"That's great". The reaction I've observed since we all heard that Dan Carter is coming back has been one of overwhelming positivity.
Not a bad word uttered, not a single question posed about the need for a 38 year old to boost the Blues playing ranks and/or what kind of signal this might be sending to every young 1st-5 in their catchment area, not to mention the rest of NZ rugby. Because surely those thoughts have entered at least one other person's mind as well as my own?
Maybe not. And maybe none of that is important right now.
What seems more so is the sheer excitement brought on by this announcement, testament to the star power and audience reach Carter still so obviously has.
The man is New Zealand rugby's golden child and now more than at any other time does our non-existent national game need the sort of PR boost he has immediately supplied. Who doesn't love DC? We all do. And still do even though we haven't seen him play for five years. Yip that's right, the last game he played for the All Blacks was the 2015 RWC final. Rugby in this country will definitely resurrect itself, the start of SRA will be welcomed in ways previously unseen.
Ten weeks of titanic local derbies with no mickey mouse Sunwolves or easy-beat Ozzie sides taking up unnecessary screen time is exactly what fans here have been wanting for years.
However until that happens the NRL has taken over with the potential to make significant inroads, especially with the Warriors win last week and the chance to go back to back tonight. Rugby, desperate to make headlines and good news ones at that, has hit the jackpot.
Whether Dan even plays or not is largely irrelevant. He's never going to take Beauden's spot and at best I think he might come on late to close one or two games. As a first choice first-5 starting for the Blues I think it's unlikely. But as a marketing and publicity exercise it's brilliant.
Rugby HAD to get back into the news and DC, as in "Dan's Comeback", is just perfect.
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