OPINION: New Zealand rowing once again has the best problem - too many good athletes to put into one place.

A decade after the memorable face-off between Mahe Drysdale and Rob Waddell, the flipside will occur for Drysdale this summer when he faces the challenge of Robbie Manson to find out who's New Zealand's premier single sculler.

In early 2008, Waddell - the 2000 Sydney Olympic gold medallist - came out of hibernation to race off for New Zealand's men's single scull spot for the Beijing Olympics by contesting a three-race series against the then three-times world champ Drysdale.

STEVE MCARTHUR/ROWING NZ Robbie Manson is the world's fastest single sculler and is eyeing the Tokyo Olympics after a promising 2017.

During summer regattas, crowds lined the banks of Lake Karapiro to see Waddell claim a 3-1 advantage in his quest to get back in the Olympic boat. In the national trials, the series was tied at 1-1 when a re-occurrence of Waddell's atrial fibrillation sunk his hopes of winning, pushing him into the double sculls boat with Nathan Cohen.

READ MORE: Drysdale keeps options open

Three-time Olympic medallist Drysdale took a break last year after his second consecutive Olympic gold in the most thrilling of finishes in Rio. He's now back training with the summer squad and has stated "that he saw the single sculls discipline also offers the most flexibility to pursue his oarsmanship around his growing family in Cambridge".

Manson is a NZ team regular but a relatively unknown name to the general public. A consistent medal-winner at World Cup and world championship level, Manson had a breakout year in 2017 in the single scull vacated by Drysdale. He won both World Cup events and smashed the world's best time - held by Drysdale - in Poland by three seconds.

A subsequent injury and six weeks out of the boat left him unable to find that form at the world champs in the US.

So where does that situation leave Rowing NZ?

After a review of Rowing NZ's 2016 Rio Olympics efforts - two gold and a silver - the athlete selection criteria has changed to a 'squad selection' process.

A 'squad' of athletes is selected from each group: men's and women's sweep, men's and women's scull, then the final decision on the targeted crews will take place after the World Cup races in Europe.

Where does that leave an individual? More importantly, where does that leave two people who are openly targeting a specific position? Could we see this battle continue into July 2018 under this new model for selection?

For the best result at the world champs at the end of August, that would be counter-intuitive – only one athlete can compete for NZ at the world champs, but World Cup races allow multiple entries from a country and are frequently utilised.

The 'powers that be' will surely have started some closed-door discussion around possible scenarios. There are two current selection policies which will favour either Drysdale or Manson.

Whether the criteria is made public will be a different story, but it's no secret that Drysdale, after the Mahe v Rob original version, pushed for the incumbent or a World Champion crew/person to gain 'favourable treatment', with the focus more on a structured plan from October through to September to produce the best results at the world champs and not have to peak twice in a year - with the March trials to make the selected team.

This 'option' has produced consistent results from various small boat combinations such as Emma Twigg, myself and Hamish Bond, and the women's double sculls combinations. This is the 'pre-selelected' version.

The 'selection criteria' version has a publicly laid-out policy of specific tests and races that an athlete must contest, in order to be eligible for the selection trials. It involves 5km and 2km rowing machine tests, a small-boat regatta, and the national champs. This option will favour Manson, as Drysdale, ever since his run-in with a waterskier crashing into his back put him in hospital - and a resulting ongoing ailment of arthritis in his back - hasn't produced a test result on the rowing machine since 2010.

Add to the mix that long-term coach and Drysdale's guru, Dick Tonks, is no longer a coach in the Rowing NZ High Performance environment, it's going to be unfamiliar waters for his preparation.

Which way will Rowing NZ head? Will they allow for a 'special treatment' approach for Mahe, who has deserved it? Or do they clean the slate, now that Robbie has gone faster than anyone ever in the single scull?

Drysdale only sees the single as his option to row. Does that mean if he loses to Manson, we could unceremoniously see one of the 'GOAT' single scullers, not selected for anything in the NZ team. The men's double sculls combination of John Storey and Chris Harris are world champs - what may happen to them?

One of NZ's top Olympic sports, rowing sits out of the public eye for most of the year. Our elite athletes gain snippets of coverage during World Cups, for a week at the world champs and then the bulk of attention during the Olympic Games every four years.

A Drysdale/Manson match-up would undoubtedly see the urge for live coverage again as something which would not only catch NZ's attention, but the global rowing communities'. Let the keyboard warriors' opinions come out. It's fair game to comment – your taxes are entitling these athletes to train and compete for NZ.

Imagine too if Hamish Bond ditched the bike and joined the party. Bond got the better of both these scullers in 2014.

Put the regatta at Lake Karapiro on December 2 in your diary - it could provide a likely snapshot into the future.