Todd Blackadder has vowed the Crusaders won’t be sucked into using their controversial game plan

Todd Blackadder has vowed the Crusaders won’t be sucked into using the controversial game plan that ultimately damaged their title hopes last season.

The strategy of repeatedly shifting the ball from side to side was hatched because management and players believed they had the skill, pace and fitness to keep the ball alive and stretch defences beyond breaking point.

It was eventually canned but not before opposition teams worked out that if they held their defensive line they wouldn’t provide the gaps the Crusaders craved, which eventually resulted in the multiple phases going nowhere or possession being turned over.

Eventually, as winter set in, the Crusaders concentrated on a more orthodox plan of kicking for field position, using forwards to carry around the ruck and their backs to set more targets closer to their pack.

Blackadder also accepts that the coaches need to take ultimately responsibility for getting it wrong.

“Yeah, we took a hell of a lot out of it. You talk about slow starts to the season, well, we have to put hands up as coaches and say we contributed to that with the type of game we played.

“We have learned some valuable lessons and I am sure we will continue to learn them. We have worked really hard on a game plan that can adjust to the conditions and also the opposition.”

While the players – especially the backs – staunchly defended the decision to play with width, and attempt to blow open sides by using their backline to keep the ball alive, it came it a massive cost.

In their first seven matches the Crusaders lost to the Blues, Hurricanes, Sharks and the Force. Operating with a dry ball and operating on fast tracks seemed to seduce them into believing they would split teams open but too often they conceded turnovers as opposition teams concentrated on committing more numbers to the breakdown.

By the time they met the Highlanders in their eighth round-robin match on April 20 there were signs that the Crusaders were beginning to tighten their game. And as the thermometer dropped over the following months, their successes mounted.

The Crusaders won eight of their last nine round-robin matches but the fast finish couldn’t prevent the eventual champions, the Chiefs, winning the New Zealand conference and topping the overall log.

Since the competition format was revamped in 2011 the Crusaders have never finished in the coveted top-two spot that guarantees they get a bye during the quarterfinal and also qualifies them to host a home semi.

“What we really lacked was a balance to our game,” Blackadder conceded. “It’s okay going wide but not if you’re not drawing defenders.

“I think what we have added to our game is another layer to our attack, we just need to have the ability to go around a team, over a team and through a team. Probably getting that balance has been the key.”

Centre Robbie Fruean’s departure to the Chiefs means Blackadder has to prepare either Ryan Crotty, Reynold Lee-Lo or Adam Whitelock to start in that position for the opening round game against the defending champions in Christchurch on February 21.