Who can spark the fire? The big questions for the Blues to answer in 2024

The Blues have lost their coach and their star playmaker for their 2024 Super Rugby Pacific campaign, but otherwise remain relatively unscathed from the post-World Cup exodus.

Since winning the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman title in 2021, the team have struggled to reach the potential that started to look well within reach once Leon MacDonald took over in 2019.

And so, the 2024 season beckons as an opportunity to reset under new leadership, with a new direction and a new chance to stamp their claim as true, hard-nosed contenders in Super Rugby.

To do so, the team must answer some burning questions.

Can Stephen Perofeta and Zarn Sullivan fill Beauden Barrett's boots?

Perofeta and Sullivan are a duo that hold huge promise, not just at Super Rugby level but for the international game as well.

Perofeta has enjoyed the most brief of international careers to date but faces the greatest opportunity of his Blues and All Blacks journey in 2024 as both teams have lost their preferred playmakers.

Sullivan has been held at bay while Beauden Barrett as been with the team, but has shown huge upside in his showings to date with his booming kicking game, game IQ and athleticism. A strong Maori All Blacks performance against Ireland in 2022 proved his love of the big moments.

While many expect Perofeta to slide into first five-eighth in Barrett's absence, it's Sullivan who has been chasing the 10 jersey of late and started there throughout the 2023 NPC season. Perofeta won the NPC title with Taranaki, but played mostly at fullback during the season.

The ability of both players to play both positions lends to a dual playmaker system, but it remains to be seen how incoming coach Vern Cotter sees it best to accomodate the pair.

Regardless of selection, while Barrett hadn't enjoyed the finest of form - by this standards - in the 2023 Super Rugby Pacific season, he leaves huge boots to fill and that poses a huge challenge to the prospective flyhalfs.

Can Vern Cotter get their attack firing?

The attacking threats within the Blues' ranks are undeniable; There is All Blacks pedigree or potential at every position in the backline, but the results haven't lived up to expectations in recent seasons.

Under former head coach and new All Blacks attack guru Leon MacDonald, the Blues were trending in a more conservative direction over recent seasons, looking to build pressure through phase play attack but struggling to execute consistently enough to capitalise on any opportuntinties they earned.

Cotter's recent experience with the Flying Fijians puts him in prime position to embrace some running rugby, and with the form of a player like Mark Tele'a, the coach will be eager to see the ball spread wide, often.

The coach will also want to see a return to form from Caleb Clark, who hasn't been quite the threat he was prior to trying for a return to sevens for the Olympics in 2021. And, 2024 could be the year Rieko Ioane finds another gear in the midfield - although it's unclear who will partner him there for the Blues after Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's return to the NRL.

If the team are to unlock their full potential on attack, it would be a long night for anyone visiting Eden Park.

Will this be the year of Hoskins Sotutu's redemption?

Sotutu has all the physical tools to be a premier No 8, but is struggling to live up to that potential and fell out of favour with All Blacks selectors entirely in 2023, failing to even make the All Blacks XV.

The 25-year-old has 14 international caps to his name, mainly through filling in for Ardie Savea when the reigning World Player of the Year needed a rest or when playing against lesser opposition. If he is to earn a recall in 2024, Sotutu is going to have to attack Super Rugby with renewed vigour consistently throughout the campaign.

Should Sotutu have another down year, he could very easily be leapfrogged in the pecking order by a number of players including Cullen Grace, Hugh Renton and even a youngster like Peter Lakai. Sotutu's teammate Akira Ioane might also look to feature at the back of the scrum again, like he did during Auckland's 2023 NPC campaign.

Sotutu's career seemingly hangs in the balance in 2024, could it be the year where he regains the form that saw him debut for the All Blacks in 2020? Or, could he be another 'what could have been' player that ends up in Japan or France before hitting his prime years?

Will they ever beat the Crusaders?

Meanwhile, in what has become perhaps the most lopsided rivalry in sports, the Blues will be out to find some success against a team that has dominated them for the majority of the past 20 years - specifically winning 18 of the last 19 encounters.

The fixture has become something of a monkey on the back for the club, and the recent losing record is something the players and fans alike will be desperate to shake.

Beyond a potential win being a step in the right direction for the context of the Blues' season, it would no doubt be a huge confidence booster to tackle the reigning champions and could help frame a narrative of a changing of the guard  in Super Rugby after seven Crusaders titles.

Of course, a win during the regular season is one thing, but facing the Crusaders in knockout footy is a different beast altogether. Will the rugby gods line up another Crusaders vs Blues fixture once June rolls around?

Who can spark a fire within the group?

There's something haunting the Blues' psyche, it often manifests as an apparent lack of chemistry on the field or lack of mental edge in the big games.

Patrick Tuipulotu has been named captain for 2024, and will provide level-headed and experienced leadership, but someone from within the camp will have to instil a ruthlessness that the team is missing - and lead by example on the field.

A player like Adrian Choat has the energetic game to make a difference, but is unlikely to find many minutes while behind All Black flankers in Dalton Papali'i and Akira Ioane, not to mention competing for bench minutes with quality youngsters Anton Segner and Cameron Suafoa.

The promotion of Zarn Sullivan in the absence of Beauden Barrett on the other hand will be felt consistently throughout the season. Sullivan is a talent who plays with an edge, happy to chirp at the opposition - to put it kindly - and demand a lot from himself and those around him.

The question will be can he influence the hunger of the team from the backfield? And if not him, then who?