And is dogshit. Get Calum Bruce back!!
Bruce was dogshit in his last season for the chiefs. Sweeney is dogshit at 12 this year.
That position has been a real problem for the chiefs in the last couple of years and I think Foster has really let the chiefs down in this area. He could have devaloped someone for this role with Tana out injured and I'm mostly talking about Jackson Willison. But he's used Sweeney, it backfired and the chiefs will get nothing from it.
He should have given the job to jackson straight away and got Tana to mentor him at every step. Not only would they be in a better opsition now but next season too and not just the chiefs because this kid has potential at higher levels.
Right now if I was the chiefs coach I would be doing everything to get hold of someone like Ryan Crotty. Crotty is looking at a lot of bench time stuck behind Sonny Bill and Fruen but he's far too good to be a bench warmer. Lure him away with an offer to own the chiefs 12 jersey and the gametime that comes with it.
Wingers should be fine, lots of tallent in the area though it's a shame Henry Speight jumped ditch to Aussie he was looking like the natural successor on Sivivatu's wing.
Nanai Williams has a lot of potneital at 10 or 15 and a huge amount of skill but some major problems with his defense have been exposed this season. Really hope they get sorted. If so he would surely end up in All Black selection frame within a couple of years.
Leonard looks like he will be gone. Real shame and IMO he will go down as one of those guys who's carrier was impacted in a major way by injury. Barlow is there as a potential big player for the future of the chiefs but he still has a lot to learn.
Donald may be 50/50 to stay and he will be very hard to replace, Renata showed some solid skills with waikato last year but I think it will take him some time to adjust to super rugby - it would be good if he had a year on the bench behind Donald. The choice of coach may have some issues here as well. We all know Renee is a huge Cruden fan and wouldn't have been happy with Donald taking Crudens AB spot partly off dominating Cruden in a Waikato/Turbos game last year.
Going to be a big change not having a chiefs coach from the Chiefs Area.
The Good News is that the chiefs will still have Kaks and Hunga who are current Chiefs talasman and represent all the very best things about the side.
The bad news is that props and mostly locks will likely be the achilles heal of the chiefs again. Isaac Ross likely to go overseas, Toby Smith and Ben Afeaki have huge potnetial but need time and good coaching. Craig Clarke has been a workhorse but to win the super15 you need more than that. You need a world class lock and some good stock around him.
Interesting times though, right now it's looking like there will be more change at the chiefs than any other of the NZ teams. Wont know what the extent of that will be till later on in the year.
