Blues and All Blacks loose forward Dalton Papali’i has given the clearest hint yet that he will leave for an overseas club before his contract in New Zealand finishes at the end of next year.
It is an open secret in rugby circles that Papali’i and former All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson did not see eye to eye, but there appears to be little chance the 28-year-old will extend his contract or even see out his current one despite the recent dramatic changes at the top.
“I’ve been here for nine years or so… I have a lot of things in perspective now,” he told 1News. “I want to grow the family and you hear a lot of people heading overseas to help their financial side out. This is home for me, where I grew up and I want to leave the jersey in a better place. I’m still weighing it up.”
Papali’i, the father of a daughter born last year, played only one Test last year – off the reserves bench in the third Test, a dead rubber, against France in July. He has played 37 Tests in total after making his All Blacks debut in 2018.
Papali'i, left out of the Rugby Championship and November squads, was reluctant to get into his relationship with Robertson, sacked in January midway through his four-year deal, but did reveal he was involved in the review which ultimately did for the former Crusaders man.
“I was yeah but I’ll keep that to myself,” Papali’i said.
Papali’i, who captained the All Blacks XV to three victories under head coach Jamie Joseph last November, added: “It was a bit of a crazy old year. Going back to Counties was probably the best thing for me because I fell in love with the game again.
"Playing with those boys who want to get to the next level and seeing how much knowledge they want to soak up and how hard they want to work brings you back down to earth.
“We started off in a tough way - 0-5 - but we turned it around and nearly beat [eventual champions] Canterbury in the quarters. It was a close game.”
Of Joseph, at good odds to be involved with the All Blacks from the middle of the year, he said: “I really had a good relationship with Jamie Jo and … I felt like I was back to my old self [at the All Blacks XV].
“I feel like I play better with the weight of being a leader. Going into the ABs XV, I got that role back again, the captaincy, and I took it with both hands. I enjoyed it and felt like I played well again.
“Everyone bought into the culture and it was a credit to Jamie Jo and the coaches – they set up the environment for everyone to be at their best and I loved it.”
The All Blacks XV enjoyed wins over the Barbarians, England A and Uruguay in November.
Of his time on the outer at the All Blacks last year, he said: “I’ve done some reflection on that and at the time you think ‘oh, I’m not good enough’, or ‘it’s a couple of men’s opinions that are holding you down’, but going back to Counties and the ABs XV reminds you about why you want to play.
“I was there when Shag [Sir Steve Hansen] and Fozzie [Ian Foster] were there holding the helm [at the All Blacks]. Seeing it change to Razor’s agenda – you could see there was a big difference.
“People spoke up and they had to have a review. We followed that process… I don’t really want to speak too much on that. What happened, happened.”
Papali’i, who has resumed the Blues captaincy in the wake of Patrick Tuipulotu’s shoulder injury – the big lock is expected to return in April – said becoming a father had changed his perspective.
“It’s helped ground me. I used to be really rugby focused. When you’re in this line of work the best thing is you have to be on every day coming into work. But you find a balance when you come home and there’s a dog at the door and your partner’s holding a baby.”
See Andrew Saville’s interview with Dalton Papali’i on 1News today from 6pm.
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