Wynne Gray: First challenge to win over fan base

Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph will need to find a way to sustain impact.

Best thing about the Highlanders? Their foxy home stadium, the Smiths, Nasi Manu and Brad Thorn.

The glass-half-full brigade will trumpet the bright young talent to give them the energy and zest which was so absent from their work last season. They will point to Argentine prop Matias Diaz, Malakai Fekitoa, Shane Christie and Patrick Osborne as players to bring some sting but it's hard to see the side making a concerted impact.

They carry the look of a group who will give the series a go but won't have the firepower or magic to hurt too many sides. Qualifying for the finals will be a step too far so they need to show some hardcore fight to persuade their fans to come through the turnstiles.

The coaching staff has recruited Tony Brown, who gave plenty as a player and has been able to draw those qualities from teams he has coached. But he, Jamie Joseph, Scott McLeod and Jon Preston have to find ways to sustain decent impact, otherwise it may be another slog.

The Highlanders open their campaign in Dunedin against the Blues. Five of their opening seven games are at home. Match two is an away trip to meet the champion Chiefs before the Highlanders have their first bye. Mercifully that rest round is not worth any points this season and while the break probably comes too quickly for the Highlanders it will allow the staff and players a chance to assess their ideas and trends which have developed in the series.

They have gone for a number of several unproven players and need their enthusiasm and skills to bring far more value to the squad this season and in the future, than the attempt to buy success with name players last year. Senior faces such as Ma'a Nonu, Tony Woodcock, Colin Slade, Jamie Mackintosh, Andrew Hore, Hosea Gear and Tamati Ellison have left and taken with them some of the displeasure they had about Joseph and his methods last year.

This is a critical year for the staff. Joseph's iron-clad contract expires and his three-year tenure will come under strong scrutiny from his NZRU masters.

Joseph argues that can be measured in many areas other than just results as he embarks on a "young guns" season after the failure of his "hired help" campaign.

Meanwhile, 39-year-old Brad Thorn will strap his boots on once more and while there is never any doubt about his fitness, ticker and desire, his greatest impact may be in mentoring a number of the younger players.

Thorn knows how to work as a professional even if his frame is starting to betray his intentions and the Highlanders need to tap into that knowledge to bulk up their future.