Scooter accident victims up the ante
The on and off-field benefits for top Kiwi players in Japan are proving very attractive. Richard Knowler reports.
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Former All Blacks halfback Andy Ellis unexpectedly fell in love with rugby again when he got on the tools in Japan.
NZ Rugby shouldn’t be surprised to learn a former employee is so enthusiastic about the virtues of playing in Japan, given the amount of talent flying off its books to play there, on short and long-term contracts.
The problem for NZ Rugby is how to convince All Blacks and Super Rugby players to stay in New Zealand – because it’s clear and obvious the tap that controls the flow of players to the east Asia market has been fully opened.
Ellis, 35, may have already followed some team-mates into retirement if he hadn’t discovered how agreeable life can be with the Kobelco Steelers club in the Top League.
It’s unlikely the halfback, who will soon leave Christchurch to return to Kobe to represent the club for a sixth consecutive season, will be telling the most vital commodities in the sport – the players – anything they don’t know.
There’s excellent money to be made in Japan, that’s obvious. Although former All Blacks can do very well, the wages aren’t in the same ball park as those offered by rich clubs in Europe.
Ellis, who played 28 tests for the All Blacks and more than 150 games for the Crusaders prior to calling it quits in New Zealand in 2016, says the extras make a deal with a good club so worthwhile.
Simple things like not having to wait all day to participate in games under lights suddenly became a big deal for him; it reminds him of the days when he played club footy with his mates in Christchurch.
‘‘After coming out of a long career in New Zealand, I really fell in love with rugby again,’’ Ellis said. ‘‘We play at 1pm, then get on a train and go back and have a big BBQ and a few beers together.
‘‘It is a really nice get together. You get up, grab your kit, play and then have a good time with your mates. The sun is shining and you are running around. It is really cool.’’
Then there is the long off-season, which enables Kiwis to return home for up to four months – an impossible dream for anyone contracted to clubs in Europe.
Kobelco, one of the glamour clubs in Japan, won the Top League final this year. Former All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith is the director of rugby and ex-All Blacks star first-five Dan Carter is the big name on the roster.
Because the club is owned by a company, and not reliant on sponsors for financial input, the players have fewer commercial obligations outside of training and playing. For New Zealanders with families, that’s another big plus. Instead of having to attend corporate functions making small talk with strangers before they ask for the inevitable selfies, they can spend more time helping out on the home front.
‘‘Anywhere else in the world, you have sponsors,’’ Ellis says. ‘‘In New Zealand there was often Monday or Tuesday nights, or Friday afternoons, when you finished training and you had to go for promotional commitments.
‘‘It is nice to be able go home and be with the family. I think that is a thing that is quite attractive to a lot of the high-end guys as well.’’
Initially, Ellis split his seasons between the Crusaders and Kobelco, before retiring from New Zealand in 2016.
All Blacks captain and No 8 Kieran Read has confirmed he will play for the Toyota Verblitz club in 2020, and blindside flanker Liam Squire will join NTT Docomo on a two-year deal. All Blacks lock-blindside flanker Jackson Hemopo has also announced he won’t renew his contract with NZ Rugby and the Highlanders at the end of his year, freeing him up to join the Mitsubishi Dynaboars for the 2020-21 seasons.
Test stars Beauden Barrett, Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick are reportedly considering short-term deals in 2020 and a raft of other All Blacks, including Ryan Crotty and Matt Todd, could also head north.
Ellis’s advice is to join a club with a good coaching structure, and not be isolated from friends and team-mates in terms of accommodation.
It takes Ellis just seven minutes to bike to work, and there is an international school within walking distance from home. ‘‘If we didn’t have that for our nineyear-old that would be a massive challenge.
‘‘Living arrangements are also very important, especially for those with families. We have got a really good crew, all in the same apartment block. The partners all get along well, there are a lot of Kiwi kids running up and down between apartments.’’
The structure of the next couple of Japanese seasons is yet to be confirmed. No top-level domestic competition will be organised this year, with a lower-tier tournament to be staged prior to the World
‘‘After coming out of a long career in New Zealand, I really fell in love with rugby again.’’
Former All Blacks halfback Andy Ellis
Cup. It is yet to be decided whether two Top League competitions will be played in 2020, effectively meaning some players could earn double their salary for a year’s work.
The pre-season in Japan is long, but the competition is much shorter than Super Rugby. Training starts late April, even though the league might not get going until October. Depending on the structure of the season, less than 10 round-robin games could be played prior to the finals.
Games are not as tough as Super Rugby, although Ellis noted that the trainings are similar to what he experienced at the Crusaders.
Many of the Japanese players are employed by the company that owns the team and are listed as amateurs. Depending on their vocation, they arrive at training in suits or overalls, returning to work after training.
‘‘They have the option of going professional, but they love it because they have got a job after rugby,’’ Ellis said. ‘‘They sort of work their way up, and then when they do retire from rugby they will be in a management-type role at the company because they have been there for so long.’’