Jamie Joseph runs the Highlanders through a practice drill at Logan Park yesterday. PHOTO: GERARD O’BRIEN
The Highlanders are in seriously switched-on mode after returning from their brief Christmas break.
It is, take a breath, just 21 days until they play their first preseason game, against Moana Pasifika in Auckland, and 35 days until the Super Rugby Pacific season opener against the Waratahs in Sydney.
The pre-Christmas block was largely, but less exclusively than normal, about fitness, and assimilating the new players, so now the priorities are putting in place some of the on-field systems and structures as well as trying to get everyone healthy.
"Our fitness levels are really good but our injury toll wasn't great at the end of the year," Joseph said.
"We had a lot of guys come out of the NPC season with injuries and couldn't participate. I think we had 15 players out, and most of them were experienced guys.
"That meant a lot of opportunity to work with the younger guys, so that was really good. Now we get this opportunity with the injured guys coming back into the fold.
"It's quite nice to get quality players coming back in. I think we've turned a corner, injury-wise."
Joseph's return as head coach, 10 years after guiding the Highlanders to their first and only championship, will be the major talking point for a while yet.
There will also be plenty of intriguing sub-plots around who he chooses as captain to replace the departed Billy Harmon, how some of the youngsters continue to develop, and whether he can strike gold with some of his new recruits.
"The bottom line is we are a very young team. We've got a little bit of experience, players who have been at this level before, but only one current All Black and 13 new players.
"There's a lot of potential at the moment. And our job as coaches is to try to make that grow.
"I don't see the guys being over-awed with the situation. I just see them as being hungry and ready to go."
Super Rugby starts a week earlier to accommodate two byes, meaning the Highlanders get just two preseason games, the second against the Crusaders in Invercargill on Waitangi Day, to put things in place.
While fitness had been the pre-Christmas priority, they had also got into the rugby-specific planning a touch earlier than normal, Joseph said.
All Blacks prop Ethan de Groot is about to get married and still has a couple of weeks off.
Star fullback Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens is out of his neck brace and doing some gym work as he continues his patient recovery from a broken neck.
"He's limited to what he can do. But he's moving around, and he's got rehab every day. There are some good signs there."
There will be some disruption next week as the Highlanders have to fulfil various commercial and promotional activities.
Some will even pop across to Australia as Super Rugby organisers are preparing to crank up the marketing buzz around the competition.
