Gregor Paul: NZ Rugby can't afford to take All Black star Ardie Savea's league comments lightly

Ardie Savea has expressed an interest in switching from rugby union to league, despite being one of the standouts of last year's Rugby World Cup in Japan. Photo / Getty Images

COMMENT:

It is time for New Zealand Rugby to have a chat with Ardie Savea and find out whether he is serious about wanting to play in the NRL.

He's told the world that he is, but he did that via a podcast so it's hard to know whether he's 100 per cent serious when he said he's "100 per cent keen" on making the switch.

His podcast host was former NRL player Isaac John and so perhaps Savea was swept along in the moment to the extent that he presented a vague thought as a burning ambition.

That seems unlikely, however, especially now that he has said he sees playing league for Samoa as part of that plan. This doesn't feel like Savea is operating on a whim – more a deliberate and considered career plan.

Those who reckon it may just have been an early negotiating ploy do Savea the disservice of believing such a crass tactic would sit well with him.

He's the sort of character who has, to date, proven to be unfailingly honest and without agenda and while an older generation can't work out why Savea is discussing so openly what they think should be private, failure to comprehend doesn't mean it is not true.

Besides, it is not so hard to understand why Savea has declared his intentions. He belongs to an uninhibited, open generation, many of whom live without filter on social media. They see no difference between updating what they ate for lunch and telling the world their career plans and a move to the NRL would appear to be genuinely high on his agenda when his NZR contract expires next year.

Whatever his intention, though, he should now have everyone's attention because what he ends up doing after next year is going to be genuinely fascinating and potentially ground-shifting.

Savea is a player whose influence extends beyond what he does on the field and what's vital for NZR is that they don't get caught up viewing his value purely in terms of what he offers as a loose forward.

Too often players are seen through a narrow lens. Too readily they are valued against the likely competition in their respective position.

All Blacks loose forward Ardie Savea. Photosport

If there are obvious contenders with whom they are competing, NZR tends to be conservative with the contract offer.

Conversely, if the All Blacks coaches can't see that there are likely to be many alternatives coming through the system for a while, NZR will extend themselves to retain a player.

It's the oldest rule in economics – supply and demand working to dictate price.

But there is a bigger picture and the market has greater complexity these days as players can have equal or greater influence off the field.

Savea is most definitely in the category of an athlete with the ability to influence the thinking of a whole generation.

Much of the respect he holds is driven by his rugby prowess. He's an obviously brilliant talent – a rare find who can play across the back-row and yet look like a specialist in each position.

He's relatively small by loose forward standards and yet he's capable of running through much bigger men and Savea has an uncanny knack of playing within a prescribed role while appearing to have been granted a licence to do whatever he feels like.

An injured Ardie Savea looks on from the sideline during a Hurricanes Super Rugby training session. Photo / Getty Images

His performances generate appeal, but it's his conduct off the field that keeps it. Savea's confidence to be himself, to not conform to any notion of what he should be, is inspirational to a generation that is knee-deep in angst about how to win peer approval.

He owns a fashion brand, he holds clinics to help men understand themselves and he dances for fun on videos he posts.

There's a depth of intelligence to Savea that becomes apparent when he talks. He possesses a clarity of thought about societal expectations and the pressures exerted on young people that confirm he thinks beyond the bubble of rugby and its endless process of training, resting, playing and reviewing.

He's a natural leader because of this. He hasn't set out to guide the next generation but they can't help finding him inspirational and if he disappears to the NRL, he'll take plenty of rugby followers with him.

Rugby is desperate right now for more support. It is desperate for more fans to come to stadiums and for more players to find and love the game.

Savea is precisely the sort of individual who can wield influence in both those quests.

Young men across the country follow his every social media move. They connect with what he posts, what he says and how he plays and rugby needs influencers like Savea. Really needs them, and his value is extreme because of the way he conducts himself as much because of the way he plays.

NZR would be making a terrible mistake if they didn't foresee the impact of losing him to league next year.