This new direct contracting model makes a lot of sense but it sure has taken a lot of the intrigue out of Super 15 squad selections.
For fans and media, it used to work like this (using the Highlanders as an example): you guessed.
Sort of.
You pencilled in 14 to 16 players from Otago and Southland.
Then you had eight or nine swingers.
Then you took a punt on which Auckland offcast, Canterbury reject, Hawkes Bay journeyman or Northland unknown would get picked up in the draft.
Or, if you got bored, you just threw out some wildly inaccurate speculation about which fringe All Black was coming south.
The franchise coaches gathered in a room, looked at which players were available around the country and started filling in the gaps.
There was always a bolter or a fresh-faced rookie or a surprising addition to write or talk about the next day.
Now, with the links between franchise and union contracting severed, it's more about steadily compiling a squad and drip-feeding information.
Highlanders fans, for instance, already know Colin Slade is their 2011 first five and potential saviour.
Still, nothing in sport is quite so much fun as wildly inaccurate speculation, so let's have a crack at who will be in Jamie Joseph's first squad next year.
... the Highlanders
It looks like Joseph will name the maximum 32 players, and you can reasonably assume a 17-15 forwards-backs split, so here goes.
The confirmed signings are Slade, Jarrad Hoeata, Aaron Smith, Shaun Treeby and Nick Croswell.
Certainties from the home unions, assuming they are available, are Jason Rutledge, Jamie Mackintosh, Chris King, Tom Donnelly, Josh Bekhuis, Joe Tuineau, Alando Soakai, John Hardie, Jimmy Cowan, Robbie Robinson, Kenny Lynn, Ben Smith and James Paterson.
We need two more hookers.
Otago has Peter Mirrielees, youngster Liam Coltman and the injured Jason Macdonald.
Southland has youngster Brayden Mitchell and the injured David Hall.
Could Dane Coles be squeezed out of the Hurricanes? My picks: Macdonald and Hall.
Kees Meeuws, if he is keen, should join the propping squadron.
And one assumes Joseph will be keen to have Clint Newland back.
Locking depth is good, so the Highlanders can offer a rookie contract to rising Southlander Alex Ryan or Otago's under-rated Hoani Matenga.
Joseph desperately needs a No 8 and the only local options are Southland's Elliot Dixon and Otago's Paul Grant.
Could Faifili Levave be prised away from Wellington? Has Auckland's Peter Saili been snapped up be the Blues? Is Tasman's Joe Wheeler up to it? Otherwise, my pick is for Nasi Manu to come back from Canterbury and play more than seven minutes this time.
Assuming Adam Thomson goes to the Crusaders, another loose forward is needed.
And I like the look of Northland blindside flanker Dean Budd.
The third halfback should be a local, and at this stage Scott Cowan has the inside running over Sean Romans.
The third first five will presumably be Michael Hobbs, with James Wilson, Northland's Lachie Munro or Wellington's Fa'atonu Fili other options.
Jayden Hayward will get a third year to see if he is actually up to playing at this level, and one more midfield spot needs to be filled.
Otago's Andrew Parata and Josh Tatupu, and Southland's Matt Saunders, are possibilities, but I wouldn't mind a punt on converted Tasman winger Kade Poki, or seeing if Adam Whitelock fancies more than just a place on the Crusaders bench.
That leaves the outside backs - three more, if my sums are correct.
Fetu'u Vainikolo might survive, based on his occasional flashes of brilliance if nothing else.
Ryan Shortland, Glen Horton, Joe Hill and Tony Koonwaiyou are other local options.
Canterbury's Telusa Veainu, Tasman's James Kamana, Auckland's Dave Thomas and Taranaki's Andre Taylor might sense an opportunity.
What makes a local?
Otago rugby has copped plenty of criticism this season, and fair enough.
That's what happens when you lose five games in a row.
But it seems a little unfair that comments about the dropped balls and the missed opportunities have been accompanied by slightly misguided theories about Otago not doing enough to promote local players.
In fact, this may be one of the most "local" squads in a long time.
No fewer than 21 players in the initial squad of 32 played their first adult rugby in Otago.
That doesn't include long-serving prop Kees Meeuws, or loose forward Eben Joubert, who might be a South African but has made it clear his blood now runs blue and gold.
If 66% of a professional rugby side can be considered local - and I think the "first adult rugby" theory is fair enough - you can hardly criticise Otago for being loaded with imports.
Should it even matter? Do Canterbury folks wail about having non-locals like Brad Thorn and Corey Flynn and Wyatt Crockett and Robbie Fruean and SBW and the Whitelocks in their squad?Of course not.
But then, Canterbury is winning.
The bucket list
Manawatu hopes to set a Guinness World Record at its game against Wellington in Palmerston North today.
What is it, you ask? The record for most people wearing buckets on their heads, of course.
My research has failed to uncover what the existing record is, or if there even is one.
The fix is in
Newsflash: It has just been reported that Somerset has beaten Pakistan by five wickets at Taunton tomorrow.
Tapped out
New Zealand kite surfer Louis Tapper has completed an epic month-long marathon along Brazil's coastline.
The 2000km trip started in Salvador and finished in Sao Luis earlier this week.
Tapper, a former St Clair surf life-saver, has been kite surfing for the past three years, and has already completed several marathon sails, including a crossing of Cook Strait in 2008 and the 260km Coastal Classic sailing race last year from Auckland to the Bay of Islands.
Give it a hurl
It is not often I get emails from people about hurling but this is worth a mention.
The all-Ireland hurling final, to be played between Kilkenny and Tipperary at Dublin's Croke Park on Monday morning, will be broadcast live on Radio Sport.
The station will have a countdown from midnight featuring Irish music and talkback before the game starts at 2.30am.
