It’s now yours, Smith tells Folau
Aaron Smith has revealed the role he played in persuading Folau Fakatava to re-commit to the Highlanders after the southerners kept their season alive with a 35-30 win against the Reds.
Fittingly, it was Fakatava who scored the matchwinning try in the final seconds after replacing Smith for the final 15 minutes of his final home game.
Fakatava has re-signed with the Highlanders until 2025 in major boost for the club, and Smith said he was leaving the No 9 jersey to a worthy replacement.
“One hundred per cent,” Smith said.
“And even with James Arscott and Nathan Hastie and the future No 9s here in the stadium tonight.
“I don’t want them to feel burdened by it and that was a big push for me around trying to get Folau to stay last year when he was talking about leaving.
“I said, ‘You can take this team to where you want to take it’. And he will next year, and however long he wants to stay.
“He’ll leave his own legacy in this jersey and this team, and he made a statement tonight. “That’s a big statement, a clutch moment. That’s what big game players there do and he’s one of those.”
Fakatava confirmed afterwards the pair have a “really close” relationship, with the halfbacks constantly competing with each other on the training field.
But, Fakatava is also his own man and he was definitive when asked if he was now ready to take the reins from his mentor.
“Yeh – I’m always ready,” he said.
“Tonight was funny because it was his last game, and I was convinced that I wasn’t going to jump on.
“I was letting him enjoy his moment for most of the game, and I didn’t expect to get on as early. Hopefully we can now finish the season strong with him.”
Highlanders coach Clarke Dermody said Smith had reminded Fakatava he wouldn’t be around forever in a key message to secure his retention. “I think anyone with Folau’s talents, they’re obviously looking for opportunity, and he’s had the best in the world sitting in front of him,” Dermody said.
“His game time has been limited, but I think everything he’s learnt off Aaron is worth its weight in gold.
“It was probably a word (from Smith) that, ‘I’m not going to be here forever, in the next year I’m off’. And that was known for a long time, so that probably helped his decision as well.”
Smith has such faith in Fakatava that he told teammates on the Highlanders bench that the explosive halfback would catch the Reds napping in the final stages if they even gave him a hint of an opportunity, so his burst down the blindside was no surprise.
“One-on-one on the blind, you don’t give that to Folau Fakatava,” Smith said. “It’s over, and he shut the door.”