Highlanders 2026
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@ARHS The flip of this is that this sort of things gets the casual fan talking a bit more - Super Rugby is in the stone age in that sense. Find me another serious professional sports league where you don't know the contract length of every single player on the roster - and further to that, a rough estimate of their salary.
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@frugby said in Highlanders 2026:
@ploughboy I could be entirely incorrect, but the way I read this, the Highlanders and Jacomb (through his agent) have gone public in an attempt to force the Chiefs arm.
I don’t know exactly when he signed on the line for 2027, but the Highlanders and Chuefs have been negotiating for months.
Then why do you think that is a good thing? It's just going to mean the next time a player wants to leave a franchise they're likely going to play hardball from the start because they don't want to have it all play out in public.
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My belief is that we are more likely to see Jacomb playing for the Highlanders than the Chiefs next year.
The Chiefs will be miffed with Jacomb's agent going public about him wanting to break contract. It changes it from a well substantied rumour to a fact.
It will rumble away for another couple more weeks in the media.
Paul Cully will drive the media coverage.
The next piece will be him approaching the Chiefs. They will say Jacomb is under contract for next year and that they won't comment about contractual matters. May be something about respecting Jacomb's seek a starting opportunity from 2027. That he remains part of their plans for 2026. The rest of Cully's article will be re-hashing recent pieces.
He will then ask the Rugby Players Assn and NZR. As well as ask the Highlanders if they want him next year.
Jacomb and his manager will get called in to Chiefs HQ and it will then be up to the financial deal between the two franchises. I just can't see how it is viable to keep him, with what his representation has said.
This has been a bold move from the Landers and Jacomb's management. The backroom negotiations clearly failed and they went for the nuclear option. The relationship between the Chiefs and the Landers will be fairly shot now too.
From an ethical perspective. I'm not comfortable with franchises and management stamping their feet and spilling the beans publicly to get what they want. Contracts should be honoured. Also, what comes around goes around. We will be pissy in the future if a talented young player we have on our books does the same back to us.
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@SouthernMann agree with all of this. Our Loose forward stocks, and outside backs are stacked are prime to be raided down the road. I could see young Will Stodart, Finn Hurley or Stanley Solomon being eyed up by a few franchises at the end of next season.
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@SouthernMann I’m more in the ‘things will eventually work themselves out’ camp and so don’t mind this sort of stuff.
When these things tend to happen there will be an evolution to contract structure, parameters around when players can officially talk to other teams etc like we see in other sports.
One challenge for super rugby is that the pool of players and number of contracts is small so a little more tighter regulation than say what the NRL have around this might be warranted.
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@handa457 said in Highlanders 2026:
@SouthernMann agree with all of this. Our Loose forward stocks, and outside backs are stacked are prime to be raided down the road. I could see young Will Stodart, Finn Hurley or Stanley Solomon being eyed up by a few franchises at the end of next season.
But don’t you think that is going to happen anyway regardless of how the Jacomb situation is playing out?
Players like those you mention will be competing for the same spots and playing time so as a natural course will look elsewhere and teams will be looking to if they show promise.
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@ACT-Crusader said in Highlanders 2026:
@SouthernMann I’m more in the ‘things will eventually work themselves out’ camp and so don’t mind this sort of stuff.
When these things tend to happen there will be an evolution to contract structure, parameters around when players can officially talk to other teams etc like we see in other sports.
One challenge for super rugby is that the pool of players and number of contracts is small so a little more tighter regulation than say what the NRL have around this might be warranted.
The thing with this particular move is it has just got a bit messy. It wasn't a secret that he was being chased and likely to leave in the long-term. No one wants to let quality players go, whether they are starters or depth guys like Jacomb. Teams also won't want player agents being publicly quoted saying my guy wants out.
As a few people have said, there needs to be a bit more transparency with signings re-signings. It adds to the fan experience and improves engagement.
In terms of keeping our guys. The best we can do is maintain culture. Other high performing teams can hoard players. We can too. Success is built on depth.
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@handa457 said in Highlanders 2026:
@SouthernMann agree with all of this. Our Loose forward stocks, and outside backs are stacked are prime to be raided down the road. I could see young Will Stodart, Finn Hurley or Stanley Solomon being eyed up by a few franchises at the end of next season.
