Damian McKenzie's touted move to Japan puts focus for 2022 squarely on two unfulfilled talents
Just who could step up and take the mantle in the Chiefs backline if their star playmaker heads offshore?
The Chiefs face an impossible task in replacing Damian McKenzie if rumours of his impending departure to Japan are to be true, but that’s not to say there aren’t a few good candidates on the books.
The challenge is for those candidates to deliver on their potential more consistently than to date, and for two such men this couldn’t ring more true.
Reports emerged over the weekend that the Chiefs star could be opting for a move to Japan when his contract with New Zealand runs out at the end of this year.
According to Stuff, Suntory could be a desirable destination for McKenzie given his good friend Beauden Barrett played there this season but neither New Zealand Rugby or McKenzie’s management team at Halo Sport have commented thus far.
With a revamped Top League competition in 2022 promising large sums of money, a player with the marketability of McKenzie being a big-ticket name to create hype would be a classy ploy.
It would be a big blow for the Chiefs in particular, but it wouldn’t be permanent either. Let’s also make one thing clear, a stint offshore makes sense for McKenzie at this point in his career, whether that be under sabbatical terms or not.
Barring a devastating ACL injury which cruelly ruled him out of the 2019 Rugby World Cup; it has been a long slog for the 26-year-old who has barely missed a game of Super Rugby when fit and available.
In the 96 appearances for the Chiefs since debuting in 2015, very few of them have seen McKenzie not remain on the park for the full affair.
That’s some serious minutes the pocket-rocket has racked up over the course of seven – yes, seven – consecutive seasons of Super Rugby and that’s also before you take into consideration his All Blacks minutes.
If the time for a bit of break from the physical intensity of rugby in this part of the world isn’t now, then when? Timing-wise, a 2022 stint also makes sense, allowing McKenzie to (in theory) come back in 2023 just in time for the Rugby World Cup.
For as big of a blow as it would be to the Chiefs, it would provide a couple of players the opportunity to pick up the proverbial mantle and run with it.
Wallabies legend Will Genia has waded into the debate over who should start at first-five for the All Blacks between Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo’unga. #AllBlacks https://t.co/CGGMz36yjT
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Let’s start with Kaleb Trask.
The 22-year-old would be the obvious candidate to spend more time at fullback, having had just a few consistent appearances in the 15 jersey in between his time at first-five.
The responsibility of being the regular fullback would be timely given 2022 will be the utility’s third season of Super Rugby.
Trask has had the benefit of time to find his feet in the environment and learn the ropes of playing in either position, so McKenzie’s potential departure hands him the chance to prove that he can be a consistent performer in Super Rugby and back up all the promise he has shown a level down in NPC rugby, most noticeably at fullback.
Trask hasn’t exactly delivered on much of that promise at Super Rugby consistently thus far, and if not in 2022, then when exactly?
Another season of mixed results would put Trask firmly in the category of ‘undelivered potential’, and for one of the most talented backs that the Chiefs have on their books, this would again feel like something of a letdown.
Of the 30 players in the Tonga squad to face the All Blacks this weekend, many haven’t been exposed to first-class rugby of any kind. #NZLvTONhttps://t.co/Ki8ryOoyGx
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It’s an argument that stretches well beyond Trask and should be a keen point of discussion over the off-season at Chiefs HQ. The Waikato-based franchise needs to find its next great player to build its backline around.
Bryn Gatland is clearly the long-term option at first-five, with the only real obstacle to his selections in 2022 either being injury or a lack of form, with the latter seeming unlikely.
Critics of Gatland Jr. in his debut season with the Chiefs forget that it was never a question of form which saw him miss a few selections, but rather a clear and obvious intent by the coaches to have the dual playmaker role.
One can’t help but assume that it was often a coin flip between Gatland or Trask for the 10 jersey during Super Rugby Aotearoa in particular, and when the Chiefs started putting McKenzie into that role as well, it became all the more uncertain for both of his backups as to where they would slot in.
This, of course, is all subject to change depending on the validity of the decision McKenzie is rumoured to have made about his immediate future.
But, for Trask and Gatland in particular, 2022 may well provide the best opportunity yet to deliver on their presence in Super Rugby that has felt lukewarm so far.
Comments on RugbyPass
that backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
24 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
48 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
24 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
24 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
24 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
24 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
24 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to commentsI think he is right, SBW is respected in RSA. The guy who never stood up is a worm. Sseems lots of NZ SBW hate, you do the crime do the time.
17 Go to commentsAfter missing the curfew, the player was simply too “Shagged” to stand up.
17 Go to commentsVernier is probably the best 12 in the world though she has some English competition these days . I am nervous for England because it is unpredictable France and who knows which team will turn up, but they have not yet shown anything that should worry England, Saturday could be a different day. I would be more confident against the BFs.
1 Go to comments