Hurricanes boss Avan Lee has admitted he was caught off guard by Ardie Savea's recent rugby league comments but he's confident he can hold on to his star loose forward.
While on the Ice Project podcast earlier this week Savea admitted he has a big interest in playing rugby league during his career, later revealing the chance to play for Samoa as a driving factor behind his thoughts.
Lee told RNZ the comments blindsided him.
"It was a surprise...(but) I don't think it's serious. It's a comment he's made to a rugby league guy on a podcast so we have had a joke about it to be honest," said Lee.
"We are not worried about Ardie leaving the Hurricanes or rugby. A lot of athletes have an interest in other sports, they watch other sports and he's expressed an interest in rugby league and we don't see it as any more than that."
It matches comments made by Hurricanes assistant coach Chris Gibbes earlier this week, who said the club isn't buying into all the noise.
"If you look at it, he's a competitive athlete and he's not the first guy to talk about different codes," Gibbes said.
"But we haven't really talked about it too much because at the end of the day, Ardie is part of us and he's working his way back into our team and helping us prepare as well as we can for the game."
Assistant Chris Gibbes says their priority is getting Savea fit, not his comments that one day he’d like to play league.
Savea's current contract with New Zealand Rugby and the Hurricanes ends in 2021, meaning a potential code-swap could happen as early as 2022.
Lee said the club hasn't spoken to Savea about renewing his contract and his recent comments haven't made them feel pressed to address it.
"We haven't had any talks with Ardie or his agent formally...and neither have New Zealand rugby. For us it's a non-issue and he's a hundred per cent focused on getting back on the field."
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