Rugby: Retallick in no rush to decide on his future

Multimedia Journalist·NZ Herald·

5 Apr, 2015 05:30 PM4 mins to read

Chiefs and All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick calls the shots in the lineouts but has yet to make a decision about his career post the Rugby World Cup. Photo / Getty Images

Break may have world's best rugby player eyeing stint in Asia to take stress off body.

Brodie Retallick's return from injury against the Blues illustrated just why an offshore move could prove an appealing prospect.

Not the match itself - a self-described "rusty" performance as the Chiefs headed to the bye with back-to-back wins - but instead what preceded it.

Retallick's five-week absence with a shoulder ailment was by far the longest such break of his career. Despite an all-action style that sees his big frame dish out and receive his fair share of punishment, injury has previously restricted Retallick for only the odd week.

Still just 23, the lock has played 51 Super Rugby games and 35 tests since 2012, an immense workload that, while yet to impinge upon his abilities in the short-term, could take its toll in the long run.

So a stint in Japan, with all due respect to the level of competition in Asia, could double as a period of rest and recuperation. And that's without getting to the financial incentives, with the remuneration on offer to players such as Charles Piutau often too good to turn down.

It's a scenario that has created some anxiety surrounding Retallick's post-World Cup plans, and one the man himself did little to dampen.

"I'm just working through it," Retallick said of a lengthy negotiation process. "I'm in no rush to re-sign and we're just working through the process, so no doubt you'll find out in due course."

Both the All Blacks and the Chiefs, quite understandably, will hope what they find out is good news, with the world player of the year currently plying his trade on another level to his peers. That was less true of Saturday night's efforts -- plenty of commitment but little of the exceptional athleticism that sets apart his game.

But that was to be expected after such a lengthy lay-off, with the initial plan to give Retallick 60 minutes scuppered by a head knock to fellow lock Matt Symons.

"He looked like a guy who hadn't played a lot of footy recently," said coach Dave Rennie. "He has massive expectations and standards and so on, so it was really good for him to get some footy under his belt.

"He'll be better for it and he's got a week off now to tidy things up and obviously a big game after that."

Retallick agreed with his coach's assessment, with the 80 minutes more than doubling his season total.

"You can't really account for that match fitness, so the lungs were hurting. But I was happy to get out there and run around and another win before we head into the bye."

While far more comfortable playing the game than watching, Retallick was impressed by what he saw during his time on the sidelines, both from locking duo Mike Fitzgerald and Symons and the team structure overall.

The Chiefs have hit their straps only in patches but, with six wins from eight games, they are in a salubrious state heading into the back half of the competition, with the continued presence of Retallick hardly hurting their chances of a playoff push.

"We've got a few New Zealand derbies in the second half to the season," he said.

"So if we can start knocking some of those teams off then it's going to put us in a good spot heading towards that pointy end."