All Blacks back Will Jordan celebrates his try with Anton Lienert-Brown (L). Photo: Matt Impey / www.photosport.nz
Calls for a Super Rugby draft are growing among players, with Chiefs and All Black midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown throwing his support behind the idea.
Crusaders and All Black fullback Will Jordan also backed the idea.
Ahead of the Super Rugby Pacific season this weekend, Anton Lienert-Brown told RNZ having a draft is an awesome idea.
"If you look at other sports and what they are doing and at the end of the day, we're entertainment, we're no different to someone wanting to go to the movies. So, you've got to make it a good movie.
"We've got to make Super Rugby fun and interactive for the fans.
"You want to see player movement. You just look at what's happened in the NBA, there's been some massive trades over that trade period. No matter what those trades are, it's good for the NBA because everyone around the world's talking about it.
"In entertainment you need spectators and fans being engaged and constantly talking about it and I think that's what a draft does."
Chiefs centre Anton Lienert-Brown. Photo: Bruce Lim /www.photosport.nz
The Chiefs had been beaten finalists the past two Super Rugby Pacific seasons and they open their 2025 campaign against the defending champion Blues on Saturday night at Eden Park in a repeat of last year's title decider.
Lienert-Brown said he couldn't wait.
"If you want to know where you're at early on in the competition like you do, there's no harder test than to go up against the reigning champs at Eden Park. They've made it a formidable ground to play at and it's going to be great for our squad.
"It's the first game of the season and yes it does matter on points, but you also learn a lot of lessons for going forward. It's just a great test for us and probably the hardest test during the regular season."
The Chiefs hadn't won a title since 2013, and after losing the finals in 2023 and 2024, Lienert-Brown said they were as motivated as ever.
"Obviously, two years in a row we fell short. Last year in particular, we made it to the final, but got well and truly beaten which was frustrating.
"Though from last year there's a lot to be proud of, we lost some key leaders, players that will go down as legends of our club and New Zealand rugby as well. So to lose that level of leadership and come together and go all the way to the final, that was impressive.
"A lot of those young boys that had to step up into a role, they learned a lot and will be better for it this year."
Anton Lienert-Brown scores. Photo: Photosport
Lienert-Brown was confident the Chiefs had made the improvements they needed to go all the way in 2025, but he said the defending champion Blues deserved to be favourites.
"If you look at their squad, they got Beauden Barrett back and they've managed to retain most of their squad from last season," Lienert-Brown said.
"I think they probably surprised everyone last year with the simplicity they played the game. Obviously, Vern Cotter has done a great job up there and they're big, fast, talented boys and they're playing a game plan that really suits their athletes.
"What I'm really interested to see this year is how teams decide to combat that. No one figured it out by the finals last year, but I know we've certainly talked about it and I'm sure other teams have talked about how to stop that bully ball sort of attack and how to mitigate the threats they show."
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