I swear we released Josh Ioane a few years back with time on his contract remaining to the Chiefs lol, it left us with Mid Hunt and a past it Marty Banks, I think if the Chiefs were to release Jacomb now having Mckenzie & BOP 10 Lucas Cashmore hitting his straps it wouldn't be that disastrous?
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@ACT-Crusader Yes and no. Let’s take Stodart as an example and play out the Jacomb scenario the other way. He might get 4–12 games next season depending on how injuries go. In the meantime, one of TK Howden or Oli Haig could become an All Black (obviously not guaranteed, but not impossible either). He’s off contract next year but is still a young fella, so signs on for two more years. Then NPC 2026 and Super Rugby 2027 roll around. He has a blinder and makes the All Blacks XV, and starts being talked about for higher honours. But no matter what, he can’t dislodge Haig or Howden — and despite having blinders every game, he’s struggling to even make the 23 due to our depth. Hell, even if they don’t make the All Blacks, there’s every chance that without injuries, he struggles to make a 23.
So after the Super Rugby season in 2027, another franchise tries to poach him. He’d still have another year left on his contract, and normally we’d say “wait.” But the precedent is now there that if you don’t like your team, you can throw a hissy fit in the media and cause a scandal. Now, instead of waiting until 2028 to be poached, we lose him a year early. It starts undermining the contracting system in NZ.
Don’t get me wrong — I want to see Jacomb at the Highlanders next season. But in my mind, the way it’s playing out isn’t good, and it speaks to a failure of NZ Rugby to have appropriate policies and conversations behind closed doors to resolve it.
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@Grooter said in Highlanders 2026:
@handa457 said in Highlanders 2026:
@SouthernMann agree with all of this. Our Loose forward stocks, and outside backs are stacked are prime to be raided down the road. I could see young Will Stodart, Finn Hurley or Stanley Solomon being eyed up by a few franchises at the end of next season.
I swear we released Josh Ioane a few years back with time on his contract remaining to the Chiefs lol, it left us with Mid Hunt and a past it Marty Banks, I think if the Chiefs were to release Jacomb now having Mckenzie & BOP 10 Lucas Cashmore hitting his straps it wouldn't be that disastrous?
Pretty sure Ioane got shown the door after several instances of being a munter on the piss. We were just happy for someone to take him off our hands.
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@SouthernMann wasn't it a bit of both? He did get an early release. But equally I think everyone was happy to see him gone.
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@handa457 said in Highlanders 2026:
@SouthernMann wasn't it a bit of both? He did get an early release. But equally I think everyone was happy to see him gone.
Bit of a different scenario. One (Ionae) the team wanted to rid itself of. The other (Jacomb) in an ideal world the Chiefs would have kept.
With the Stodart scenario/other players scenario. Just have to maintain a good culture and get results. Other teams can keep their guys with decent rotation. The Chiefs have five ABXV and AB loosies? The Crusaders two All Black hookers. Hurricanes two AB tightheads. The Crusaders and the hoard of midfielders.
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@SouthernMann Appreciate what you’re saying, but I’m not sure it’s an apples-to-apples situation. Realistically, you can find ways to get five loosies into a 23 or rotate them well. But if you’re down to your third-string six, and you’ve got fit and firing options like Casey, Haig, Withy, Howden, Lasaqa (and probably Broughton in the mix) — plus solid lock depth so they’re not covering that position — suddenly it’s much harder to crack that 23.
That’s really the issue: it’s not about rotating our best five players, but whether there’s a realistic pathway for players six and seven to get meaningful minutes while contracted. And how they might start being poached while on contract more and more.
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@handa457 said in Highlanders 2026:
@ACT-Crusader Yes and no. Let’s take Stodart as an example and play out the Jacomb scenario the other way. He might get 4–12 games next season depending on how injuries go. In the meantime, one of TK Howden or Oli Haig could become an All Black (obviously not guaranteed, but not impossible either). He’s off contract next year but is still a young fella, so signs on for two more years. Then NPC 2026 and Super Rugby 2027 roll around. He has a blinder and makes the All Blacks XV, and starts being talked about for higher honours. But no matter what, he can’t dislodge Haig or Howden — and despite having blinders every game, he’s struggling to even make the 23 due to our depth. Hell, even if they don’t make the All Blacks, there’s every chance that without injuries, he struggles to make a 23.
