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Here’s the story so far... Kevin Senio joins the Bay after failing to break the Auckland NPC squad. He forms a great partnership with Glen Jackson culminating in winning the Ranfurly Shield in August 2004 – he is then injured putting him out of a possible end of season tour with the All Blacks. Senio is deputy to Byron Kelleher in the 2005 Chiefs and sees little game time. He is called into the Junior All Blacks tour of Australia when Jimmy Cowan is sent home and impresses enough to be called up as Piri Weepu’s deputy in the All Blacks when Kelleher is injured. After keeping the bench warm for nearly 3 Tri-Nations matches, he makes it onto the field for 2 minutes in the final game and thus becomes the Bay’s first All Black for many a year.
There are strong rumours that Senio will move to Canterbury to avoid being Kelleher’s deputy at the Chiefs and enable him to push for the All Black number 9 shirt in 2006. Two weeks ago, after the Bay’s game in Wellington there is a story that Senio has decided to stay with the Bay. Then this week, to nobody’s particular surprise he signs for Canterbury.So why did he go? Well one reason is that it greatly improves his chances of starting for the All Blacks in the 2007 World Cup final instead of battling it out for the Bay against Manawatu. But surely, you say, he could have stayed at the Bay and still played for the Crusaders? Isn’t that what the Super 12/Super 14 concept is all about? Imagine this scenario – should the Crusaders sweep all before them again next season and Senio slot in behind a dominating pack just like Marshall used to do, then there is a good chance he will be in the All Blacks 22 for the whole international season. Given the expansion into Super 14 and the bigger Tri-Nations, Senio will not play any NPC at all – for the province who snapped him up. So why have Canterbury gone out of their way to sign a player who won’t play for them – knowing full well that Super 14 contracts can’t be used as a lure for players? There is a glass ceiling above the likes of the Bay, Harbour, Taranaki and Southland. Develop an outstanding team and then see whether the franchise base chooses to leave out its own players to include yours – if they don’t, the players move to a franchise base or move overseas. To be fair, this isn’t really the case with Senio who would have stayed with the Bay if the Chiefs starting position was available for him. And also to be fair to our friends over the Kaimais, the 2005 Chiefs squad was pretty fairly selected after the Bay’s players were ignored in 2004. So let’s see how many of the impressive Harbour outfit are rewarded with Blues contracts this time around? And see what happens to those that miss out. Would Otago still be doing well if it wasn’t a franchise base? With their ever-dwindling crowds and low population, they might be struggling in the lower reaches of Div 1 without the ability to sign the likes of Newby and Evans – and having their own talent poached. |
