‘Triple T’ open to returning to rugby league
It’s rugby which has Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi’s full attention at the moment, but the Chiefs halfback is open to the possibility of returning to rugby league in the future.
The 23-year-old was a former dual operator in his time at Rotorua Boys’ High School - 15-man code on Saturday mornings, then
13-man game in the afternoons. League saw him go as far as representing the WaiCoa Bay Stallions in the national premiership in 2013 and playing for the New Zealand Residents 18s against the Australian Schoolboys, before he turned down an opportunity to join the Melbourne Storm’s under20s setup later that year.
‘‘I had to break down things, and with family priorities and all that kind of stuff too,’’ said Tahuriorangi, who has a five-yearold son. ‘‘I just had to try and weigh up my options, and I’m just happy with the result I decided, with rugby.
Interestingly, despite being a halfback in rugby through the grades, the man they call ‘Triple T’, wasn’t a half or hooker in league, but a centre/winger.
‘‘I always was quick, and back at school my skin folds, my fat percentage, was a bit high,’’ he said. ‘‘I found with league it’s a stop-start game so you can get away with a bit more cushion, a bit more bulk.
‘‘League, the fearlessness of how the players just run into the carries and the tackles, everything is just ‘boom’. In rugby you might get a big hit now and then, but most of the time it’s all finesse, chop tackles, and it’s a flow-on game.’’
Tahuriorangi’s code dipping doesn’t end there - he represented the New Zealand under-19s in touch, and still plays competitively in summer for a Rotorua-based side, which he said helps out for rugby in terms of skillset, stamina, endurance and speed.
At the moment, though, it’s in the thick of the Super Rugby season that he finds himself, and he’s coming off some increased exposure, getting two starts in the last three games, with Brad Weber rotated to the bench against the Sunwolves then out of last weekend’s Blues match with a wrist injury.
‘‘You just try and make the most of your opportunities you get given,’’ Tahuriorangi said. ‘‘I was happy with my performance, always willing to learn, so always trying to get better.’’
He said nothing really changed in terms of the mindset for a bench role compared to starting because you had to be ready for anything.
So with Weber still a question mark for Friday against the Hurricanes in Wellington, it’s just excitement for Tahuriorangi coming up against his old mob, who, after impressing for Taranaki and the New Zealand Under-20s in 2015, he spent the next two years at, playing 10 games, before linking up with the Chiefs on a two-year deal.
‘‘We’re all friends off the field but on the field it’s more playing for the jersey and playing for this team,’’ he said, adding that the barbs hadn’t been flowing early in the week.
‘‘I like to think of myself as a person that’s more action than words. But halfbacks are renowned for that kind of stuff so there’ll be a bit of banter out there, and it’s all for a good cause, so boys never take it personally.’’
It’s shaping as unlikely that Tahuriorangi will be able to engage with the man he backed up at the Hurricanes, though, with TJ Perenara nursing a knee injury. But Tahuriorangi isn’t so sure.
‘‘He’s a wicked man, so you just never know what he’s capable of doing, he could obviously play, with the mindset he has and the attitude that he gives - he’s all for that team, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he magically gets something done. I’ve got so much respect for him.’’