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Kaino seeks consistency

Knowing that significant competition has emerged for the No.6 jersey in the All Blacks pack, Jerome Kaino has been looking at areas of his game where he can make a difference.

Thursday, 11 February 2010

Sportal.co.nz

Knowing that significant competition has emerged for the No.6 jersey in the All Blacks pack, Jerome Kaino has been looking at areas of his game where he can make a difference.

Initially, it wasn't so much a physical exercise as a mental one, the Blues blindside flanker said in Auckland ahead of the Super 14 opener between the Blues and Hurricanes on Friday at North Harbour Stadium.

"There are a lot of things that you think are just physical and you go out there and hit the gym and do a lot of running, but there's been a lot of planning going into things but looking back at my career in the Blues there has been a lot of inconsistency.

"You try and improve every year but I've been looking back and there's a sort of trend and it's followed through to the All Blacks seasons as well and so I've just been planning how I can improve my things," he said.

It wasn't so much a case of consulting match footage to review things, but rather his own memory of things that he felt tripped him up in games.

It was a case of knowing when you had played one bad game to knock it on the head there and not let it flow on to other games.

"I've looked at past seasons and I've played one game and not really thought much about it and it's followed on for a couple of games so hopefully this year there will be a lot more consistency, not only in my game but across the board in the Blues," he said.

The loss of lock Ali Williams was a big blow for the side, and when it was realised he wouldn't be around for the campaign alarm bells had rung for the senior guys in the side, he said.

"Ali's a great leader and he's really vocal around the team and without having him there, there a lot of guys in the leadership group and the onus is put on a lot of the senior guys who aren't natural talkers to step up and take that role that Ali had," he said.

Kaino did expect that Williams' absence would have an effect on the number of teams he would be called on at lineout time, but there had been plenty of revision of game strategies to fill the gap in Williams' absence.

"In the last couple of weeks, guys have really stepped up and the lineout is looking good," he said.

The developing pressure for the blindside role in the All Blacks camp was a challenge that had benefits for those involved because it upped the ante, increased the pressure and ensured higher standards were produced by all the contenders.

Kaino said having Adam Thomson chasing him last year helped him a lot and looking ahead to the Super 14 there were others involved like Victor Vito from the Hurricanes, Kieran Read from the Crusaders, Liam Messam from the Chiefs and Rodney So'oialo from the Hurricanes who could also play on the blindside.

"I think it's exciting because it makes me push a lot harder to get the consistency week in and week out," he said.

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