Perenara backed to cope with NRL

Roger Tuivasa-Sheck reckons All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara is tough enough to handle the code switch to play hooker in the NRL.

The Warriors captain is most likely right. Perenara has been put through the wringer countless times in his 100 plus Super Rugby games and 69 tests for the All Blacks.

But it’s worth pointing out, he’s unlikely to say Perenara couldn’t handle the defensive workloads of defending in the middle in the 13-man code when they could potentially be All Blacks team-mates next year once Tuivasa-Sheck completes his own code hop to join the Blues.

For that to happen, Perenara, who is off-contract at the end of the year, would need to recommit to New Zealand Rugby and that is up in the air following a dramatic report suggesting he could join NRL powerhouse the Sydney Roosters and All Blacks great Sir John Kirwan calling on NZR to not re-sign Perenara for 2022 and beyond.

Despite Tuivasa-Sheck’s kicking game needing to develop massively when he does switch to the Blues next season, he arguably carries far more transferable assets than Perenara would from a union halfback to a rugby league hooker.

Finding the middle ground between a genuine desire to switch codes and a player agent’s advertising pitch for an off-contract client is often murky at best but after making the leap himself, Tuivasa-Sheck is backing Perenara to challenge himself in the NRL.

He described himself as a big fan of Perenara’s and doesn’t see physicality being an issue.

‘‘You can’t fault class and TJ is class and I think no matter where he goes, he’ll do well,’’ Tuivasa-Sheck said.

He’s backing Perenara to adjust to the new techniques and wrestle required in the NRL but there is no escaping the fact it’s an almighty challenge.

‘‘It’s definitely different but he’s a tough player, he’s built tough,’’ TuivasaSheck said.

Hookers currently fill the top five spots on the NRL’s total tackle stats for 2021 with the Warriors’ Wayde Egan sitting in seventh.

Egan averages 44.8 tackles per game but the highest average belongs to, another hooker, Andrew McCullough with 53.8 tackles per game.

If Perenara were to play the full 80 minutes in a union game, he’d be unlikely to make more than 15 tackles.

South Sydney Rabbitohs hooker Damien Cook, one of the best dummy half exponents in the game, has regularly spoken of how hard he has needed to work to adjust to the defensive side of the ball under the new rules that have dramatically sped the game up.

Tuivasa-Sheck’s Warriors team-mate Peta Hiku is also keen to see Perenara attempt a cross-code switch but raised the obvious defensive demands.

‘‘I think he’d be a good dummy half but in our game at dummy half the number of tackles they make, it might affect his game but it would be good to see how he goes,’’ Hiku said.

And it’s not just the new defensive skill sets that need to be learnt. In the post-Cameron Smith era, the modern hooker is required to direct play and act in a playmaking role.

There’s no doubt someone of Perenara’s leadership, professionalism and talent could do this but given he will turn 30 before next season starts, the question will be how long would the adjustments take to get him up to speed.