Pip Love, Liv McGoverne and Mia Anderson have also been brought in on interim contracts as injury cover.
My brain has been whirring as loudly as an old laptop fan since the contracted Black Fern squad for the 2024 season dropped. These announcements are the best glimpses we get into the minds of our Black Ferns coaches and management. Telling us where it is they think the investment is needed in our national game.
There has been a steady increase in total number of contracted Black Ferns since professionalism began. From 30 in 2022 to 35 in 2023 and now a full squad of 40. 40 would be a healthier number were it sitting upon a rock solid domestic offering. But 40 right now is the total number of women that are full time rugby players in New Zealand. So this figure represents a relatively small investment to cover a growing list of pressures on our national game.
The NRLW is coming closer to home with the Warriors rejoining the competition next year. This shouldn’t cause a headache for the Black Ferns current crop of talent leading into the Rugby World Cup but will be more of a feature in the years to come.
Allan Bunting reflected at the press conference on Tuesday, that while NRLW is watching our players, his team can also watch there’s. So while there isn’t enough domestic games at that level being played, the NRLW is providing another place for player development.
The trouble with this though is that you’re letting talent walk down different paths. Paths that may lead them to an international career in different countries and codes. This path walks through Australia where a lot of the current activity for Fijian, Samoan and Tongan rugby is based. This helps players become fully aware of all their options which is great for them but not that flash for NZR while their union is still yet to put their best foot forward.
It’s not impossible to coax top talent to come back the other way. Katelyn Vaha’akolo is an example of this. But outsourcing your domestic competition leads to headaches. Look at the wrestle Ireland, Scotland and Wales have had to try and give proper domestic rugby a crack after their player base has been built into the foundation that England Rugby now lords over.
Time is running out for New Zealand Rugby to move and lay that foundation. To build a structure worthy of retaining our talent and taking it to the next level. That’s the context in which this announcement is being made. Now, let’s get into the detail.
There were 40 named but actually only 13 contracts up for grabs at the time of the announcement. This is part of the ghost of coaches past that are haunting currently selection. A couple of players are currently on multiple year deals whereas others like Chryss Viliko, Charmaine Smith and Sophie Fisher were signed on after last year’s announcement. All of this means that the limited pot for investment is restricted even further.
So the Black Ferns would have been making line calls based on current squad make up and where it is they need to develop over the next year to set the side up best for a World Cup defence.
One person I knew would be watching this all unfold as obsessively as I was is Black Fern #188, Les Elder. So I called her up and we spoke about it. Then I remembered to hit record - ha! So for the rest of this write up you will see a few of her observations alongside my reckons, starting with this:
A few girls have made it off the benches from Aupiki - Maia Joseph, Kahlia Awa, Marcelle Parkes, Atlanta Lolohea - and have got contracts. You don't see that often.
- Les Elder
Les isn’t wrong and let’s be real, if this was an All Black selector making these calls, folks would be flipping tables. I think this is a reflection of just how little there is outside of our paltry Aupiki seasons, that talent must immediately be rocketed up to the top of our high performance ladder when it shows promise.
Maia Joseph is a name that’s been around for a while now which feels odd to say about a 21 year old. She was involved in both the 2021 Super Rugby exhibition match and the Black Ferns XV side last year. She was the 2022 Fiao'o Fa'amausili medal winner, the award for the Farah Palmer Cup player of the year. And yes, Joseph is Jamie’s daughter.
So while she might not be as well known to the rugby viewing public just yet, she is a known quantity within NZR high performance spaces.
Another famous rugby name is Lolohea. That’s Martha Mataele’s maiden name and Atlanta is the first of the younger Lolohea’s to follow in their big sister’s footsteps. Given the spread of ages and experience currently in the hooker position, Lolohea’s inclusion is a selection with eyes on the future.
Last week, when I summarised the performances in the Aupiki season, I named Kahlia Awa as a potential halfback call up. Yes, she spent most of the season gripping the pine behind Mel Puckett but her touches when she entered the fray were golden.
