The Super Rugby championship belt is up for grabs again

33-32. That’s where I left rugby last year. Not Kurtley Beale. Not Ewen McKenzie. Not Di Patston. The last time I left rugby was at Stadium Australia, where the Waratahs finally did it.

After so many years of trying and failing, of barely trying and failing, and general incompetence ruining what looked like a good thing and failing, the Waratahs finally got their act together last year.

They ran the ball, they flung it around, they tackled hard and they entertained. But they won.

My last firm memory of rugby – in this movie theatre that is a Gen-Y brain – flickers into life as Craig Joubert blew a penalty. Not that penalty, I mean when he let Colin Slade kick a 76th minute penalty to put the Crusaders ahead in the grand final.

It always happens; the Crusaders get a penalty and win. So when Joubert gave the Waratahs their penalty my fears were upheld, it was too far out! Bernard Foley doesn’t kick them from that far, I thought. And he was due to miss one.

Except this time he did make it; that wobbly, drunk, wounded duck of a kick slipped just over the crossbar and just inside the right upright.

It was probably the lack of breathing for a while, eventual euphoria, hugging strangers, trying to take some photos to preserve memories with a phone down to three per cent battery and general disbelief.

Since then rugby has almost been on hiatus for me, waiting for this weekend, when the Super Rugby tournament begins.

Winning a championship will do funny things like that and make everything else a little foggy.

We’re on the gravy train now, us winners.

Don’t get me wrong, I know the Wallabies coach abruptly quit (I even made a quick-hit cameo here on The Roar), a player sent harassing texts, and a key staff member was shoved out the back door, but it’s harder to keep them at the forefront of your mind when on the other hand your team are defending champions.

And maybe I have vague recollections of the Wallabies flogging France – Will Skelton’s Sydney Test performance threatens to crystallise my memory – but for the most part rugby has been on a break.

Sure, the Waratahs have since signed an agreement with the Sydney Football Stadium to not play any more games at Stadium Australia, forgetting that the crowds at Homebush are a different 40,000 people – or 61,823 people – than the ones who visit the SFS, shafting western Sydney in the process. But we’ll get to that another time.

Because when I last checked the Waratahs are the defending champions.

Our coach is so good he can be trusted to coach us and the Wallabies, the players are so good they’ve basically just brought the same band back for a reunion tour.

Israel Folau turned out to be worth it. Jacques Potgeiter became my favourite South African. Nick Phipps and Bernard Foley went from being a weak link to a strength. Will Skelton Skeltoned many people.

It’s a World Cup Year, and in these pre-season pieces you’re meant to address as much, but I want to institute a similar rule to when the Lions toured: I will only sparingly discuss the World Cup or the World Cup year while Super Rugby is on.

I usually make outrageous and complicated predictions before a Super Rugby season, and I’ll have to make some of those in the tipping comp, but for the most part I want to let things unfold.

Here are just few things I’m looking at leading into the season, and I’d love to know what you think about them.

1. The affect of the conference system on Kiwi teams
Since the conference system was instituted the Chiefs and Crusaders are the only two New Zealand conference winners. Can someone else upset the duopoly? The Highlanders should have made a run by now but haven’t. You could look at the Blues and think why not? But you always can. The Hurricanes?

2. Who will my new rugby crush be?
Ben Smith and I have had some good times, some great times. I felt like I was driving his bandwagon before many had noticed it was a value ticket and the 2013 and 2014 seasons were a great vindication. But he’s too mainstream now. I need to find a new talent ready to make that leap to elite and grab the reigns of that bandwagon.

3. Karmichael Hunt
It looks like the ex-Bronco, ex-Suns man will get as good a shot at the 10 jersey as any in Quade Cooper’s absence. It might be a bit premature, but I’m expecting Hunt to have a great first season back in rugby. It’s easy to forget that Hunt’s six-month stint with Biarritz culminated with him starting at inside centre in the 2010 Heineken Cup final. Moving in from AFL instead of NRL will be tougher, but this guy has a strong feel for the game.

4: Can the Sharks maintain the rage?
Last season the Sharks were the strongest South African side by some margin (the Bulls finished 12 points behind, back in eighth place).
Although they bring back most of the giant human beings in their team from last year, Jake White has been replaced by Gary Gold. His task will be to have his team hitting its peak close to Round 19 rather than trying to hold peak form all season. That might mean opening up the game plan a little because a restrictive style leaves little room for error.

So, the Waratahs’ championship belt is on the table and up for grabs again. From this weekend, 33-32 doesn’t mean anything and I’ve snapped out of my fog at that thought.

I’m back baby!