Much has been made about who won't be at the Crusaders next year in recent times.
It is easy to jump on the critics' bandwagon particularly when the criticism is leveled at a team that has been top dog in New Zealand for so long. Indeed, unless you're from the area north of the Waitaki and south of the Cook Strait, you're probably relishing seeing the Crusaders stumble behind the likes of the Hurricanes, Chiefs and Highlanders.
Yes, the names that won't be associated with the Crusaders next season, i.e. Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Colin Slade amongst the players, and Aaron Mauger, Leon Macdonald and possibly Tabai Matson as coaches are pretty significant.
But to be fair, there is a sense of deja vu with all this.
One thing's for certain, don't expect the Crusaders to enter the terminal decline that blighted the Blues after the retirements of Sean Fitzpatrick, Zinzan & Robin Brooke, etc. and which the Blues are yet to recover from despite one title since that purple patch in the late 1990s.
In fact, the Crusaders have experience in rebuilding sides and even if they don't make the playoffs, have bounced back strongly to be top dogs. The Crusaders bounced back from 10th in 2001 to be champion in 2002, and significant rebuilding years in 2009 and 2010 almost resulted in a championship in 2011 but for the February earthquake.
If anything, the plight of the Crusaders this season definitely proves that there does need to be a clearing of the guard in the player stocks and that the team needs to move on from Dan Carter and Richie McCaw for the first time since 2003.
Without McCaw, the Crusaders should still have one of the better packs in world rugby and a rising star in Matt Todd.
It will be the backline that will be the concern though without Carter, Taylor, Slade and Bleyendaal. The Crusaders could very well recruit from outside the region - even overseas - or face depending on the inexperienced Richie Mo'unga.
The backline has been a bit of a problem for the Crusaders this season but I think that is down to the coaches who seem to insist on a rather dull style of footie.
Mind you, in a season where they could be without a decent pivot, the Crusaders may have to revert to dull, English style forwards driven rugby to be competitive.
Nevertheless, they will be competitive and talk of a terminal decline is premature.
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