Pat Lam and the Blues - What is going wrong?

The Blues, hotly tipped for a play-off place prior to the competition are now staring into the barrel of the gun. 2 games played, 2 losses and bottom of the NZ conference.  It is early days in this year’s Super 15, but something doesn’t feel right. There is a case to be made that the Auckland side are actually the weakest of the NZ sides currently. Where are they going wrong?

On the face of it, the Blues should be among the frontrunners in the competition.  Their squad is loaded with All Blacks (including 3 ‘World Player of the Year’ nominees for 2011) and yet they continue to play bereft of any structure. They have enough experience on the biggest stage to know better. I have read some scribes claiming that their All Blacks are suffering from a post world cup hangover – ‘How can they be motivated enough after all the emotional tension and pressure of wining last year’s world cup?’ .This is a valid point.  They may be suffering from a lack motivation. A glance at Piri Weepu’s gut upon return from his summer holiday shows that clearly some of them are going to be a few yards short of fitness too (which is disappointing in a professional sport). However this would be an easy get out clause for the Blues and an all too convenient excuse. The Blues have suffered from this kind of inconsistency since 2003 (their last Super Rugby title).  Therefore blaming it on the World Cup just seems unjustified and as a Blues fan, rather depressing.

Is time up for Lam?

After enduring a humiliating and punishing defeat in Hamilton on Friday, Lam was quoted as saying: "It's not the way you start, it's the way you come back." Well yes that’s true but if you leave it too late, how you come back won’t matter much at all. Over the last 3 season’s Lam has had a rather uninspiring win percentage of around 50%, finishing 9^th in his first season followed by 7^th and then 4^th. That may seem like progress but the reality is that in the first 2 years under his stewardship, the Blues vastly underperformed.  Like the Rolling Stones ‘you can’t always get what you want’ but a top 6 position has been perfectly viable given the nature of the squads available. One feels that there is a deep-seated problem in the Blues organization and if it is not Lam, someone has to go. A Rot is setting in at the Blues and it has been going on for too long.

Supposedly Ali Williams has been 'advocating strongly worded heart-to-heart sessions to sort the mess out'. There is definitely dressing room unrest and it reminds me of the disputes the 2007 England team had under brian Ashton. Mealamu seems less forgiving in his post match interviews too, while Alby Matthewson must be tearing his hair out at the prospect at sitting on the bench behind Piri Weepu. He left the Canes to escape Piri and now he finds himself in the same position again!  From an outsider’s perspective, the Blues appear to be lacking in team spirit in comparison to the other NZ sides.

The Crusaders have been the Crusaders, while something special seems to be brewing at the Highlanders and Chiefs respectively. Even the Hurricanes are showing a glimmer of hope. They may have lost a lot of talent, but they are playing like a team for the first time in a long while. Green shoots are appearing. As Justin Marshall said recently, the Hurricanes always had great players before, but you could count on them to implode in the big matches. Mark Hammett could have been on to something with what seemed initially like quite a cavalier approach to the Hurricanes organization. Maybe Pat Lam needs to follow suit….but will he be given the chance? One suspects he may not.