To underline the push for changes, Sharrock recalled a Nike slogan.
“In order to remain No 1 you have to think and act like you’re No 2,” he said. “Rugby in New Zealand for too long has thought and acted like it’s No 1 when, quite frankly, it isn’t at the moment so we need to take a good look at what we need to do.”
While NZR has, historically, retained most of its elite talent for the All Blacks, modern players, particularly those not guaranteed starting positions, are increasingly leaving younger to cash in abroad. This raises the question of whether the national team holds the same lure it once did.
“No,” Sharrock said. “And that’s a realisation that needs to be understood. I won’t mention names but I could speak to 24-year-old All Blacks who are talking about what happens after the World Cup. That was never the case. Once you got that jersey you’d have to get the chisel to get it off your back. You’d never give it up.
“That’s not a slight on the jersey. It’s part of the generation we’re dealing with.”
In the age of instant gratification and TikTok attention spans, the next generation wants everything immediately.
Sharrock says rugby league is, at present, doing a much better job of selling the dream through clearly defined pathways to scoop up many of New Zealand’s emerging talent.
As 35 players prepare to leave New Zealand Super teams after this season – and with many other leading All Blacks expected to depart after next year’s World Cup – worries persist about the production line’s ability to fill those sizable voids.
“You’re seeing players choose rugby league by choice because it’s shinier, it looks great on television, and the opportunities appear to be there,” Sharrock said.
“We need to try and get the All Blacks jersey as strong as it was but the world has changed.
“It’s the way it is for the foreseeable future. Our footballers want it now. We’ve got 18-year-olds playing rugby league who think they should be playing NRL. It would kill them, but they think they’re ready for it.
Recruitment-wise, league scouts are far more aggressive in their pursuit of talent, often approaching teenagers as young as 14.
“A lot of players are choosing rugby league more than ever. It was a rarity back in the day that rugby league would figure in the thinking.”
Sharrock referenced former All Blacks blindside Liam Squire, saying he rejected interest from the Canberra Raiders, and the late Sione Lauaki who flirted with joining his brother Epalahame at the Warriors, as those rare cases.
“Now Harry Inch, a top-end player out of Tasman, he wanted to go to league and regretted he went through the rugby pathway. Saumaki Saumaki was built for rugby league, wanted to play rugby league. Tom Perkins out of Nelson College, No 8, 6-foot-5 [1.95m], he wanted to play rugby league. They’re just recent examples and there’s more and more of them every day because it’s exciting and they’re playing in a meaningful [development] league.
“Rugby needs to get really sharp in their recruitment rather than thinking everyone will swim in the pond and we’ll take them if they get to the other side.
“There’s major concerns. Anecdotally when your schoolboys team gets beaten by 85 points by Australia last year that speaks to some of the depth we’re looking at.
“It may be a year it didn’t click for that side. But the competition for talent has now proliferated. You’ve got basketball, which is also one of the highest growth sports in our country. When we’re looking for our big men a lot of them are playing that game.
“Rugby needs to get down in the trenches, win the battles, provide pathways and persuade these guys that this is a game they should be playing.
“That’s different thinking for rugby because it used to be everybody wanted to be an All Black. That’s changing.
“Even the Pacific Islands. Rugby league is now very active in recruiting direct from there. We’ve inherited so many quality players but we need to wake up because we’ll find that flow of talent is not coming here to our major schools either.”
Sharrock also advocated for Super Rugby teams to fully privatise to increase revenue and help retain players. That would, however, require NZR to break from their central contracting model to allow Super Rugby franchises greater control of their player payments.
“If you want to engage with an investor you need to give them the properties to try and make a profit and to have control over their recruitment, pathways, depth chart. The time is now to have this conversation.
“If you talk to a franchise at the moment they can’t make money unless they win a final. That needs to change. If you look at rugby league the NRL governs the game, the clubs run the day-to-day business.”
Sharrock on:
Hurricanes wing Fehi Fineanganofo’s future, having signed a two-year deal with Newcastle:
“Rugby has been a professional sport for 30 years. It’s time to step up and start treating it as a commercial transaction. NZ Rugby had the opportunity to contract Fehi. What they put on the table was nowhere near the match of what it was. His performance has then ramped up and they have said they now want to hold him. That’s fine. Go and have a commercial conversation with the person with the contract and see if you can do a deal. The cut and thrust of that is happening daily in rugby league and other sports globally.”
Richie Mo’unga having to play provincial rugby – after returning from three seasons in Japan – before being eligible for the All Blacks this year.
“It’s a no-brainer, let’s mature ourselves. He’s been brought back for a reason. We’re short in that position and he’s world-class. He should go straight in. Change the rules. You have the ability to do that. It doesn’t mean you have to do it for everyone. The next one may not get that. We’re about winning at the top end to make sure the All Blacks regain No 1 in the world. I don’t see the downside in doing it. I shake my head.”
How a Super Rugby draft could boost interest:
“Now 95% of Super teams have got their squads sorted for 2027. If I was an NPC player playing for a professional career – and, yes, they’ve introduced wider training squads again – but what am I playing for?
“To me you need to say there will be a minimum five spots available to be announced at the end of the NPC via a draft system.
“That makes each Super team identify who they are looking for. The fan is watching NPC and every week the media, the marketing machine, is talking about who’s hot, who’s not. The talk shows are about the young kid who will slot into the Chiefs.
“Then ultimately you have a draft day. Try and create something for the fan. For the life of me I can’t see why we can’t do that.”
Welcoming mid-season trades:
“Weekly I’m talking to rugby league clubs who are looking to move and trade players. They’ve had injuries, they need someone in, can we do this deal? You get it through the Warriors, which creates great conversations through the fan base. We know what the Warriors fan base is doing.
“Rugby must start being more agile. We can’t keep doing what we’ve always done if we want to get a different outcome.”
Liam Napier is a Senior Sports Journalist and Rugby Correspondent for the New Zealand Herald. He is a co-host of the Rugby Direct podcast.
