Hopes breakout star will stick with Southland Stags
“We've shown a lot of faith in him and we hope he'll return that. We've gone out on a limb and given him his opportunity."
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Breakout star Faletoi Peni is amongst a group of about “seven to 10” players Stags management are in the process of trying to re-contract for the 2025 NPC season.
Rugby Southland director of rugby Matt Saunders told The Roar Podcast this week they would work with about “seven to 10 players” to re-sign for 2025.
That’s on top of the “10 to 15” players who have already locked in for 2025.
The hope is second five-eighth Peni will be one of the players who will recommit for a second season in 2025.
Peni was initially handed a four-week trial with the Stags in the lead up to the NPC season before it was extended to a full season with Southland.
“[I] heard about this guy, so got on a Zoom call with him and his agent, and yeah, nice guy,” Saunders told The Roar Podcast.
“Not in the greatest shape, but you can't be the Auckland club player of the year twice in a row and be rubbish, so I liked what I saw as a person.
“We got him down for the four weeks. One week before we assembled, he came down and just sat on the bike for a week. Just biked and had a tough week.”
By the end of the round one win over Otago Peni had thrust himself into the Southland rugby spotlight on the back of an impressive display.
He continued to stand out as one of the Stags’ best attacking threats in 2024.
On Tuesday night he picked up both the Stags’ Rookie of the Year award and Rugby Southland Supporters Club’s Most Promising Player award.
Saunders said he hadn’t come across too many more skilled players in his time involved with rugby than Peni.
“I've played with Ben and Robbie - Ben Smith and Robbie Robinson - and lots of other talented players. There's not many more talented than Toi. Skill-wise, unbelievable.
“Some of the stuff he can do is phenomenal. And the difference between probably those other skilled players and him is he's actually big.
“Not real tall, and he should be lighter, but he's a big, strong guy.”
Saunders said Peni was someone the Stags obviously want to retain for 2025, and discussions around that would start to progress this week.
“We've shown a lot of faith in him, and we hope he'll return that. We've gone out on a limb and given him his opportunity.”
“He's got a young kid in Auckland… but we'll do everything we can to try and work through it.”
The ideal scenario would be for Peni to make a fulltime shift to Southland and work all year round with the Rugby Southland strength and conditioning staff and Stags coaches heading into a big 2025 NPC season which could propel him onto the Super Rugby stage.
Player reviews were held on Tuesday and Wednesday which Saunders said were really positive.
The coaching group also reviewed each other and they then talked through the priorities for re-contracting players.
“So hence having a ring Toi’s agent. He's one, obviously, and seven to ten others off the top of my head that we want to try and lock in.
“We need continuity. We had good continuity from last year to this year, which meant we got better. We need the same again.
“Also add some more pieces, and it would be great not to change the coaching crew.”