won't fear their more illustrious opponents.
They head into the matches with some momentum, having beaten the Blues and Hurricanes in their two pre-season hit-outs.
Their record against the Crusaders is patchy, with four wins from 13 encounters. But two of those wins came on the trot, including their only victory in Christchurch, 30-24 in the final round of 2007.
"We'll go down there with a bit of confidence," Muliaina said. "We have done a lot of hard work to hopefully go down there and do the business."
Typically an upper mid-table side, the Chiefs will have been as disappointed as any that plans for an expanded six-team playoff series fell over.
While they will likely be hard-pressed to force their way into the top four, two wins from their first three matches would set them up for a decent run at a first semifinal since 2004 - the only occasion they have made it that far.
A 1-2 start might also be survivable. But if they fail to match up to the competition's heavyweights and start 0-3, 2009 could end up being another year spent chasing respectability instead of the title.
"We have got some talent here and it would be disappointing to find in the middle of the season that we had to claw our way back into the top four - because that is something we haven't managed to do," Muliaina said.
