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Will we see another year of Super Rugby confusion? Photo: Getty Images

• Crusaders, Chiefs shape as major players

The good

Another day in paradise: Although there is the odd stinker — usually involving the Brumbies — most of the games are fantastic to watch. You would be hard pressed to find a poor game of Super Rugby played in New Zealand in the past few years. The games are exciting, the ball is thrown around and many of the games are close.

No jacket required: Super Rugby is played at the best time of the year. The sun is out and the grounds are hard so the players can throw the ball around and empty the tank. Athletes thrive on the hard grounds which encourage enterprise and energy.

Against all odds: Every year someone comes from nowhere to be a star. One year Richard Buckman went from a last minute call-up to the training squad to a Highlander who could not stop scoring. Malakai Fekitoa was the final player picked for the Highlanders in 2014 and six months later was an All Black. Waisake Naholo basically did the same thing. Every year, from all franchises, new stars emerge who thrill and delight.

Two worlds: How can anyone tire of beating an Australian outfit? The Australian teams have had a woeful record against the New Zealand sides and that is not going to change any time soon. Playing and hammering an Australian team is a pleasure that will never get tiresome.

I missed again: One gets sick of hearing about them and this country revolves around them but at least in Super Rugby this lot can be ignored. Aucklanders, represented by the Blues, have been underperformers for many years and that always brings a snigger down this way. Apparently this is the year when things improve. Yes, never heard that before.

The bad

But seriously: School is hardly back and Christmas just happened. Yet Super Rugby is starting. Summer did not arrive in Dunedin until 10 days ago. It is not the time of the year to play rugby. Give it another month at least.

Land of confusion: So a team finishes with seven more points on the ladder than another one but finishes behind them. Clear as mud. This conference system was devised by the same guy who decided schools could go back on different days. Logic goes out the window. The Bulls are talking up their chances this year as they are not playing the Crusaders in the draw.

Just another story: As sport evolves it is fast becoming more about what happens off the field than what happens on it. Off-seasons are more intriguing than the games during the year. Look at the NBA, English football or the IPL. It is all about the trades, the new coaches, the discipline issues — deflated balls and salary caps. Now one does not want to go totally down that route but there needs to be a bit more open talk. A few more interesting stories. Not media releases about 25 years of Super Rugby and how great everything is.

Do you remember? Eleven front-liners from the Highlanders left last year to offshore clubs. They are now out of sight but not out of mind. Too many big names have left and there are a bunch of no-names and never-will-bes left, at all franchises.

That’s all: Then to follow the guns who haven’t, the All Blacks, have to miss certain games. Then they can only start the season by playing limited minutes. In this celebrity-obsessed world we live in, big names attract interest and crowds — when they are playing, not sitting in the stand.

Invisible touch: The laws of the game have gone too far. They are too complicated. Guys can hardly be touched and there are cards flying around. How about concentrating on the offside line a bit more and forget about nipple lines and loose boots?

The equilibrium

So have a true round robin, with equal home and away games, start at the end of February at the earliest, keep the top players here, be more transparent off the field, get the stars playing all the time and sort out the laws. And after that it should be relatively easy to solve climate change, find peace in the Middle East and get Harry and William back talking.