Salmon heading to the Blues
It’s fair to suggest that hardly any Super Rugby squad predictions included young Tasman Makos prop Isaac Salmon.
But the Blues obviously know quality when they see it so when they came calling, a gob-smacked Salmon was only too willing to answer.
In just one season, the former Nelson College First XV player has progressed from club player to provincial rookie and now on to an unexpected Super Rugby contract.
Salmon was one of 19 Makos players confirmed among New Zealand’s five 2018 Super Rugby squads last week and no-one was genuinely more surprised than him.
‘‘I definitely wasn’t expecting it but I’m grateful to have the opportunity given to me, I’m pretty excited about it,’’ he said.
Salmon admitted that he’d heard some whispers that he might be in the reckoning but only received official confirmation a month ago that he was heading to the Blues.
The 21-year-old 110kg tighthead prop wasn’t even initially named in this year’s official Tasman Makos squad. But as the team’s front row stocks began to diminish, Salmon received his chance.
Experienced Highlanders and Tongan international prop Siua Halanukonuka went down in the very first game with a foot injury while young Waikato import Ryan Coxon continued to struggle with damaged ribs. And with Kane Hames and Tim Perry also called up to the All Blacks’ camp, Salmon was forced to seriously re-evaluate his unexpected promotion.
Certainly at the start of the season, a Super Rugby contract clearly wasn’t part of his season plan. He’d intended it to be purely a transition year as he adjusted to the more rarified air of provincial rugby.
‘‘I wasn’t thinking about Super Rugby at all, I was just taking it one step at a time. I was lucky enough to get into the Tasman team so I was just trying to play well there and focus on that.’’
Despite growing up within the Crusaders’ catchment, Salmon said that he had absolutely no qualms about heading to New Zealand’s northern most franchise.
‘‘At the end of the day, it was an opportunity for me and I’m still only pretty young, so it doesn’t really bother me.’’
A demanding debut Mitre 10 Cup season, in which Tasman lost to Canterbury in the premiership final for the second straight season, certainly opened the young prop’s eyes.
‘‘I managed to get a few games and get a feel for the Mitre 10 Cup and what the level is like.
‘‘I’ve learned a bit just around the professionalism that you need to have in a professional rugby environment and it’s obviously going to be a lot different in Super Rugby, another step up, so I’m looking forward to that and learn- ing a whole lot more.
‘‘It’s going to be another step up from Mitre 10 Cup so I’m going to have to get physically and mentally right for that.’’
Salmon will at least have some sort of support base awaiting him in Auckland as his sister lives there. The Blues officially assemble on January 6 following a December camp.