Chiefs 2022

[Tim]

All Blacks star signs big-money deal with Japanese club

Damian McKenzie will skip Super Rugby next year after signing a lucrative deal to replace Beauden Barrett at Japanese club Suntory.

At this point, the Herald understands McKenzie is yet to complete a contract to return to New Zealand Rugby which is holding up any official announcement.

McKenzie owns a house in Hamilton and has played 95 games for the Chiefs since 2015 and is, therefore, favoured to return to the franchise, but a deal is yet to be reached.

He could yet depart at the end of the year without a New Zealand contact, as TJ Perenara opted to do last year.

[Yeetyaah]

Starting this thread off. Naitoa Ah Kuoi and Samipeni Finau have both signed til 2023 and 2024 respectively.

https://www.chiefs.co.nz/news-item/Naitoa-Ah-Kuoi-and-Samipeni-Finau-commit-to-the-Gallagher-Chiefs

[Yeetyaah]

[Yeetyaah]

[ploughboy]

@yeetyaah very good news

[bobily2]

@yeetyaah

Looks like Ah Kuoi is just till 2023

[Bovidae]

Good news that Finau will be part of the main squad for the next 3 years.

[Yeetyaah]

@bobily2 true my bad

[Yeetyaah]

@bovidae right? Pretty stoked, hopefully that means he sticks around for the Mooloos as well.

[Bovidae]

@yeetyaah I'm sure he is. A good chance to play at 6 too if Luke is with the ABs.

[ARHS]

Excellent news

[Bovidae]

This article gives a little more info about the status of other forwards.

For their forwards, they’re yet to confirm the futures of young locks Laghlan McWhannell and Josh Lord, as well as back row options such as Mitchell Brown, Kaylum Boshier, Simon Parker, Mitchell Karpik, and All Blacks Luke Jacobson and Sam Cane.

Of those, McWhannell and Karpik would be most at risk of not being re-signed.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/125605646/super-rugby-chiefs-resign-naitoa-ah-kuoi-samipeni-finau-after-losing-lachlan-boshier

[Number 10]

Twitter is reporting Chiefs have signed Wellington hooker Tyrone Thompson.

[Bovidae]

That would be a great pickup, probably for Harris.

So who would be replacing Riccitelli at the Canes? O'Reilly?

[cliff]

Tyrone Thompson would form a great one two punch with taukeiaho

[Canes4life]

@cliff this is not the news I want to be hearing on a Sunday arvo. Wtf are we upto?

[Canes4life]

@number-10 where abouts on Twitter, I can’t seem to find anything.

[Crucial]

@canes4life said in Chiefs 2022:

@cliff this is not the news I want to be hearing on a Sunday arvo. Wtf are we upto?

You have two AB hookers already. What aspiring rake would want to sign up behind that?

[Nepia]

@canes4life said in Chiefs 2022:

@cliff this is not the news I want to be hearing on a Sunday arvo. Wtf are we upto?

You can take the boy out of Hawkes Bay ... still wont get him a Canes jersey though.

[Canes4life]

@crucial yeah but one of them is winding down his career. Canes got it the wrong way around IMO, they should have signed Thompson until the end of 2023 and Coles to a one-year deal only.

I would be interested to see the source, or is it just a rumour like Jordie’s a couple weeks ago.