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New Zealand Rugby must scramble to ensure that Ardie Savea's long-term future isn't lost to the lure of the NRL

By Michael Pulman
Ardie Cover

If Ardie Savea is lowkey thinking about a move to the NRL, you would hope that New Zealand Rugby are already devising a lowkey approach to getting him back.

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Savea, arguably the hottest property New Zealand Rugby has, player-wise, dropped one hell of a bombshell on Monday when he revealed on The Ice Project Podcast his desire to switch codes and play in the NRL.

What Savea didn’t say was that he would be done with rugby as a result.

The 26-year old is contracted until 2021, one year from now, but swift action must be taken in terms of NZR deciding how to best manage the situation if Savea does decide to head elsewhere.

There is an opportunity presenting itself for NZR here, but how far they budge at the negotiating table will determine whether that opportunity is lost or not.

Continue reading below…

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The key point in all of this is retention, even if that’s not immediate, because it’s not so much about Savea going to play in the NRL and turning his back on rugby, it’s about how you ensure he doesn’t turn his back on it forever – and the powers that be at NZR headquarters must surely know that. If it means letting the 44-test Hurricanes loosie go and achieve his NRL ambition after 2021 when his contract is up, so be it.

Focus on negotiating a deal that gets Savea back in the All Black jersey afterwards, anything on top of that – like convincing Savea not to leave at all – would be a gold but ultimately unrealistic nugget.

But one way or another, Savea’s services must be retained; he’s a big part of the plans for the All Blacks at the next World Cup.

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His blockbusting power and speed is one thing, but it’s his versatility that is also crucial as he’s able to cover the six, seven and eight jerseys with ease.

Furthermore, he has a lot of experience in the All Black environment now and is a core part of the leadership group. When fully fit, not a single critic can logically question that Savea is up there with the best around.

In order to not see all this go up in flames, the logical decision could be to let Savea play one season in the NRL before returning to New Zealand in early 2023. Such a thing isn’t unprecedented – as the rugby-loving public will know – and shouldn’t be such an over-hyped scenario in the current landscape.

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Sonny Bill Williams left the Chiefs after his contract in New Zealand ended in 2012 to play two years with the Roosters in the NRL. Williams then returned to Super Rugby and represent the Chiefs in 2015, before joining the Blues later on after playing for the All Blacks at the World Cup.

Back in the present, in a bid to keep two of their very best, NZR have allowed Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick to play rugby in Japan this year, on the proviso that they return next year (or in 2022, in Retallick’s case) where they’ll be back with their Super Rugby franchises.

The difference between these current examples is obvious; Whitelock and Retallick are both playing rugby, not going cross-code, which is what Savea is proposing.

Furthermore, buried in the weeds of today’s bombshell is also a very valid question – does Savea want to come back once his time in New Zealand is over?

The short answer to the first question is yes, Savea clearly loves rugby and has a great deal of loyalty to both the Hurricanes and the All Blacks.

But you also sense that he won’t tolerate taking a solid no as the answer from New Zealand Rugby when it comes to furthering his sporting ambitions, whatever they might be. Post-2021, nothing is stopping him from going to the NRL and carving out a new long-term career in that sport.

You’d imagine, if Savea is truly serious about having a go at the NRL, the negotiations could be quite simple on his part because he’s holding all the cards.

It’s really up to New Zealand Rugby to do the negotiating here. When and how Savea transitions toward being available for the All Blacks again come 2023 doesn’t matter nearly as much as making sure it does indeed happen.

The crux of this argument, and something that we should all accept, is that the allure of the All Blacks jersey simply isn’t going to keep someone like Savea on these shores.

We are living in a different landscape, even to what we were the last time such a proposition became a reality, and New Zealand Rugby needs to adjust to this and find a way to pivot towards retaining its best players.

It’s been said so often in conversations about New Zealand Rugby and its best players recently that it feels cliché to repeat but, for the very best, these decisions can’t be blanketed and must be made on a case by case basis.

If this particular case means letting Savea have a stint in the NRL to achieve his ambition, the greater win for New Zealand Rugby from a long-term perspective could be by letting him do just that.

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J
Jon 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

34 Go to comments
A
Adrian 10 hours 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

34 Go to comments
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