So after the Super Rugby season in 2027, another franchise tries to poach him. He’d still have another year left on his contract, and normally we’d say “wait.” But the precedent is now there that if you don’t like your team, you can throw a hissy fit in the media and cause a scandal. Now, instead of waiting until 2028 to be poached, we lose him a year early. It starts undermining the contracting system in NZ.
Don’t get me wrong — I want to see Jacomb at the Highlanders next season. But in my mind, the way it’s playing out isn’t good, and it speaks to a failure of NZ Rugby to have appropriate policies and conversations behind closed doors to resolve it.
I think it is good, and that's exactly the way I want to see it play out. If you're good enough to start and can't under your current team, then move and compensate.
But then I care about the ABs first, and couldn't give much of a shit about any individual franchise over another. -
@reprobate said in Highlanders 2026:
@handa457 said in Highlanders 2026:
@ACT-Crusader Yes and no. Let’s take Stodart as an example and play out the Jacomb scenario the other way. He might get 4–12 games next season depending on how injuries go. In the meantime, one of TK Howden or Oli Haig could become an All Black (obviously not guaranteed, but not impossible either). He’s off contract next year but is still a young fella, so signs on for two more years. Then NPC 2026 and Super Rugby 2027 roll around. He has a blinder and makes the All Blacks XV, and starts being talked about for higher honours. But no matter what, he can’t dislodge Haig or Howden — and despite having blinders every game, he’s struggling to even make the 23 due to our depth. Hell, even if they don’t make the All Blacks, there’s every chance that without injuries, he struggles to make a 23.
So after the Super Rugby season in 2027, another franchise tries to poach him. He’d still have another year left on his contract, and normally we’d say “wait.” But the precedent is now there that if you don’t like your team, you can throw a hissy fit in the media and cause a scandal. Now, instead of waiting until 2028 to be poached, we lose him a year early. It starts undermining the contracting system in NZ.
Don’t get me wrong — I want to see Jacomb at the Highlanders next season. But in my mind, the way it’s playing out isn’t good, and it speaks to a failure of NZ Rugby to have appropriate policies and conversations behind closed doors to resolve it.
I think it is good, and that's exactly the way I want to see it play out. If you're good enough to start and can't under your current team, then move and compensate.
But then I care about the ABs first, and couldn't give much of a shit about any individual franchise over another.This hypothetical situation where we have other teams coming for our guys sounds good.
It says we have multiple guys standing up as the best players in their positions. Says we have enough players going well to be a dominant team. In this hypothetical situation we have turned the corner. Great.
Having quickly gone back to 2020 and looked over our old squads. I can only find one instance of a player chosing to leave for another NZ squad. It was Dillon Hunt. Who went to the Blues prior to retiring with concussion issues.
With success comes consequences. Just look at Penrith in the NRL.
As I said. Plenty of other teams have managed to rotate quality in positions.
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I think this Jacomb scenario is quite unique in the fact that the All Blacks potentially stand to benefit from it in a really sizeable way in a key position where we have few options. Would never happen with a forward, as there is plenty of game time to go around - likewise a halfback. Maybe an outside back or a midfielder, but there is 2-3 of those on the field at all times.
A starting Super Rugby first five is the one and the only, and they generally play a minimum of 65 minutes before getting subbed in an important game - so in that sense it is quite hard to force your way past an established AB in that position.
I don't really see this exact scenario repeating itself, and in truth, plenty of guys have been released from their contracts to go elsewhere in the past couple of years. That is literally how the Chiefs got Brodie McAllister this season.
You can say it is poor form from the Highlanders, but I also think it is very rare that a team tries to keep a player against their wishes. Jacomb doesn't want to move to the Highlanders now because he wants to play for the Highlanders, it ultimately boils down to the fact that this is his best route into the All Blacks in 2026, and given Mo'unga is returning, can he afford to wait a year?
Displacing DMac from the Chiefs 10 jersey is virtually impossible. Feels like now or never if he wants to be an All Black - and it should be pointed out in this situation, that there is no guarantee he is good enough for the ABs, but I think effectively denying the guy a chance, given all the circumstances is equally deplorable from the Chiefs.
