Hoorah, it is raining and summer is over. Well it must be, otherwise rugby wouldn't be starting tomorrow night.

Time to take a look at the Chiefs and assess their chances for the coming season. Love em or hate em, they do have Bay players and we need to make sure those Bay boys are given a fair crack of the whip (not literally, although I wouldn't put anything past SuperCoach Foster). Let's take a look at the 22 for Saturday's easy opening game at the reigning champions.

Mils Muliaina (captain), Lelia Masaga, Richard Kahui, Dwayne Sweeney, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Stephen Donald, Brendon Leonard, Sione Lauaki, Tanerau Latimer, Liam Messam, Kevin O'Neill, Craig Clarke, Ben May, Hika Elliot, Sona Taumalolo.

Reserves - Aled de Malmanche, James McGougan, Toby Lynn, Colin Bourke, Toby Morland, Mike Delany, Callum Bruce.

No real surprises there and only one Bay starter, the hopefully rejuvenated Latimer who can start staking his claim to be McCaw's backup this year. On the bench are the mighty Googs, super-versatile Colin Bourke and the ever impressive Mike Delany.

The starting front row are the impressive duo from Hawke's Bay and the very talented showpony Ben May. Potentially it is a big scrummaging unit. The second row looks unimpressive but hopefully Elliot's impressive throwing gets the Chiefs some decent ball. The loosies are potentially superb but a lot will depend on Lauaki's attitude and fitness. Messam is due a big year as a new All Black.

The backs could be deadly - as long as Donald can steer them around the park and not get carried away with his own ability and chip kicks. Leonard is back and hopefully fit and Kahui and Muliaina should make sure that bad decisions are avoided.Sivivatu will remain an enigma and Masaga will be very effective given enough space and not too much defending to do. I worry about the forwards being dominated as this is a back line that needs front foot ball - and Donald doesn't have a great record when put under pressure.

Pre-season form has been good - but we all know that the Chiefs pre-season side often looks like a purring Ferrari mysteriously transformed into a misfiring Skoda come the first round. At least expectations are low with the Crusaders as the first opponents - and the Chiefs always fire up against the Red and Blacks.