Jordie Barrett details physical transformation for midfield shift

2022’s Bledisloe 1 Test saw both David Havili and Quinn Tupaea struck down with injury, leaving fullback Jordie Barrett to slot into the midfield for the first time just 35 minutes into the match. At that point in time, Barrett had mad his interest in the midfield known but coach Ian Foster had also made no secret of his lack of interest in playing him there.

Fast forward 12 months and Barrett is New Zealand’s premier inside centre, offering the All Blacks attack physicality along with world class distribution skills whether it be by hand or by boot and uncompromising defence.

The transition was almost seamless as Barrett and Rieko Ioane’s games complimented eachother and Joe Schmidt knew just what strings to pull to get the most out of his new attack.

At 1.96 metres tall, Barrett offered plenty of size for the position but his frame had more to give, and so the 26-year-old went about adding some bulk.

“I think when I came in, I was playing 12 or 13 for Canterbury,” Barrett recalled on the Aotearoa Rugby Pod. “I would have been 88 kilos and now I’m playing at 105, so a bit of a disparity there.

“It’s slowly built, more particularly the last couple of years – or the last year or so since I’ve been playing 12. I was sitting around 99-100 playing fullback but I feel like I just need a little bit more on my frame now. Particularly internationally, you look at the size of the opposition, in particular opposition midfielders around the world there’s some big boys now so you’ve got to be able to carry it.

“It’s a little bit harder in Super Rugby when they’re trying to speed the game up, you back your legs all the time whereas international now they’re not too worried about that, there’s stoppages so you may as well carry an extra couple on your frame.”

The added mass obvioulsy helps in contact but does have the potential to slow you down and burn through more energy around the park, something Barrett did notice at first.

“A little bit, within reason. But as long as it’s good weight. But look, the faster the game the better for me personally.

“I know it hurts at some stages but that’s where the fit guys create an edge over other people. If you work hard enough on it and you’re lucky enough when you’re younger going to a big fitness space. You want to be able to impact games in a certain way and hen its slowed down I feel like you don’t get that advantage.

“All your skinny fast boys try to gain an advantage that way so it’s great when its sped up and there’s fatigue in the game.”