Former All Blacks captain Kieran Read has announced his return to his home province, Counties-Manukau.
By Scotty Stevenson
The 127-test veteran and two-time World Cup winner is currently contracted to Japan Top League club Toyota Verblitz, but has engineered a deal that will see him play a number of games for the Steelers in this season’s provincial championship before returning to Japan to satisfy the remainder of his contract obligations in 2021.
Read has not played a competitive match since January this year - the emergence of Covid-19 forcing him to return to New Zealand with his family soon after it became clear the Top League season would have to be put on hold.
Back in Christchurch, and looking leaner than he has done in many years, he says he's enjoyed watching Super Rugby Aotearoa “as a fan”, admitting there was a part of him happy not to be putting the body through the wringer in what was an intense 10 weeks of local derby action.
No stranger to Super Rugby success, Read has added his voice to a chorus of respected players calling for New Zealand Rugby to broaden its view on the future of the competition.
“I think we have to reach out to Australia. As a player, playing those teams that you don’t see everyday, like the South Africa and Australian sides, was great. I think Australia is where we need to be going at the moment.
“A Pacific Islands team would be great. We’ve got to get that right so it does create influence in the islands and it’s meaningful for them, rather than just chucking it here in New Zealand. That would be awesome if that could come about as it would really help that region. We’ve definitely got to keep those options open.”
The future of the Super tournament may be difficult to figure out, but the decision to link up with Counties-Manukau was a simple one.
“It was a dream of mine to play for the Steelers growing up. It was the team I supported and that was why I signed with them a couple of years ago. I didn’t think I was going to get the chance in my professional career but Toyota have given me the opportunity to get some rugby under the belt and I am thankful for that.
“I am on the downward stretch of my career so there is a finite time remaining to do what I do. This was too good an opportunity. I won’t be the guy out the front, leading and playing all the time. It’s about helping out the team as much as I can and certainly playing well when I am on the field.
The deal between the Steelers, Toyota and Read will mean the 34-year old will not play every match of the season. He says he will discuss those details with coach Tai Lavea in the coming week to figure out where he can best be utilised.
Read says even if he isn’t playing he is dedicated to helping the rest of the team and the coaching staff, sharing lessons learned throughout his long professional career.
“The main thing is to give back, and what better place to do that in the place I grew up,” he said.
He has special memories of Pukekohe Park, too, watching the great Counties-Manukau teams of the mid- to late-1990s with names like Lomu, Vidiri, Lidgard, Coe, Brain and the Marsh brothers. Read says he could list so many more, from games committed to memory on winter days spent on the embankment with his school mates and family.
“Tai wants this team to get back to those highlight days and I am looking forward to working with him.”
Read’s stint with the Steelers will mean he will commute to and from his home in Christchurch, Fortunately he’ll have a bed at his mother and father’s house in Te Hihi, on the southern edge of the Manukau Harbour.
“Mum will have a roast on and dad will have a couple of beers so I’ll be right,” he laughed.
There will be no expectation of captaincy. Read says he will turn up to the front of the bus (in rugby tradition, the more senior the player, the farther back on the bus he or she sits) and will happily go through any initiation required of a rookie.
He may also have to find himself a few extra weights.
“I haven’t set foot in a gym yet. I blame lockdown. I have a couple of dumbells and a swiss ball so that was me and I have just kept up with that routine - press ups and step ups. You can do a lot in your garage.”
Just what he can do in a season with the Steelers remains to be seen, but his presence in the side will be a massive boost to a province that has forever lived on the edge of a promise; a potentially potent blend of South Auckland style and rural rusticism. For the kid from Papkura and Rosehill College, this is more than a homecoming, it’s the fulfilment of his own promise.
Read is the second former All Blacks captain to sign with the Steelers. The first was Tana Umaga.
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