Top of the target list should be Panasonic Wild Knights coach Robbie Deans, writes Wynne Gray. Photo / Getty Images
Top of the target list should be Panasonic Wild Knights coach Robbie Deans, writes Wynne Gray. Photo / Getty Images
The search for a coach must begin now if the franchise is to have a decent chance in next year's competition.
As the Blues search for answers to their tumbling fortunes, they should be looking up the Japanese and Welsh phone directories.
0800 Robbie Deans and 0800 Warren Gatland should be at the top of their planning list alongside 0800 Joe Schmidt.
A cheeky inquiry to Wayne Smith should deliver a suggestion he transfer his patriotism to the Blues once his stint with the All Blacks is done.
Scouting should also focus on others like Jason O'Halloran, Tana Umaga and Mark Hammett to find out if they are interested in tackling the basket-case Blues.
Coaching the Blues to some success should be presented as a golden pathway for those ambitious to succeed All Black supremo Steve Hansen when his time is done. John Kirwan is wading through his third season, the playoff target is sliding south with no apparent handbrake. It's time to put the feelers out for next year's coach to give him time to assemble his staff and playing squad to have a decent tilt at the 2016 tournament.
Gatland wants to coach the Lions' tour to New Zealand in 2017 and Schmidt is just starting his test career so both are probably non-starters, while a switch from the Chiefs to the Blues might be too much of a stretch for Smith's loyalty. However an answer is only an inquiry away.
Top of the target list should be Deans, who is coaching the Panasonic Wild Knights in Japan after five years with the Wallabies, an assistant stint with the All Blacks and multiple successes with the Crusaders and Canterbury. His stint over the Ditch took him from the coziness of Christchurch and pitched him into a different media and political landscape that gave him a broader feel for the complexities of coaching.
Warren Gatland the head coach of Wales wants to coach the Lions' tour to New Zealand in 2017. Photo / Getty Images
"Dingo" needs to bring his expertise from Super Rugby and 74 internationals and start putting the frighteners through the Blues' chook-house. At the moment they are pecking away without producing.
Since Kirwan took over in 2013, the Blues have been unable to attract enough quality stock. Ma'a Nonu came and shot through, Benji Marshall was a circus selection and they've lost Rene Ranger, Anthony Boric, Piri Weepu, Jackson Willison, Ali Williams, Malakai Fekitoa and Tom McCartney. Jerome Kaino is the third captain in three years after Williams and Luke Braid.
Graham Henry and Mick Byrne lost their desire to be part of the coaching setup any longer and Grant Doorey is heading overseas once this campaign is done, as are Braid and Frank Halai. Keven Mealamu and Tony Woodcock are likely to leave the ranks next year.
The success rate is a tick over 35 per cent at 13 victories in 37 games. New blood must be scouted and some senior players enticed to the region with the promise they will get some strong direction, intensive coaching and results from their endeavour.
Deans has those qualities. He has been through most experiences with the Crusaders, All Blacks and Wallabies and still wants to coach. He's 55 with a passion for working from the ground up with his players, filling them with theory, practice and the confidence to succeed.
