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Hook, line and sinker

Initially reluctant, John Afoa has been convinced to re-invent himself as a hooker. GREGOR PAUL believed the switch could be a smart move.

Monday, 05 July 2010

Gregor Paul

CHANGE IS usually met with reluctance. For those affected it can be a scary time – trepidation is always the prevailing emotion which creates a resistance; a failure to see the potential merits of what is being proposed.

That was very much the case with John Afoa – a regular tight-head prop being gently nudged in the direction of hooker. When he was first asked to give the conversion some thought on last year’s European tour, Afoa more or less nodded, smiled and dismissed the idea.

The All Black selectors, without really putting the squeeze on were quite taken with the idea of Afoa slamming into the middle of the scrum. From where they were sitting, the idea had merit on several fronts.

On the collective scale, it had become obvious New Zealand was struggling for hookers – and not just in the short-term. Keven Mealamu was forced to miss the tour due to a serious arm injury and other than Andrew Hore and Corey Flynn, the selectors just couldn’t find anyone else they wanted to take away.

Aled de Malmanche had been the third hooker during the Tri Nations when Flynn had been unavailable, but it was apparent there was limited faith in him. He barely featured – even when the All Blacks were well clear against Italy in their final June test and the bench was being emptied, de Malmanche was only given a few minutes. That was his lot and by the end of the year the selectors had so little faith they opted to travel to Europe with just two specialist hookers – a risk indeed.

Hika Elliott, tried briefly in 2008 had fallen a long way. Dane Coles, highly rated by some, looked too small and had barely played for the Hurricanes. Jason Rutledge at the Highlanders was honest without ever really looking like an All Black which could also be said of his sparring partner, Jason MacDonald.

The reality, as could hardly be ignored, was that there were two world class hookers in Mealamu and Hore and Flynn a reliable test option.

But this was hardly future proof. Mealamu is 31, Hore is 32 and Flynn at 31 has been ravaged by injury all his career. There needed to be some action taken to ensure the All Blacks didn’t reach 2012 and find Mealamu and Hore with their feet up and Flynn, broken and ready to retire, too. What then?

A solution had to be found and Afoa made sense. He toured Europe last year as the third-ranked tight-head and missed out on a start against Italy when coach Graham Henry publicly revealed he held reservations about Afoa’s scrummaging.

The All Black coach said it was a frustrating flaw as Afoa was the country’s leading prop in every other department – he was mobile, carried the ball, made tackles and hit rucks. Allowances couldn’t be made though – scrummaging is a core role and no matter what else Afoa offered, if he couldn’t keep the right side of the scrum square, he couldn’t wear the No 3 jersey in a test.

At that stage the persuasion was gentle. It was talked about as an option – something to think about.

That changed a week before the All Black squad was picked for the June tests this year. Henry called Afoa to tell the Blues prop he’d missed selection. Henry then didn’t so much suggest as tell Afoa that if he wanted back in the fold, he had to prove he could play hooker.

“That was the feeling I got from talking to Ted [Henry],” says Afoa. “When I spoke to him, he told me he wanted me to play hooker. It is a big challenge but I said ‘okay’.

“If I can do it then it will give me more variety to my game. If I can cover all three positions, then it is going to give me a lot of options.”

And that is essentially what Afoa is going to reinvent himself as – the ultimate solution to any front-row problem. Need a tight-head? No problem, Afoa is your man. Need a hooker? No problem, Afoa is your man. Need a loose-head? No problem, Afoa is your man.

Yet for all his ambition to become a prop who can cover hooker, it might be that in time he becomes a hooker – full-stop. He seems such an obvious fit with the role that it’s almost a surprise it’s taken him so long to be persuaded to give it a proper go.

At 27, he has ample time to master the position and given his grounding as a prop who can cover both sides, mastering the middle berth is not likely to be an impossible task by any means.

Certainly, of the two set-piece skills Afoa will have to learn, scrummaging is the one that holds least concern. As a seasoned prop with 23 All Black caps, Afoa has a good feel for the craft. “I have played a lot on both sides of the scrum,” he says, “so that has given me a good understanding of what a hooker does and how the work of the two props affects that role.”

It’s the seemingly treacherous art of throwing to the lineout which is the skill that will determine his success or otherwise in the No 2 shirt. The lineout is critical. Everyone has seen the problems the All Blacks have suffered in this area. And when it doesn’t work, the whole game-plan goes out the window.

Even in his limited skills sessions at the end of last year, the All Black coaches could see Afoa had natural ability – befitting a man who handles as well as he does.

But throwing is not a skill that can be learned quickly or one that can be learned effectively in training alone.

As All Black forwards coach Steve Hansen said when talking about Afoa’s potential conversion: “From what we have seen, John has natural throwing ability. But the only way you can see whether he can throw under pressure is to put him under pressure.”

Afoa was put under that pressure when he played hooker for the New Zealand Barbarians against the Maori. He needs more game time and that is where the problems lie.

His initial reluctance to convert was partly because he was determined to make it as a prop, partly because he couldn’t see how he could get regular exposure to the position at the Blues where Mealamu is captain.

Afoa, like every other test player, wants to be part of the World Cup squad. To do so, he has to prove he can reliably cover hooker. In fact he has to do a little more than that and show that he could add some real energy and bite and potentially put pressure on Hore and Mealamu.

He’s talked to Auckland coach Mark Anscombe about playing a few games at hooker during the ITM Cup and he’ll try to make appearances there for the Blues next year.

But will it be enough? How much do the All Black coaches have to see to be convinced? No one can be sure although it would be fair to guess they won’t need to be won over on anything other than Afoa’s throwing ability.

“I have been practising so much, my fingers are bleeding,” says Afoa. “I’m probably about 70 per cent of the way there. I hit the target the majority of the time but not every time. But I know I have to do it in a game.”

The bigger question and perhaps the real intrigue is what Afoa does after next year. It’s possible that Mealamu may retire or even if he doesn’t, the opportunity would be there for Afoa to usurp him as the leading hooker at the Blues. And there has to be some excitement about how good Afoa could be if he played there regularly. He could become a great. He has the size, the aggression and the skills.

By 2012 he could be head and shoulders the best hooker in the country and while he may have half a mind to head offshore himself – the prospect of becoming an All Black regular could be hard to resist.

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