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Brodie Retallick and All Blacks halves on cusp of return for Chiefs

By Tom Vinicombe
Brodie Retallick. (Photo by Chris Symes/Photosport)

He may be down but he’s certainly not out; it appears that Brodie Retallick could be set for a return to the Chiefs next weekend when they take on the Rebels in Melbourne.

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Retallick left the field during the Chiefs’ rematch with the Crusaders at the end of March and later revealed that he had broken his thumb in the clash.

The Chiefs confirmed at the time that Retallick would be sidelined for six to eight weeks and thankfully for both head coach Clayton McMillan and the national side, Retallick is healing up right on schedule. Pending a scan in the coming days, there’s a very good chance the big second-rower could feature in Melbourne next Sunday – potentially alongside fellow All Blacks Brad Weber and Josh Ioane.

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“We’ve got a couple of those big dogs coming back next week, Brad, Josh, Brodie potentially,” McMillan said this week after announcing his side to take on the Brumbies in Hamilton.

“[Retallick has] still got to get another scan, I believe, and it’ll be up to the surgeon to determine whether he’s available or not but he’s certainly giving my eardrums a bit of a bashing over his availability. But we’ll listen to the surgeon.”

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While contact training has been limited for the 30-year-old, McMillan says that Retallick has been doing plenty of work to keep himself in tip-top shape ahead of his return but hasn’t shed too many kilos in the process.

“He’s doing a fair bit of running but I’m not sure how it’s impacted his weight,” McMillan said. “I heard somebody the other day say he’s at a real healthy weight, not down to where he was in Japan.

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“He knows how to hit the ground running so when he gets backs on the field I imagine it won’t take him too long to get back up to speed.”

The news wasn’t quite so reassuring for some of the Chiefs’ other players in the injury ward, with McMillan confirming that Sione Mafileo and Simon Parker wouldn’t feature for the rest of the season.

“Sione Mafileo, he’s just got a neck injury. It’s just one of those ones you have to give time and he’s probably not going to have enough time to come back so he’s effectively been ruled out for the season.

“Simon Parker’s got to have some more surgery so he’ll be out for the best part of six months.

“The announcement around [injuries] is probably just recognising that there’s a whole lot of people out there that are wondering what’s happening with these players. Those guys are season-enders. Some who we thought were season-enders are looking relatively positive and may feature again like Shooter (Sean) Stevenson.”

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With three crucial players potentially set to return next week, the Chiefs are slowly towards having a relatively clean bill of health ahead of the Super Rugby Pacific play-offs.

Etene Nanai-Seturo, Kaleb Trask and Emoni Narawa have all returned to the match-day 23 for this Saturday’s clash with the Brumbies while Sam Cane is also back on deck at this stage after missing last weekend’s win against the Reds due to the impending arrival of his first child. Gideon Wrampling, one of the stars of last year’s New Zealand Under 20s side, is also back on deck after representing club side Te Awamutu over the weekend in his return from injury.

There’s still a sizeable temporary injury ward, however, including Weber, Ioane, Retallick, Stevenson and Laghlan McWhannell – but it appears the tide might be shifting for the Chiefs, and it likely couldn’t come a minute too soon for McMillan.

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A
Adrian 53 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

7 Go to comments
T
Trevor 3 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
B
Bull Shark 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
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