Scotty Stevenson: Reports of the Blues' demise might be premature

Auckland Blues Jerome Kaino reacts during the Super 15 rugby match between the Auckland Blues and Emirates Lions at Albany Stadium. Photo / Getty Images.

Go on then, write them off. Screw up your tickets and burn your scarves and refuse to watch them for the rest of the season. They're a miserable, misfiring band of miscreants with all the long-term success prospects of an X Factor hopeful. They're a lost cause, a sinking ship, the plaque on the enamel of former glory. They are bereft of idea, shorn of imagination, a joke without a punch line.

They are, in short, the worst team in Super Rugby.

They are indefensible! Reprehensible! The lint in the bellybutton of despair! Oh, ghost of Carlos! They are the melted toffeepop of mediocrity. But wait ... I shouldn't ... no, will I? Really?

Oh, what the hell, I'll fly in the face of the zesty zephyr of the Zeitgeist, and I'll just say it: The Blues are not as bad as you think. Or should I say they're not as bad as they think. And they can't be thinking much of themselves right now, especially not after that ugly affair in Albany last Saturday.

But still, allow me to find the faint pulse lest we nail shut the coffin lid and bury this team before they have breathed their last! There is life in the old dog yet, dear Blues fan(s). We know this to be true.

"But," you stutter in protest, "how can you say this? How can you find the positives in four straight defeats? How can you be leaping headlong into the freshly fanned inferno of emotional overreaction?" Well, was it not just on the weekend that despite the ultimate result, the Blues managed to play an effective territory game for the first time this season? I saw it, and so did you.

"Ah, yes," you may counter, "but they couldn't score points!" That is true. But consider this: those gallant Lions, led by the most underrated player in South Africa, Warren Whiteley, were men possessed. Whiteley led all players in tackles and Warwick Tecklenburg - henceforth known as Warwick Tacklenburg was next. And Redlinghuys and Kriel and Mostert were there as well, all in the top 10. Sometimes you've just got to give the defence some credit.

"Oh stop it!" I hear you scream. "You're clutching at straws." Maybe I am, but I'm not left clutching at thin air as has been more than one defender trying to tackle Charles Piutau. Yes! Charles Piutau, who with another couple of outings could well firm as a spare electron in the atomic structure of the All Blacks midfield, leads all players in defenders beaten. Things will happen around Charles Piutau; he's electrically charged.

"So one guy will make the difference then, huh?" No need to be so snide! Of course one man won't make all the difference, but Frank Halai just may be showing glimpses of the form that made him an All Black, and Lolagi Visinia looks more assured by the week, and Luke Braid continues to go to war each weekend without any prospect of a medal for his heroics, and this despite combining with Jerome Kaino for a staggering 12 hard fought turnovers this season.

And let us not forget, this is a team that kicks at a competition-leading 89%, which would count for a whole lot more if they could force a few more penalties in range. As it stands, they win the second fewest of any team. You can put some of that down to sheer dumb luck.

Want some more? What about the fact they are bettered only by the Waratahs in defenders beaten, and bettered only by the Chiefs in metres and line breaks made per game? Or what of the fact they allow the fewest carries, and restrict teams to the fewest ruck wins? Are these not rays of light piercing the all-pervasive gloom? Are these not the goji berries in your breakfast smoothie? Are these not your shimmering yoga pants on a Ponsonby morning? Of course they are, in their own coarse way.

Mind you, they all count for zip, zap, and nada if the players can't find a way to start believing that somewhere in all of this swirling conjecture and frustration is a team that is better than 0 and 4. And there would be no better time to be better than this Friday night, because they'll have to be better when they meet the Hurricanes in Palmerston North.

Just like they met 20 years ago, back when the Blues not only thought they were better than everyone else, but actually proved it.

Maybe save the pencil, keep the scarf, and keep watching. For one more week at least...