All Blacks star Aaron Smith believes Cameron Munster, Harry Grant and Cameron Murray would make excellent players if they ever considered switching to rugby union.
Eddie Jones bullishly suggested he raid the league to convince some of the game’s biggest stars to move to rugby when he took charge of the Wallabies in January.
And Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has backed him with an aggressive recruitment strategy that has reignited the feud between rugby and the NRL.
In March, Sydney Roosters Joseph Suaalii agreed a three-year deal worth $1.6 million a year with Rugby Australia from 2025 and last month McLennan opened negotiations with Broncos superstar Payne Haas.
Australian Rugby League president Peter V’landys has shrugged off concerns of an exodus to rugby union, but that hasn’t stopped a number of NRL stars from being linked to a code switch.
Aaron Smith believes a number of NRL stars can become huge success in rugby union
The All Blacks star suggested Payne Haas (right) could be the best No. 8 in world rugby
Aside from Haas, the likes of Rabbitohs star Cameron Murray, Newcastle captain Kalyn Ponga, Manly star Tolu Koula and Parramatta center Will Penisini have all been named as potential targets.
And Smith admitted he would ‘hate’ to see Murray, who left the door open to a possible return to the union in March, play for the Wallabies.
‘He would be a gun. Cam Murray, his highlights as a schoolboy are quite gangster and [Angus] Crichton is the same,” said the great All Blacks The Ice Project podcasthosted by former NRL player Isaac John.
“Big centers, ballopers, offload, stay in play all the time. They’re your workhorses, but they’ve got that bang, that’s what you want your midfield to be.’
The 2015 Rugby World Cup winner also suggested Haas could become one of the best No. 8s in the world if he moved to the 15-man code.
Haas was a member of the Wallabies’ Gold junior development program and played as No. 8 in his teens before turning his attention to rugby league when his family moved to the Gold Coast.
But Smith believes the two players who could make the biggest impact in the union are Melbourne Storm duo Harry Grant and Cameron Munster, neither of whom have been linked with a switch to rugby.
“I think at nine years old Harry Grant would be the man to be honest [halfback]and he would just destroy it because he’s so fast and strong,” he said.
The great All Blacks targeted South Sydney star Cam Murray for the Wallabies
Smith also believes Cam Munster from Queensland and Melbourne would be a ‘freak’ at rugby
The All Blacks said Munster’s teammate Harry Grant would also star in the 15-man game
Harry Grant at nine o’clock and [Cameron] Munster to me as a fullback would just be a gun in rugby.
“I think about his talent and gifts and vision because that’s what rugby has – it’s so structured defensively – the guys you don’t know what they’re going to do, it’s just so hard to mark [them].
‘His squiggles and his geese [goose steps] and his offloads and how hard he is and not giving up, they are the players you want in rugby.
“Munster, he’d be a freak.”
Smith was also full of praise for Jones, whom he described as a series winner.
During Jones’ first stint with the Wallabies, Mat Rogers, Wendell Sailor and Lote Tuqiri all crossed codes in the early 2000s and the 63-year-old appears to have revived the code in just four months in the role.
Smith expects Eddie Jones to have a ‘huge’ impact on Australian rugby
And the All Blacks scrum half, who leaves New Zealand will play in Japan after this year’s Rugby World Cup and expect Jones to have an equally big impact on the pitch
“Eddie Jones will be huge,” he said.
“People don’t get it, he’s a winner and everywhere he’s been he’s won. […] You think about what he’s going to bring and with the Rugby World Cup [in 2027] and the Lion’s Walk [in 2025] the Aussies should really take advantage of that.
‘She [Australia] get the best out of us too, because if you don’t get it right, the Aussies never give up […] you must always respect [them]the battle in the Aussie is tough.