NSW Waratahs coach Chris Hickey will watch Mark Gasnier's introduction to rugby like a hawk.
Hickey has been in the job for a month after replacing Ewen McKenzie, "building the house" he hopes will land the Waratahs a Super 14 title next year.
If everything goes to plan, Hickey's impact on the Waratahs will be as immediately successful as Robbie Deans's effect on the Wallabies.
Gasnier has signed with McKenzie at Stade Francais for two years. Hickey believes a Super 14 contract is inevitable for a professional and skilled athlete likely to be a raging success in the 15-man code.
The only question is where and when Gasnier, a NSW and Australian league representative, ends up. Who knows, Gasnier could slay them for Stade and be ready to play in the Super 14 competition next season. If he does a runner from France.
"It's a global market now, isn't it?" Hickey said. "I guess Sonny Bill Williams has shown that.
"We will keep an eye on his [Gasnier's] development. We certainly know where he's going to be. You would think at some point there would be an opportunity for him to come back and play in Australia."
Hickey's first month in the job has involved trying to finalise his playing roster and support coaching staff. Announcements are imminent. Replacements for Wallabies forwards Dan Vickerman and Rocky Elsom are a priority.
"I don't know about me having the same effect that Robbie has had on the Wallabies," Hickey said.
"It's a hard act to follow. He's done a terrific job. Any coach has his own ideas and his own philosophies about how you do things. That doesn't mean that one person is right and one person is wrong, it's just having different ways of approaching it.
"I guess it can be beneficial to have an injection of new ideas and as time folds out, I suppose I'll gradually introduce my own thinking to the organisation. In some instances, that will be different to the way things were done before. Just different ideas on how you can play the game.
"But some of it comes down to the personnel you have, as well. That can force changes in the way things are done."
Asked to nominate specific areas in which he would differ to McKenzie, Hickey said: "How many ways can you skin a cat? It's a bit like that. But we're going to be minus Elsom and Vickerman and David Lyons, so it's not the same team and therefore that alone has to change the way we play the game.
"You don't start the year holding a book that says, 'This is how to play, no matter what'. It's very evolutionary. You might think you know where you are going, but sometimes an injury takes you off in another direction. You have to be flexible and fluid.
"Right now we're just starting to build the house. No one sees it at this time of year, but a lot of foundations are going down."
