Honesty best policy for TJ
Wise counsel can be hard to come by.
For every well-intentioned hero worshipper, there are just as many folk who can develop irrational hatreds of our better rugby players. It can be as simple as a haircut or a tattoo or a pass that could’ve been thrown, but wasn’t.
When you’ve played as long and as well as Hurricanes and All Blacks halfback TJ Perenara, you learn to tune a lot of rugby’s background noise out. Even then, though, it would be natural if his attitude towards people hardened a little.
Perenara will make his 100th appearance for the Hurricanes when they host the Highlanders at Westpac Stadium tomorrow night. It’s a terrific achievement but not one he wants any praise for. Not from the public anyway.
He’s learned to be pretty selective about where he gets his feedback.
‘‘Yeah, my team-mates’ opinion; I care about what they think of me. I care about how my family think and my close friends,’’ Perenara said.
‘‘But, to be fair, the people who have a crack at me or don’t like me – that I’m not directly affiliated with – I couldn’t really give two hoots about.’’
Which isn’t to say the 26-year-old thinks he’s too good for the truth. Far from it. When you’re as driven to improve and succeed as he is, frank appraisals are essential.
They’ve helped Perenara get to the point where he’s joining Beauden Barrett, Dane Coles, Andrew Hore, Cory Jane, Ma’a Nonu, Julian Savea, Conrad Smith, Rodney So’oialo, Jeremy Thrush, Neemia Tialata, Tana Umaga and Victor Vito among the 13 men to play 100 games for the Hurricanes.
‘‘You’ve got the people around you whose judgment is purely based on what is best for you,’’ said Perenara.
‘‘They don’t care if they hurt my feelings or if what they’re telling me is going to upset me. If they know it’s best for me and my footy and my team, then they’ll tell the truth.
‘‘I have had that for a long time in my career now; people whose opinion I care about and know that I can go and talk to and their opinion does matter to me.
‘‘Having those conversations and having someone that I can talk to is something that’s important and all I would tell any young kid coming into the league is that that’s what they need.
‘‘They need that person that doesn’t care about the game, doesn’t care about the result. They care about them as a person and will tell them honestly how they think. Having that kind of connection with someone like that is very important.’’
It means it’s the man Perenara sees in the mirror that matters, rather than how many caps he has next to his name.
He dismisses the significance of Aaron Smith being tomorrow’s opposing halfback for similar reasons.
‘‘Nug [Smith] is a bit like me actually; we wait until the achievement’s actually accomplished before actually saying anything. Like a lot of people have said congratulations and stuff but I haven’t actually achieved anything yet,’’ Perenara said.
‘‘I could injure myself at training today, I could get injured in the warmup on Saturday.’’
One Hurricanes All Black who’s already cried off is lock Vaea Fifita.
‘‘Vaea’s got a bone bruise on the shoulder.
‘‘He probably could’ve played but we’ll use this week as one of his [two] All Blacks down weeks,’’ Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd said.
Murray Douglas will start alongside Sam Lousi in the second row, with Michael Fatialofa on the bench.
The other absentee from the team that beat the Crusaders 29-19 is bench forward Blade Thomson, who took a head knock.
Nehe Milner-Skudder is on the mend from his shoulder surgery and is being set to play against the Sunwolves on April 27.