Sungoliath, Reds, Drua all options for Samu Kerevi as contract nears end
Samu Kerevi’s time in Japan could be coming to a close – but the Wallabies midfielder is adopting a ‘never say never’ attitude as his current contract with the Tokyo Sungoliath comes to an end.
Kerevi joined the Sungoliath on a three-year contract following the 2019 Rugby World Cup after earning his stripes with the Reds in Super Rugby and didn’t feature for the Wallabies in 2020 but was recalled to the team by Dave Rennie last season and was one of the side’s top performers, even earning a nomination for World Rugby Player of the Year.
Rennie would undoubtedly love to have the 28-year-old back playing in Australia and alongside and helping to develop some Wallabies teammates in Super Rugby ahead of the 2023 World Cup.
Instead, Kerevi has been rubbing shoulders with some of the top players in the world in Tokyo, playing alongside men such as All Blacks Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie and against an array of foreign stars who now call Japan’s Rugby League One home.
While Kerevi has indicated that a return to Australia could absolutely be on the cards, he’s not necessarily done with Japan just yet.
“I’m coming off-contract,” Kerevi confirmed this week. “[But] never want to close any doors.
“Right now, I’m really enjoying my footy here in Japan and with Suntory. They’ve been awesome … They’ve treated me really well and the boys have welcomed me. The type of the rugby we play is enticing. I’ve got to play with Beaudie and now DMac, All Blacks I would have never [had the chance to play with] back home.
“I think the opportunity to play back home will hopefully arise towards the back-end of my contract, which is the next couple of months. I never want to close any doors but at the same time, I’m really enjoying my footy at the moment and just trying to get better.”
In Kerevi’s absence, Hunter Paisami has flourished at the Reds, whether at inside or outside centre, while a number of options from around the country have been trialled in the Wallabies midfield.
Such is Kerevi’s talent that he’d almost certainly walk straight back into a starting role wherever he headed in Australia but he indicated that even though Queensland has always been home for the 28-year-old, there are no guarantees it would be where he would end up.
“It’s a hard thing to think about, playing outside of Queensland,” he said. “I don’t want to give away too much but I’ve thought about it. If that situation did arise, I don’t know.
“[At] Queensland [it] would be hard to even be selected. They’ve got some amazing centres, young guys coming through. You’ve got Hunter, Jordie [Petaia] – who’s been playing centre and at fullback at the moment, Hamish Stewart’s been doing a great job at 12 there so it would be hard for me to get selected in certain teams.
“If that opportunity did arise for other teams, I’d definitely have a look at it. At the moment, I’m probably enjoying my time at Suntory too much to think that far forward. We’ve got finals coming up in the next couple of weeks, hopefully. Those conversations will happen with my management and Rugby Australia.”
Of course, the one Super Rugby team in Australia that didn’t exist when Kerevi left the nation’s shores back in 2019 is Fijian Drua. Unsurprisingly, their introduction to the competition has piqued the Fijian-born midfielder’s attention.
“It’s been awesome,” Kerevi said. “That’s probably another Super Rugby club I’d go to, to be honest, the Drua. They’re playing some outstanding football. So are Moana Pasifika. You saw the win against the Hurricanes, how much it meant to them. Even the Drua beating Melbourne and coming close to beating the Reds.
“It’s gonna just make Fiji rugby a lot better, bringing through some players from home and I think their game’s just gonna evolve. They’ve got that broken play and Fijian rugby flair, if they just put some structure around that I think they’d be a very dangerous team, the next couple of years.
“It’s about time they had those Pacific Islands come through the Super Rugby competition and it’s good for the competition and good for the islands.”
Kerevi has previously indicated that he harboured ambitions of one day playing for Fiji but after one again playing for Australia last year, it’s difficult to envisage a situation where he can play test rugby for the national side. Playing for the Drua, however, might scratch that same itch.
Kerevi’s Sungoliath currently sit atop the League One ladder with just a handful of rounds left to play before the finals series kicks off next month.
Comments on RugbyPass
Je suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
25 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments