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By Pat Clifton (Ed Hagerty photo)
The 2010 version of the Denver Barbarians will look starkly different from the ’09 rendition. Sure, last season’s leading scorer returns in flyhalf Maximo de Achaval, but gone is half the starting pack, including John van der Giessen, who bolted for a shot with French Top 14 club Albi.
The Barbos lost a couple more players to the allure of playing overseas, as well as hooker Tim Russo to retirement and No. 8 Pat Quinn to injury. Those losses are offset by the influx of some new blood, most notably Dan Power, the RSL’s second-highest scorer last year as a member of NYAC, the squad Denver upset in the quarterfinals.
Also on board are three transfers from crosstown rivals Glendale – Taylor Howden, Mike Graham and Phil Bolton. The new arrivals will give Denver a much appreciated boost in backline play, but whether or not they’ll balance out the losses in the pack is yet to be determined.
“Balance out in the sense that we had talent come in, but talent in different areas," said head coach Stephen Hazel. "I think we definitely got an improvement in the backline talent pool, and not so much in the forward pool, so the question is, when it all shakes out, how is that going to play with the two of them together with one team. I do feel really good and really confident that the backline is going to give us a lot of opportunities in attack, and I think, as well, defensively. I think it’s a very solid backline, and I’ll be interested to see what they do this year, how far they go with it.”
Hazel has a lot of new toys to play with this season, but it will be deciding where and how to use them that will be the key to Denver’s success.
“The fun thing about these guys is they’re actually fairly interchangeable, where they actually have the tactical know-how and the physical talent to play in several positions,” Hazel said. “Taylor can stand in for us at first receiver, he can play center, and he can play wing, but his preferred position, and where I think he’s probably most effective for us, and I’ll know more later, is probably at fullback.”
Another prime example of interchangeability is that of de Achaval and Power. Both led their respective clubs in points last year, and both did so largely from the flyhalf position, so what is a coach to do?
“We do have some decisions to make in a couple places,” Hazel said. “It’s one of those hard decisions where it’s great to have, but you’ve got to pull a trigger on something.”
The Barbos have traditionally been more of a pack team, but with the departures up front and the additions to the backline, that most likely won’t be the case this year. Stalwart Mike Mangan will headline the tight five when Denver hosts SFGG this weekend, and Eagle Nic Johnson will return to the back row from injury, though it’s not sure if he’ll strap on the boots for the season opener.
Beyond those two, most of the other starting scrum positions are still up for grabs. And unlike the backline, those voids won’t be filled by big-name imports.
“We’re filling it from within, and a couple of the guys that will be getting a lot more playing time – one of the hookers and props – were guys that had sort of been on the edge, but didn’t get a lot of playing time with the SL team in the last few years, but I think they’re going to help us,” Hazel said.
“In the second row we’ve got several people that we’re rotating around to find the right partner for Mike Mangan, and we’re getting closer there. Garrett Peterson, who was sort of a backup in the back row last year, has kind of stepped up and he’s had a really good preseason so far, as far as training goes, so we’ll see, but the guys that have come in are fairly young and lack in experience, but we think there’s some upside to them and we’re going to give them a chance and go from there.”
The roster wasn’t the only piece of the puzzle to experience a little turnover this offseason, as some major changes took place in the coaching staff. Gone is 2009 coach Dave Hodges, and back is Hazel, who served as the Barbos’ head man in ’98-’99, during their RSL Championship campaign.
Hazel has been away from the club for about three years now, and he’s spent much of the offseason simply getting familiar with the newer faces.
“It’s going well. It’s going good. It’s a great bunch of guys. I enjoy working with them. That’s why I’m hesitant to predict things, in the sense that I still don’t really know what we have until I see it against good competition,” he said. “But I’m reasonably optimistic that we’re going to be in the game. We’re going to make a lot of good things happen for us, and we’ll see how well we handle adversity and how we operate under pressure.”
Kicking off the season against the RSL’s defending chance should provide Denver with an opportunity for plenty of adversity and pressure early.
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