Blues: Sink or swim for John Kirwan

As pre-season portents go, the collective sinking of team training boats on Waitemata Harbour won't leave Blues fans buzzing about their team's Super Rugby prospects. The post-Christmas dip, when three waka ama sank and left 28 players in need of rescue, came before injury niggles and other problems on dry land arose.

Seasoned No.8 Peter Saili suddenly announced he was leaving for France, and powerful utility back George Moala was found guilty of an assault charge - leaving uncertainty surrounding his involvement this year. And the patience of some critics is starting to seep when assessing coach Sir John Kirwan, who begins his third season at the Blues - and his first without decorated assistant coaches Sir Graham Henry and Mike Byrne, who both chose to move on.

Flanker Jerome Kaino is the new captain, and he immediately set the bar for team-mates, publicly declaring their recent campaigns as "mediocre".

Winning away from home will be a good start, having done so just twice in the past two seasons.

Their pack is muscular, loaded with ball carriers such as Kaino, Steven Luatua and rising All Blacks lock Patrick Tuipulotu, while nobody's front-row can match Tony Woodcock and Keven Mealamu for grizzle and grunt.

Former New Zealand half-back Jimmy Cowan is a canny addition, but problems may come further out.

Kirwan has two youngsters to play five-eighth - Ihaia West and Simon Hickey - after his failed Benji Marshall experiment last year, unless he leans on multi-skilled inside back Dan Bowden to run the show after a stint in England.

The midfield, with Ma'a Nonu gone, could be exposed, and chances may be infrequent for a speedy outside back division.

Chiefs: going big in pursuit of former glory

Does a good big man beat a good little man in Super Rugby?

The Chiefs are banking on it with a recruitment drive that has spawned a scarily large backline that should pack the wallop missing when they failed last year to secure a hat-trick of titles.

Coach Dave Rennie's team did well to place fifth given their high injury toll, but they rarely looked like the dynamic outfit that stormed to consecutive crowns in the two previous seasons. Not helping was a raft of changes forced on them in the backline, which was makeshift from one game to the next and suffered most when first five-eighth Aaron Cruden missed six games with a thumb injury. Cruden's creativity could blossom inside a midfield comprising Sonny Bill Williams and Seta Tamanivalu, the Fijian-born centre crowned ITM Cup Player of the Year for his blockbusting 2014 season with champions Taranaki.

Outside them, former powerhouse All Blacks wing Hosea Gear returns from Japan seeking a World Cup berth. And even when Cruden is missing, Damian McKenzie is a playmaker emerging among the brightest lights in the New Zealand game.

For all that strike among the backs, Rennie will want to oversee a vast improvement to their set piece.

Despite the presence of World Rugby Player of the Year lock Brodie Retallick, the Chiefs fielded one of the worst lineouts in the competition. And Their scrum was only a little better. Helping their cause is the return of hooker Hika Elliott, who offers a feel-good story after overcoming the neck injury that threatened his career.

Crusaders: want to clip bridesmaid tag

The Crusaders once again have a power-packed team to go deep into the Super Rugby play-offs once again, butut lately that hasn't been deep enough. Since landing the last of their seven titles, in Robbie Deans' farewell season in 2008, coach Todd Blackadder has guided the red-and-black machine into the post-season six successive times. The outcome? Four semi-final exits and two losses in the final, including last year's heartbreak against the Waratahs in Sydney.

They could so easily have hosted the 2014 final had they not started the season sluggishly, losing three of their first five games, and Blackadder and his men will be guarding against early stutters this year - beginning on Friday at home to the Rebels.

Their sizeable All Blacks contingent will be missing or under-done through the opening rounds, and they must also await the return of barnstorming wing Nemani Nadolo and senior halfback Andy Ellis from Japan, the latter a key figure following the long-term injury sustained by lively No.9 Willi Heinz in the pre-season.

The Crusaders tight-five depth is as potent as ever, boasting second-string props and locks of Test standard, and back-rowers Richie McCaw and Kieran Read are about as influential as you get. McCaw and Dan Carter are both fit and start a campaign together for the first time in recent memory, with Carter's motivation huge in his swansong season. The playmaking great must prove he is still the country's best, while fending a threat for the Crusaders' No.10 jersey from Colin Slade - also hunting a World Cup ticket.

The return of hulking centre Robbie Fruean is welcome, while fullback Israel Dagg must put two lacklustre Super Rugby campaigns behind him, with his World Cup selection far from assured.

Highlanders: low-key again but still aiming high

The Highlanders have shunned star power again, banking on their low-key approach to reap the same Super Rugby rewards as last year.

Pundits predicted the worst for 2014 after the southerners had farewelled a clutch of big names including Ma'a Nonu, Tony Woodcock and Andrew Hore, but the team of relative no-names soared from 15th a year earlier to sixth place - reaching the play-offs for the first time in 12 seasons.

Only All Blacks backs Ben and Aaron Smith and Malakai Fekitoa could be labelled exceptional, with coach Jamie Joseph moulding a group of provincial-standard players into a cohesive team that played a compelling, fast-paced brand of footy.

Among those to announce themselves were prop Kane Hames, lock Joe Wheeler, flanker Shane Christie, first five-eighth Lima Sopoaga and wings Patrick Osborne and Richard Buckman.

Another 10 young and relatively untried names are added to the 2015 mix, with Joseph having trawled far and wide in the NPC to fill gaps. Northland flanker Dan Pryor and Tasman pair Ross Geldenhuys (prop) and Marty Banks (five-eighth) are among the more notable signings for a franchise team that draws its players from 12 different unions.

Joseph knows other teams will be more wary of his young troops this time, and he must plug gaps in a defence that was the fourth worst in 2014. Also, he must cope with a draw that has them sitting out a first-round bye before playing in Dunedin's covered stadium for five of the their first six games. Five of their final six are on the road, not a palatable prospect for a side that traditionally fades late in the season.

Hurricanes: challenge up front for coaches

All eyes are on new Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd, but the work of his assistant John Plumtree may have the most bearing on their Super Rugby chances.

The Hurricanes threatened to end their five-season play-off drought last year, but ultimately they fell one point short in seventh place; it was a frustrating end to four years in charge for Mark Hammett, who makes way for the Boyd-Plumtree combination that first served Wellington Lions at NPC level a decade ago before their careers diverged.

Plumtree's lengthy tenure at the Sharks and his short stint with Six Nations champions Ireland both underlined his credentials as a forwards coach, something that could prove invaluable as the Hurricanes once again boast a backline capable of lighting up the competition.

Every position behind the scrum is home to an All Blacks player - aside from fullback, where Matt Proctor, Nehe Milner-Skudder and Rebels recruit Jason Woodward are all exciting prospects. But the likes of playmaker Beauden Barrett, wings Julian Savea and Cory Jane, and the old midfield firm of Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith can fire only if given quality possession.

That's where Plumtree comes in.

He has the cattle at his disposal, but the pack must become more cohesive and consistent. Hooker Dane Coles is the only sure-fire World Cup-bound All Blacks forward up front, with fringe hopefuls Ben Franks, Jeremy Thrush and Victor Vito out to convince the national selectors of their worth. And there is ample potential among three of their uncapped loose forwards - Ardie Savea, Blade Thomson and Ben Shields - for whom Test opportunities may arrive in 2016.

The Hurricanes once again begin with two games in South Africa and another in Australia, and they must claim a superior return against the Lions, Bulls and Force than the 0-3 start against the Sharks, Stormers and Brumbies a year ago.