Bedwell-curtis bides his time
Crusaders quiet achiever Heiden BedwellCurtis jets off for Japan next week unsure if he’ll be back at the club in 2019.
The blindside flanker was the lone nonAll Black in the side’s starting forward pack in their 37-18 Super Rugby final victory over the Lions on Saturday.
Bedwell-curtis was thrust into the starting lineup after Jordan Taufua suffered a broken arm in their semifinal win against the Hurricanes. He turned in a strong showing in his 55 minutes before being replaced by Pete Samu, impressing with his powerful ball-carrying, firm defence, and work at the breakdown.
It capped off a pleasing second season with the Crusaders for the 27-year-old, who wasn’t initially offered a contract for 2018.
Bedwell-curtis started in 11 of 14 games and proved a reliable contributor when called upon by coach Scott Robertson.
Next week, he departs for Japan to take up a short-term deal with the Mitsubishi Dynaboars and is uncertain if he’s in the Crusaders’ plans for next year.
He confirmed he doesn’t yet have a Super Rugby contract with the back-toback champions, but will warrant consideration with his performances.
‘‘I’m not too sure what I’m up to next year. We’ll see how it goes, but going on from this year anything is possible.’’
Bedwell-curtis could still lock down a spot with the Crusaders, who have until the end of October to finalise their 2019 squad. Loose forward berths are at a premium with Whetu Douglas, who was a standout in five starts at No 8 last season before relocating to Italian Pro 14 club Treviso, rejoining the red-and-blacks.
If the Crusaders can’t fit Bedwell-curtis into their congested loose forward mix, he is sure to have other Kiwi suitors.
The Hurricanes, who Bedwell-curtis has previously been a wider training player for, could have interest following Brad Shields’ move to English club Wasps.
A builder by trade, Bedwell-curtis anticipated he’d be working on building sites around Palmerston North this year. He was called into the Crusaders’ squad as injury cover in pre-season and never left.
‘‘At the end of last year I was really gutted I didn’t get a contract, but then Razor [Robertson] rang up. I was only expecting to be down here for six weeks and I managed to stay for the whole season and start in a Super Rugby final.’’
Bedwell-curtis was set to captain Manawatu¯ again in the NPC, but after being contacted by Mitsubishi he had a difficult decision to make.
Turbos coach Jeremy Cotter gave him his blessing to take up the contract.
‘‘That was a really hard call I had to make to Jeremy Cotter and ask him if I could go.
‘‘He just said ‘you’ve got to take it up’. Opportunities like that don’t come around every day. I was gutted. I love the Turbos. They gave me a chance to make Super Rugby.’’
Bedwell-curtis reached his 50th game for Manawatu¯ in their final match last season.