The disposal of Drotske, and the new Franco Smith era

For a while it seemed like Old Nakwa was a miracle worker...now that's supposedly Ackerman. Coaching is an unenviable profession.

 Mozart
Drotske was indeed a good coach for the Cheetahs - but then the Cheetahs lost top players contracted by especially the Bulls.   That drained their resources - yet they still recently managed to beat the sinking Stormers and beat them convincingly.   However, in the main the problem is they really have to rebuild their team and their financial sources are limited.   They are rebuilding a relationship with some Japanese Clubs in an effort to ensure that players can play for both the clubs and the Cheetahs - which would impact on the retention of players and help in the middle and  later stages of Super 15.  Os is one of the "agents" involved in the Japanese Club deal.   I do not know what Drotske will do in future.
Ackerman was much in the same boat as Drot ske was in the past two years and did the same with the unknown players he started off with last year.  The Lions got the sponsorship of three other companies this year - Emirates being the main one of the three.   With the strong financial backing - Ackerman was able to increase drastically the remuneration of the players and they apparently are not losing their top players to other franchises and foreign clubs.  Wise move that one.  
I think that the Lions may improve their positions on the log next year since they do use local talent to build up their team and does not import geriatrics to play for therm.  The Bulls are losing some of their players next year and with Matfield also gone - they could only be stronger next year.
It would be interesting to see who would be the coach of the Stormers next year.  Depending on the appointment the Stormers will also improve next year.  The time for the microlights in the Stormers backline would hopefully be gone  and they would get a functioning backline.        

 Microlights in the Stormers such as who? Mike