'That's my gut feel': Hurricanes boss Jason Holland breaks silence on TJ Perenara's potential NRL move
Hurricanes head coach Jason Holland is confident TJ Perenara will return to the Wellington-based franchise and the All Blacks as rumours continue to swirl around about the star halfback's potential move to the NRL.
Perenara has been linked with a high-profile cross-code move to the Sydney Roosters to help alleviate the club's loss of long-serving hooker Jake Friend.
Roosters head coach Trent Robinson last week confirmed his side's interest in the 69-test All Black, who is currently on sabbatical in Japan with Top League club NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes.
It has been reported that Sydney have offered Perenara, who is off-contract with New Zealand Rugby this year, a deal worth around A$130,000 to play for the 15-time champions for the remainder of the 2021 season.
Furthermore, Melbourne Storm and Kiwis hooker Brandon Smith revealed on Matty Johns Show last Sunday that Perenara had been in contact with him in February to ask for advice about playing as a No 9 in the 13-man code.
However, Holland told media earlier this week that his "gut feel" is that the 29-year-old will return to rugby union in New Zealand.
“Obviously TJ’s got some pretty interesting offers going on, but I’m pretty sure he’s pretty keen to be an All Black and a Hurricane at the moment," Holland said ahead of his side's clash against the Chiefs in Hamilton on Friday.
Perenara played the last of his 140 matches for the Hurricanes during last year's Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign, and the franchise's most-capped player said his sabbatical in Japan "doesn't mean it's the end for me" in New Zealand when he announced his deal with the Red Hurricanes last October.
News of Perenara's potential switch to the NRL has been widely praised by an array of current and former players from both rugby union and rugby league over the past week.
Among those in union circles to have praised the possible move include the likes of current All Blacks Dane Coles, Ardie Savea, Ngani Laumape and Brad Weber, former cross-code star Sonny Bill Williams and ex-Wallabies fullback Matt Burke.
Likewise, current rugby league stars such as Smith, Angus Crichton, Joseph Manu, Brad Takairangi and new Blues recruit Roger Tuivasa-Sheck have all thrown their support behind Perenara's potential code-hop.
Perenara is likely to be in action for the NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes in Nagoya this Sunday as they square off against the Honda Heat for a place in next week's Top League quarter-finals.
Listen to the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod below:
Latest Comments
Spot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
Go to comments