All Blacks: NZRU rethink on returnees

Aaron Mauger, if fit, will come home from Leicester. Photo / Getty Images

The ever-expanding list of All Blacks looking to come home will find those who have stayed loyal are feeling the financial love.

The New Zealand Rugby Union accounts, to be announced shortly, will show the national body paid out more on player salaries last year than it was forecasting.

No apology will be forthcoming for the overspend which is a direct result of a successful retention campaign that has seen the NZRU lock in a core group of senior All Blacks including Dan Carter, Richie McCaw and Mils Muliaina until the 2011 World Cup. The extensive injury toll last year also forced the union to use more test players than usual.

With the lucrative adidas contract secure until 2019, a new, improved broadcast deal imminent and currency hedging in place, the NZRU can easily wear the overspend long term.

There is, however, a short-term impact - which is being felt by players such as Greg Somerville, Aaron Mauger and Carl Hayman who are looking to resume their careers in New Zealand.

Exiled All Blacks are discovering the NZRU is not prepared to break the bank to bring them home.

The process of evaluating what returning players are worth has been tightened. Albeit there were injury complications but the low impact return of Luke McAlister has highlighted the difficulty of integrating players after time spent in the lower tempo, kick-and-scrum rugby up north.

McAlister has become an unwitting test case. A regular All Black at just 24 when he left, there was confidence he would be able to return to test football with minimum fuss after his two years with Sale.

His battle to recapture his 2007 form has changed attitudes within the NZRU over overseas stints.

Portrayed as career enhancers, it's apparent time abroad has holistic value in broadening horizons but doesn't necessarily enhance rugby skills.

In the case of Mauger, if his body can hold up and he can prove his fitness, he could again become a vital member of the Crusaders. But at 29, and having not played in the Southern Hemisphere for almost three years, he's no certainty to show the required form to win more test caps.

There is also a growing sensitivity around the volume of players who want to return after short stints overseas.

McAlister and Chris Jack, who left immediately after the last World Cup, are now back with the stated aim of playing at the 2011 event.

Hayman and Mauger are well down the track towards a return and talks with Somerville are ongoing - and again, all three want to be All Blacks again.

"We don't want to get into a cycle of the best players disappearing in the middle two years of a World Cup cycle," says NZRU chief executive Steve Tew.

"We don't want young players to come through and then get a slap in the face. But having said that, we have to make sure we have the best possible side on the paddock.

"There is a cost in bringing guys home and it does sent messages to those guys who have stayed here and toughed it out.

"There is no doubt some players get more out of going up there. It's a different style of game and it takes a while to come back and adapt - which is not surprising when you look at the weather they are playing in."

Hayman is the exception, as even though he has been at Newcastle since 2007, the All Black coaches remain convinced he's still the best tighthead prop in the world.

The NZRU have made him their best offer and are now waiting to see if he accepts it ahead of bigger deals put on the table by Clermont, London Irish and Newcastle.

"There is a balance and to use Carl as an example - the first thing we have to ask is - does he actually want to come home and be part of it? We have gone to some lengths to make sure that he does. Then we ask, what can we afford?

"He wants to come back, the coaches are convinced he remains a world class player and would make a significant contribution in the next 18 months.

"We have put what we can afford in front of him. If Carl does come back, what does that do to the three or for props who have stayed here and worked really hard? Some of them may be disillusioned and decide to leave."