All Blacks star Ardie Savea reveals he cut out the middle man in negotiating his newly minted contact with New Zealand Rugby.
The 28-year-old put pen to paper on a four-year contract extension this week that will see him remain at the Hurricanes through the end of 2023, with an option of an overseas move in 2024.
In typical Savea style, he posted a video on his Instagram account, interviewing himself, revealing he laid the terms of his contract out, dealing with NZR directly.
Savea says he is the first Kiwi athlete to do this and he hopes he has shown the way for others in the future.
"For me, it was about doing something different," Savea says.
"It was all about patience, changing the narrative, challenging the system, understanding that this wasn't going to be easy.
"This is something nobody has done before in New Zealand. Nobody has negotiated their own deal to make themselves up there in New Zealand in this calibre.
"I knew you would do a good job, I just didn't know people would let you do a good job," Savea said to his 'agent' alter ego.
"I feel like a lot of people don't understand that we are up against a lot.
"They tried to say you can't do a deal. They tried to say athletes should just stick to what they know. And we wanted to just show that we can do a lot more than just carrying the ball and tackling somebody.
"We can tackle a contract if we wanted to."
Savea says he is excited for the future and loves playing rugby in New Zealand.
"My family's happy here in New Zealand. We're well settled in Wellington. I guess to be able to sign another four years here in New Zealand, it's truly a blessing bro. You know I love playing this game, you know I want to leave an impact here,"
"There's a lot of guys that play the game and walk away with nothing. I think our main thing was making sure that we walked away with everything that we got while we were here. Knowing your value and getting what you're worth."
"I want to make sure our money's straight, making sure that we have financial freedom once we are done playing this violent game".
Savea has played 108 Super games for the Hurricanes and worn the All Blacks jersey in 59 tests since making his debut in 2016.
