The excitement in Grant Doorey’s Australian voice is palpable.

On a scorching hot day on Waiheke Island, the Blues assistant coach looked on as the backs ran through their attacking strike moves.

A 40 minute ferry ride from the bustling metropolis of Auckland, the backs escaped the city and headed over to the idyllic island to spend the day working on their strategies and devising some moves, hoping the creative and artistic sides Waiheke is renowned for rubbed off on them.

“I said the first time I had the backs group together that there wouldn’t be any backs coach in Super Rugby that was as excited as me in terms of the quality he had in his room so we’ve got real star quality across the park,” Doorey said.

And it’s not just the obvious names that have been impressing Doorey during pre-season training. Yes the likes of Charles Piutau, Frank Halai and Francis Saili burst onto the scene last year and were rewarded with call-ups to the All Blacks, but it’s some of the other young faces in their second year of Super Rugby that have made an impression.

“I think the level of contribution you notice out of the second year athletes is much better, they’re a little bit more comfortable, a little bit keener to share their ideas, they’re obviously better physically, and technically they’re continuing to make improvements.

“So you should be expecting really positive things out of guys like Albert Nikoro, Pita Ahki, Baden Kerr, Bryn Hall and Jamison Gibson-Park. Then you add to that mix the fact that the All Blacks who have been away on a break – Charles Piutau, Francis Saili and Frank Halai who have all come back, and the experience of guys like Piri Weepu, Benji Marshall and Chris Noakes and you’ve got lots of intellectual property.”

“Top quality pros like Jackson Willison are continually driving the standards of the group and then the young guys are continuing to bridge that gap which makes it really exciting for us.”

And of course the return of All Blacks midfielder Ma’a Nonu really adds firepower to a Blues backline already brimming with talent.  “You add someone to the mix like Ma’a Nonu who I haven’t mentioned yet who’s probably the best midfield player in the world right now, it really gives you scope and opportunity to play lots of different ways with lots of different styles. We’ve got the backline to put significant pressure on any team in the competition.”

The key now will be on how Doorey unleashes these exciting and potent attacking players. His focus has been on individual skill execution and ensuring there are threats across the park.

“We’re trying to focus hard on our triple threat game so our ability to run, pass and kick the ball in all options and then really working hard on our individual animation in those plays so that we’ve genuinely got three options available all the time and then consistently our individual skill set within those plays is always critical.”  The Blues’ first pre-season game is against the Hurricanes in Masterton on February 1.

The Blues are just one week into training in 2014 but Sir Graham Henry is already impressed with what he’s seen from a number of new faces to the team.

The squad, minus their All Blacks, kicked back into training last week as they began transitioning from purely strength and conditioning to more skill-based work ahead of their first pre-season match on February 1.

Henry said he was pleased with the start the team had made to the year.

“It’s been a really positive week, there’s been a lot of hard work done,” Henry said. “There’s some clarity on roles and a lot of work done on skill development and working on guys’ skill level which is going to be key during the year.”

Star recruit Benji Marshall has been a hot topic since arriving in Auckland to join the Blues, and Henry said he was encouraged by what he saw from the playmaker in his first week with the ball.

“He’s starting to feel comfortable in the group which is good. It’s the first time he’s used the ball in rugby since he was a kid so it’s going to take him a while to get into the rugby mentality rather than the rugby league mentality.

“He’s a mature guy, he’s professional, he’s played a lot of football and he’s pretty fit. He’s starting to get a feel for the game.

“That’s going to take a while and he needs to play some rugby for that to happen but that will happen and I’m encouraged by what I see.”

However Marshall is just one of a number of new faces impressing Henry, with a host of rookies and Wider Training Group players stepping up.

“Guys like Tevita Li, Jordan Manihera, Sam Prattley, Patrick Tuipulotu, Tom Murday, Simon Hickey and William Lloyd who are new to the group are starting to get into the team and understand what this level of rugby is about.

“Obviously that won’t happen until they start playing but they’re starting to integrate well into the team.”

The Blues made significant strides last year as a number of exciting young players burst onto the scene and were elevated to the All Blacks (Frank Halai, Charles Piutau, Francis Saili and Steven Luatua).

However after a thrilling start to the season, the Blues slumped to six straight losses to finish the season in 10th place, and Henry said the team needed to press the reset button rather than trying building on last year.

“The game is always evolving, what happened last year was OK but we’re always trying to get better – better never stops so I think you’ve got to start from scratch every year, you can’t build on what happened the year before.

“I think if you try and do that you’ll fall over and have to go back again, just from my limited experience of 40 years I think that’s what you’ve got to do and so they’ve started at rock bottom and they’re building a rugby for 2014.”

Henry’s role with the Blues has changed slightly this season in that he is also helping to drive the leadership of the team, something he is thoroughly enjoying.

“I’m still doing the defence with Grant Doorey – but I’m also doing the leadership this year which I’ve never done before so that’s stimulating. I’m trying to help them develop as good leaders and help with the individual development of people.”

The Blues play their first pre-season match against the Hurricanes in Masterton on February 1, with their first game of the season against the Highlanders on February 22.