Hannah King and Maama Vaipulu were also on my list of players to watch for the season ahead. King coming good just when the Black Ferns are on the hunt first five talent. Vaipulu topping all the right stats in Aupiki and last year’s FPC to come through.
One thing about Bunting is he is much more sensitive to selecting based on form than we have seen from the Black Ferns in the past. This trio of Awa, King and Vaipulu are testament to that.
I've seen in the past where they have found these young, amazing talents, you know? Brought them and then the environment, the occasion, has actually been the thing that's sent them backwards.
I just hope to have that wraparound support sorted for them. Like really crossing all the T's, dotting the I’s for these young ones coming through. So they’re not just a one hit wonder year.
- Les Elder
Monica Tagoai and Marcelle Parkes were first called into the Black Ferns back in 2018 and make their return together this season. Kaipo Olsen-Baker has built herself back from injury after giving us a little taste of her potential back in 2022. And Aldora Itunu is back in form after welcoming her first child.
This group contains some of the most interesting storylines from this announcement. The headline of which is the return of Monica Tagoai.
The world of women’s rugby has shifted rapidly since Tagoai last ran out for New Zealand in 2018. Professionalism has slowly kicked off in the established rugby nations and opportunities have opened up for the emerging ones. Eligibility laws have loosened somewhat and the WXV has been introduced, offering the games best attempt at bridging the gap of the disparate resources of rugby nations.
Tagoai was set to take advantage of one side of that equation and now is benefiting from the other. Just as she was about to sign on for Samoa as they offered her the opportunity to transfer and return to international rugby, New Zealand Rugby swooped in and offered her a contract.
So the eligibility games have officially kicked off in this part of the game. It’s a worry for me as our nation (and other established ones) have a history of taking a lot more than they give to our Island neighbours. A worry too that it’s reliant on good people rather than good policy to prevent exploitation.
Tagoia’s form and talent deserved this recall. It just worries me that Samoa’s interest might have been the thing to finally get New Zealand to remember her phone number.
Hopefully the Black Fern's management are leading conversation around that. Like ‘Are you aware that we may take you on, you may play for us but we can't guarantee this is going to be year on year on year. And that it takes you out selection for the home country.’
- Les Elder
All the money in the world for a strong front row. That’s what Bunting’s choices tell you. 22.5% of the contracted players this year are props and that front row percentage grows to just under a third when you add hookers in.
His hand is forced due to a legacy of under investment in the tight five. From 2012 to 2020, NZR had a myopic focus on sevens. All of our talent identification systems and development opportunities were focused on those that could win gold. Hence why we now have loose forwards and outside backs coming out of our ears.
Unsurprisingly then, we are having to pour money into this area now to try and make up for lost time. Itunu is returning to form just in time to make a play for another World Cup. She was part of the squad that won in 2017 and her experience will be invaluable. Particularly for the green loosehead, Marcelle Parkes. If Parkes can learn to hold her own against Itunu, her conversion from flanker will be complete.
Game driver is such a crucial position. I wonder how many collective international games have been played? Because it would be less than 20 between Bayler and Hohaia and then you’ve got two new players in Kahlia Awa and Maia Joseph.
-Les Elder
Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu has more test match experience than the combination of all of our contracted half backs. If you push that out to include our first fives, she has played just under half of their combined test matches. Her omission is the wildest choice from amongst this list and speaks to a wider issue about how we don’t yet know how to manage players at the end of their careers.
Whereas Parkes has so much experience to pull on from her surrounding props, Awa and Joseph will be fending for themselves. Hohaia and Bayler are still in the early stages, still fighting to establish their careers, they aren’t in the same headspace that Marino-Tauhinu is to mentor.
I don’t know what exactly is going on with Krystal Murray. Bunting shut speculation down on her selection pretty quickly which made it feel like it’s still in discussion. I hope that we get to see her back out there sooner rather than later.
I honestly don’t know what else Martha Mataele could do to make her case for the Black Ferns. Surely she’s a player that gets invited into the camps and that might yet fight her way onto a team list.
Read this far? Congratulations, you love this stuff as much as I do.
With you,
Alice