The Horror-Canes

Let's play a little word association game with the five New Zealand rugby franchises.

Crusaders - Champions (good angel); evil (bad angel).

Blues - Dynamic (good); under-achieving (bad).

Chiefs - Consistent (good); irrelevant (bad).

Highlanders - Resurgent (good); hopeless (bad).

Hurricanes - Entertaining (good); fragile (bad).

It's the very last description on this not-at-all-hastily-assembled list that is behind the dramatic goings-on at Hurricanes HQ over the last week.

Rumours of player discontent with new coach Mark Hammett have boiled away all season, and the handy dismissal of "it's just a media beat-up" finally became redundant when the franchise confirmed it was setting free All Black regulars Ma'a Nonu and Andrew Hore.

What's ensued has been a frenzy of coverage and speculation, the sort of brouhaha that could only accompany a story emanating from the Hurricanes, Blues or Crusaders camps. Sorry Chiefs/Highlanders, but your internal strife just doesn't captivate so many people on a national scale.

The reaction has been interesting. Most Hurricanes fans seem bewildered by the decision to jettison a hooker who is still comfortably one of the two best in the country, and a midfielder who has been one of the All Blacks' best players in recent years.

But plenty have also sided with Hammett, reasoning the Hurricanes' performances this season are proof there is something wrong with the team.

I was shocked when Hammett got the job last year. It seemed one of the more blatant cases of someone getting an extremely important position in New Zealand rugby simply because he had (a) been an All Black and (b) been a Crusader. Oh, and (c) because the NZRU panicked when it looked like Robbie Deans was going to entice Hammett across the ditch.

They questioned Greg Cooper's credentials when he became Highlanders coach in 2004, but to be fair to Cooper, he had at least coached an NPC team, and he was a much-needed fresh face after the 2003 Oliver-Mains meltdown.

Hammett had only been an assistant when he was announced as the successor to long-serving Canes coach Colin Cooper.

You look at the talent at Hammett's disposal and it is genuinely alarming the Hurricanes could finish with the New Zealand wooden spoon.

In saying that, I don't have a huge problem with Nonu and Hore being shown the door. You wouldn't say either has his best years ahead of him, and both have defiencies in their game (Hore lacks dynamism, Nonu is susceptible to brain farts).

Above all, Hammett - rightly or wrongly - is the man in charge, and he needs to make his own decisions. If he wants to rebuild the team, it has to start now.

Some feel that Hammett will fail by trying to introduce Crusaders ideas into the less-structured Hurricanes franchise. Please. As if bringing proven strategies from arguably the most successful New Zealand sports organisation in history is a recipe for failure.

Others with narrow minds have suggested the Hurricanes have failed by "never appointing a coach from their home union". But that argument holds little weight, principally because the franchise only had three coaches (Frank Oliver, Graham Mourie and Cooper) before Hammett.

Nothing changes if nothing changes. And I'm prepared to give Hammett some slack as he tries to turn the Hurricanes from fragile to fantastic.